The North American Open (NAO) chess tournament in Las Vegas was, once again, a success. Each year, it is held at Bally’s Hotel in the Pacific Ballroom, South Tower, December 26th through 29th. A good number of Southern Californians were in attendance, as well as players from all other states and even a few countries.
There were a number of prominent Grand Masters in the playing hall, including GM Francisco Vallejo Pons (2778), GM Varuzhan Akobian (2698), GM Alexander Shabalov (2600), and GM Josh Friedel (2584). Inernational Master (IM) Marc Tyler Arnold placed in the money, as well as IMs Adam Hunt and Enrico Sevillano.
The big winner was GM Francisco Pons, who took home a whopping $9261.00. It was a three-way tie for second place between GM Varuzhan Akobian, GM Ivan Sokolov, and Roman Yankovsky, who each made $2633.34 for their tournament efforts.
Standings: http://chesstournamentservices.com/cca/2011/12/north-american-open-2011-standings-open-section/
The Continental Chess Association did a smash-up job this year. They punished people for cell phones ringing during play, and they resolved every single dispute as it arose. The Tournament Directors (TDs) were very vigilant and paid close attention to everything going on in the playing hall. Randy Hough deserves a big round of applause for organizing another great event.
December 29th is the last day of play and, once the main tournament is over, the blitz tournament is held that evening. It was $40 to enter and there were a lot of competitors. There were so many, in fact, that the entire event had to be moved downstairs to the main playing hall because the blitz room upstairs would not accommodate all the players. It was a great turnout but, because there were so many entrants, the event lasted much longer than anticipated. The last round was scheduled for 1:15 A.M., but the tournament didn’t end until almost 4 A.M.
The North American Open is a favorite for many Southern Californians, and will be for years to come. Bally's offers a special hotel rate for chess players, or there are any number of cheaper hotels within a few blocks. For more information, go to: http://chesstournamentservices.com/cca/north-american-open/
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