2003 North American Open (December 27-29)

These pictures are from the annual chess tournament at Bally's hotel and casino in Las Vegas between Christmas and New Year. This was one of the finest tournament performances of my life, defeating two players over 2400 and drawing an IM! I spent most of my free time with my student Daniel Schwarz, his dad Jerry, and my friend Todd Imada.




The Strip
View of Las Vegas Strip from hotel room window.
Eiffel Tower
Paris, Las Vegas style. The Eiffel tower stood outside the hotel window.
Three Musketeers
Jerry, Daniel, and Todd sitting together in our hotel room.
Top boards
The Grandmasters slug it out on the top boards....
Peanut gallery
While the peanut gallery gathers in anticipation.
Daniel
Daniel maintains a serious disposition while trying to win his game.
Jerry
Jerry hears sweet vibes on his way to 2nd place in the under 1400 section.
Todd
Todd tried hard, but this was not his best tournament.
Board 1
A view of the top board in round 5. GM Filippov vs GM Milov.