We are just a couple of days away from the start of the 18th North American Open to be held at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bally’s, located in the heart of the Strip in Sin City, is home to this annual holiday chess extravaganza organized by the Continental Chess Association.
This year’s event will see approximately 700 chess enthusiasts from across the country and around the world battle it out for a projected prize fund of $150,000 (based on 750 entries with a guarantee of $100,000). The Open Section first place prize is $12,000 with payouts for players finishing 1st through 10th.
The advanced entry list doesn’t show much in terms of who will be competing in the Open Section but in disappointing news I did hear on the grapevine that GM Hikaru Nakamura, winner for the last three consecutive years, may not be joining us. IM David Pruess, joint winner with Nakamura last year, is currently participating in the Berkeley Masters in California and it will be interesting to see if any of those 18 or so players, including 6 GMs, will make the short journey south.
We hope to have live coverage of selected games from the Open Section and news and reports along with standings from all sections once the tournament begins so keep checking back at here at NorthAmericanOpen.com, the official website for the North American Open.