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Millionaire Chess 2: Nakamura is supreme

by Albert Silver
10/13/2015 Millionaire Monday w as all that it w as cracked up to be. Not only did the top stars fight it
out for a grand $100 thousand, but dozens of amateurs also fought for unheard of prizes in the tens of
thousand of dollars. For many, if not all, these w ere life-changing matches, everything the organizers
Maurice Ashley and Amy Lee had dreamed the event could be. Fantastic games and magic moments.

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1 3

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10/15/2015 Did you
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W hen new s of the quick draw in round seven came, it w as controversial to say the least. The arbiters and
organizers huddled and debated for over an hour and a half. Angry w ords w ere pronounced, all w ith
understandable justification, but in the end, it w as an enormous gamble. This w as not a quick draw that
guaranteed a spot among the final four, it w as a draw that almost guaranteed a fight among ten players,
tw o of w hom are Top Ten themselves, for one single spot. David Smerdon even w rote a piece on the
math of this decision, show ing it to be unw ise to say the least.

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Maurice Ashley strolls down to check on the games, and make sure everything is up to standard
Still, if lack of fighting spirit w as the feeling left by this limp effort, now only the fiercest gladiator w as
going to survive the ordeal, and in this respect, Hikaru Nakamura show ed how tough he could be. It w as
not a crushing performance in w hich he dominated his rivals, but one in w hich he somehow pulled
through the direst situations, and punished unrelentingly each opportunity he w as given. This w as the
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The top semifinals

Samuel Sevian faced Holden Hernandez in the 2400-2549 semifinal. Holden went on to win,
and then defeated Marcin Tazbir in the final. Sevian took third, defeating Gil Popilski.
Of the three other finalists, Yu Yangyi w as hardly the easiest pairing he could have. Playing in a minimatch of tw o games of 25 minutes, neither player w as able to show any advantage, and both games
ended in draw . This led to the first tiebreak, now a minimatch of 15 minute games, and here things nearly
w ent very badly for the American.

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After a grueling Playoff, Nakamura now faced Yu Yangyi in the semifinals

Y u Y angyi - Hikaru Nakamura (Game three)
In his post-tournament interview , Nakamura readily admitted he had been dead lost, and had he actually
succumbed, the chances w ere high that he w ould have been fighting for third place and not first. In game
four though, he got his chance and milked it for all its w orth, w inning game four and making the final.
Y u Y angyi - Hikaru Nakamura (Game four)

[Event "Millionaire Chess KO 2015"] [Site "Las Vegas USA"] [Date "2015.10.12"] [Round "1.4"] [W hite
"Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Yu, Yangyi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B40"] [W hiteElo "2816"] [BlackElo "2721"]
[PlyCount "161"] [EventDate "2015.10.12"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Bg2 e5
7. Nb5 d6 8. Bg5 a6 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. N5c3 f5 11. O-O Bg7 12. Nd2 O-O 13. Nc4 Nd4 14. Nd5 fxe4 15. Ncb6
Be6 16. c3 Bxd5 17. Nxd5 Nf3+ 18. Bxf3 exf3 19. Qxf3 f5 20. Rad1 Kh8 21. Rd2 e4 22. Qh5 Be5 23. Ne3
Qc8 24. Nd5 Qd8 {[#]} 25. f4 $1 {Now W hite gains a near decisive advantage in all lines.} exf3 ({If}
25... Bg7 26. Rfd1 { follow ed by Ne3 w ill bring W hite nothing but joy.}) 26. Rxf3 Qd7 27. Nb6 Qe8 28.
Qxe8 Raxe8 29. Rdf2 Bg7 {The f-paw n w as doomed no matter w hat.} (29... f4 { w ould merely delay the
inevitable for one move.} 30. Nd5) 30. Rxf5 Rxf5 31. Rxf5 Re2 32. Rf2 Re1+ 33. Kg2 Kg8 34. Rd2 Be5 35.
Nc4 Kf7 36. Nxe5+ Rxe5 37. Kf3 Rb5 38. b4 Ke6 39. Rd4 h5 40. Ke3 Rg5 41. Re4+ Kd5 42. a4 b5 43. axb5
$2 { It doesn't really change the outcome, but} (43. a5 $1 {w as stronger, fixing the w eakness on a6 as
w ell as the b6 square. For example,} Rf5 44. Rf4 Re5+ 45. Kd3 Rg5 46. Rf7 {and Ra7 is deadly.}) 43...
axb5 44. Rd4+ Ke6 45. Rh4 Kd5 46. Kd3 Rf5 47. Rf4 Rg5 48. c4+ Kc6 49. cxb5+ Kxb5 50. Rd4 Kc6 51. Ke3
Rf5 52. h3 Rf1 53. Rh4 Rf5 54. Rc4+ Kd5 55. Rf4 Rg5 56. Kf3 Ke6 57. Re4+ Kf6 58. g4 hxg4+ 59. hxg4 Rd5
60. Ke3 Rd1 $2 ({After} 60... Rb5 {it is not clear how W hite w ins, though of course Black w ould need to
play very precisely.}) 61. Rd4 $1 {Now it is over. Black cannot exchange the rooks of course, and
therefore loses a second paw n.} Rb1 62. Rxd6+ Ke5 63. Rb6 Rb3+ 64. Kd2 Kd4 65. Kc2 Rg3 66. Rc6 Rxg4
67. Kb3 Kd5 68. Ra6 Rg1 69. Ka4 Kc4 70. Rc6+ Kd5 71. Rc8 Kd6 72. Ka5 Kd7 73. Rc2 Rg8 74. b5 Rb8 75.
Ka6 Kd6 76. b6 Ra8+ 77. Kb7 Ra1 78. Rd2+ Ke7 79. Kb8 Rb1 80. b7 Ke6 81. Ra2 1-0
Anyone w ho happened to notice that he w as coughing on occasion should know that he w as also quite
sick, hiding it w ell, making no excuses for himself, since excuses w ould be poor consolation for $50
thousand dollars, the difference betw een first place and second, and more so for third or fourth.

Jamie Lynn Olsen-Mills was the only woman in the finals, making the final match in the
under-1800 section, where she took second and $17 thousand. Great job and great hat!
Quang Liem Le on the other hand, w as the player in form w ith a capital F. His play had been superb
throughout the event, never in any danger, and having dominated the first seven rounds, had been able
to rest up before Millionaire Monday to arrive fresh and strong.

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Quang Liem Le was the one player who had never faltered throughout the event. Was he
to repeat the same success when he won the super-strong Aeroflot Open two years in a row?
To his good fortune, he also faced the least dangerous of the finalists, the ever-friendly Alex Lenderman,
w ho w as the only one not rated 2700. Of course, one could argue fairly that having made the last four,
Lenderman w as a proven danger, but so w ere his rivals, and they had a significant ratings edge to boot.
W hile the young American's friends and fans w anted to read of heroic underdog performances, it w as not
to be. After losing his first game, he managed to reach a w inning position in the second, but failed to
capitalize, and the Vietnamese player, studying at W ebster University, took the match 2-0.

It was a powerful performance by the Vietnamese, but Lenderman did get his chance in game two
Aleksandr Lenderman - Quang Liem Le (Game two)

[Event "Millionaire Chess KO 2015"] [Site "Las Vegas USA"] [Date "2015.10.12"] [Round "1.2"] [W hite
"Lenderman, Aleksandr"] [Black "Le, Quang Liem"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D31"] [W hiteElo "2623"] [BlackElo
"2697"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2015.10.12"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 Nf6
6. e3 Bf5 7. Qb3 Nc6 8. g4 Nxg4 9. Qxd5 Qxd5 10. Nxd5 Bb4+ 11. Nxb4 Nxb4 12. Rc1 c6 13. h3 Nf6 14. a3
Nbd5 15. Be5 Nd7 16. Bd6 N7b6 17. b3 Rd8 18. Bg3 O-O 19. Ne2 Rfe8 20. Rg1 Re6 21. Kd2 Rde8 22. Be5
f6 23. Bh2 Rd8 24. Ng3 Bg6 25. h4 Ne7 26. Bh3 Re5 27. Kc3 Rb5 28. e4 Bf7 29. Rb1 Ra5 30. a4 c5 31. d5
Nbc8 32. b4 $2 {A bad mistake, not just because it misses the w inner Nf5, but because it liberates Black's
rook, w hich had been prisoner until now .} (32. Nf5 $1 Nxf5 33. Bc7 Re8 34. Bxf5 Ra6 35. Kc4 {and W hite's
domination is crushing. the combination of passed d-paw n, bishop pair and piece activity are
unstoppable.}) 32... Rxa4 33. bxc5 b6 34. Ra1 Nxd5+ 35. exd5 Rxh4 36. Bxc8 Rxc8 37. c6 (37. Rxa7 {w as
stronger and w ould keep the balance.} Rxc5+ 38. Kb2 Bxd5 {The w hite rook on the a-file ensure there
are no mates against the w hite king. Instead after} 39. Re1 $1 {W hite w ould generate counter threats
w hich might keep the game alive w ith chances of his ow n. W hite needs to w in to stay in the match, so
draw s are no good.}) 37... Bxd5 38. Nf5 Rxc6+ 39. Kd2 Rxh2 40. Ne7+ Kf8 41. Nxc6 Bxc6 42. Rxa7 Rxf2+
43. Ke3 Rg2 44. Re1 Rg5 45. Kf4 Re5 46. Rg1 g5+ 47. Kg4 Re7 48. Ra6 Re4+ 49. Kg3 Re3+ 50. Kf2 Rf3+
51. Ke1 Rb3 52. Rg4 Kg7 53. Rc4 Bf3 54. Rc7+ Kg6 55. Kd2 h5 56. Kc2 Rb5 57. Raa7 Rc5+ 0-1
The stage w as set for the grand finale everyone had been fighting for and w aiting for, the match for all
the marbles, the match for the opulent $100 thousand first prize. In a sense, there w as a certain irony in
it. W hile Hikaru Nakamura, the current w orld no. 2 player, had reached this moment after no end of grit
and tribulations, overcoming obstacle after obstacle, the low er-rated Quang Liem Le had been the one
sw eeping past his opponents one after the other in a sparkling performance. W hat w ould the final
betw een the tw o hold? Game one set the tone.

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The handshake that started the final

Hikaru Nakamura - Quang Liem Le (Game one)

[Event "Millionaire Chess KO 2015"] [Site "Las Vegas USA"] [Date "2015.10.12"] [Round "2.1"] [W hite
"Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Le, Quang Liem"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D30"] [W hiteElo "2816"] [BlackElo
"2697"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2015.10.12"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5 h6 5. Bxf6 Qxf6 6.
Qb3 c6 7. e3 Qe7 8. Nbd2 Qb4 9. Qc2 Nd7 10. a3 Qa5 11. Be2 dxc4 12. O-O Be7 13. Nxc4 Qc7 14. b4 O-O
15. Rac1 Rd8 16. Qb3 a6 17. Bd3 Nf6 18. Bb1 Bd7 19. e4 Be8 20. e5 Nh7 21. Qe3 b6 22. Rfd1 a5 {[#]}
{Under extreme pressure, Black overlooks} 23. d5 $1 Rxd5 ({ After} 23... exd5 24. Nxb6 {the same
tactics as in the game w ould follow .}) 24. Rxd5 exd5 25. Nxb6 Rd8 {[#]} 26. Nxd5 $3 Qb7 ({The point is
that after} 26... Rxd5 27. Qe4 $1 {Threatening to take on h7 w ith mate to follow .} Nf8 28. Qxd5 { W hite
is up the exchange and the paw n.}) 27. Nxe7+ Qxe7 28. bxa5 Ra8 29. a6 $1 {Again the motif of the
double attack protects the paw n.} Nf8 (29... Rxa6 $4 30. Bxh7+ Kxh7 31. Qd3+ {w ins the rook on a6.})
30. Bd3 Ne6 31. Nd4 Nxd4 32. Qxd4 Rd8 33. Qc3 c5 34. Bf1 Rd5 35. Qa5 Bc6 36. a7 Ba8 37. Rb1 Kh7 38.
Rb8 c4 39. Qa6 Rd2 40. Rxa8 Qc5 41. Rh8+ Kxh8 42. a8=Q+ 1-0
In spite of there being no question of Hikaru's favoritism before the games started, no one had expected
this massacre in game one. The commentators rightly noted that this w as the Nakamura everyone had
been w aiting for, and it now seemed as if he had saved it for last, w hen he needed it the most. This also
placed enormous pressure on Quang Liem Le to play for a w in at all costs, since anything less w ould
mean victory for the American.
Quang Liem Le - Hikaru Nakamura (Game two)

[Event "Millionaire Chess KO 2015"] [Site "Las Vegas USA"] [Date "2015.10.12"] [Round "2.2"] [W hite "Le,
Quang Liem"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A13"] [W hiteElo "2697"] [BlackElo
"2816"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2015.10.12"] 1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Bd7
6. Qxc4 c5 7. O-O Bc6 8. Rd1 Nbd7 9. Qc2 Rc8 10. Nc3 b5 11. d3 a6 12. e4 Be7 13. Bf4 O-O 14. a4 Qb6 15.
Qe2 Qb7 16. Nd2 Bd8 17. axb5 axb5 18. Nb3 Bb6 19. Bd6 Rfe8 20. Na5 Bxa5 21. Rxa5 b4 $1 {Suddenly
W hite is lost.} 22. Nb1 Qb6 23. Ra1 e5 $1 {The door of the cage is shut, and the threat of Bb7 or Re6
mean the Bd6 is lost.} 24. f4 { The only move to save the piece, but...} c4+ 25. Qf2 (25. Kh1 cxd3 26.
Qxd3 ( 26. Rxd3 Bb5 $1) 26... Ng4 {and Nf2 is unstoppable.}) 25... Qxf2+ 26. Kxf2 cxd3 27. Nd2 (27. Rxd3
Bxe4 28. Bxe4 Nxe4+ 29. Kf3 Nec5 $1 {w ith e4+ to follow .}) 27... Ng4+ 28. Kg1 Ne3 29. Rdc1 Nxg2 30.
Kxg2 {W hite offered a draw in this dead lost position, effectively resigning the match.} 1/2-1/2
In the fight for third place, Yu Yangyi and Alex Lenderman played an extremely nervy match, in w hich
nothing seemed to happen as expected. In game one, Lenderman w as practically in zugzw ang in the
middlegame, yet Yu lost control so bad it w as he w ho w as facing imminent defeat, until Lenderman
returned the favor and the Chinese player prevailed in the end. Yu Yangyi may regret not finding the w in
against Nakamura, but he did succeed in finishing third for the second consecutive year.

It wasn't only about the world's Top Ten, and players such as Rigoberto Rodriguez (left),
playing in his second tournament ever, won the under-1400 section for $24 thousand

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For many, the entire thing was beyond belief. Khasen Levkin won the under-1600 section
for $30 thousand and was over the moon. The ebullient and very funny Russian ("I from Russia")
explained that he would be sending the wins to his family at home. A touching scene that is
guaranteed to put a smile on your face. See the v ideo, the one on the Finals, and skip to 2:29:30.

The commentary of Tania Sachdev, Robert Hess, and Lawrence Trent (above), was both
entertaining and utterly democratic, giving due attention to all levels and not just the superstars

Yu Yangyi came in third for the second year in a row, defeating Alex Lenderman in their match
On the other hand, although Lenderman w as no doubt disappointed at finishing fourth among the last
four, he should go home w ith his head high, comforted by the know ledge that he did w hat giants such as
Fabiano Caruana, W esley So, and Gata Kamsky w ere unable to do: make it to Millionaire Monday w ith a
chance to fight for the top prize... plus the $16 thousand dollars isn't too shabby either.

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Hikaru Nakamura receives his check for $100 thousand from Maurice Ashley and Amy Lee

The post-event interview with champion Hikaru Nakamura

Maurice Ashley and Amy Lee are to be congratulated for proving this unique event was not
a one-off, improving on it, and promising a third edition next year. We can hardly wait.
For those grumbling the event did not aw ard an actual million, know that during the closing ceremony the
w inners w ere squared off in a mini gameshow , for the right to choose a number from the large 64 square
chess board behind them. If the correct one w as chosen, the w inner w ould take aw ay a genuine $1
million. Although no one w on this grand lottery, to his credit, Maurice Ashley w as adamant about proving
that one of the numbers did indeed hide that elusive w inning million. He and Amy then aw arded the
'loser' w ith an all-expenses invitation to next year's edition of the Millionaire Chess.

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Links
Official tournament site
All Open games in PGN
All Playoff games in PGN
All Other Section games in PGN
The games are being broadcast live on the official w eb site and on
the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can
dow nload a free Playchess client there and get immediate access.
You can also use ChessBase 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess
programs.

Albert Silver
Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, w here he completed his Baccalaureat, and after
college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He w as champion of Rio de Janeiro w ith a peak rating of
2240, and w as a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as
an editor and w riter at ChessBase New s.
Feedback and m ail to our news serv ice
Please use this account if you w ant to contribute to or comment on our new s page service
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Millionaire Chess, Las Vegas

See also

Millionaire Chess 2: Fighting for a million

10/12/2015 The Millionaire Open is in its second edition, and is the first
serious open in history to bring three of the Top Ten players in the w orld. More
than that, it offers unbelievable prizes for each and every category, w ith tens
of thousands of dollars even for under-1200! The competition is w ell
underw ay, w ith four lucky players fighting for the top prizes. Massive
illustrated report. [Discuss]

Things heat up in Vegas

10/12/2014 After six rounds six players lead the Millionaire Chess Open w ith
5.0/6, nine more follow half a point behind, the four best after seven rounds
w ill qualify for the knock-out, one w ill w in 100.000 USD. The seventh round
begins Sunday, 11 am Vegas time. Play-offs w ill follow right after the round,
either rapid or blitz. Sounds like fun and excitement. [Discuss]

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eltollo 10/14/2015 01:08
I completely disagree w ith the fuzz about the short draw . A tournament that advertises
itself w ith "1.000.000 $ prize guaranteed" should not w ine if players in any w ay they think
appropriate try to maximize their chances to w in the big cash. The players are there to
earn money, nothing more, nothing less.
Rational 10/14/2015 01:11
Nakamura quite w ise to play in this rather than W orld rapid and Blitz, unfortunate clash.
For Carlsn the titles are w orth more than the prize money in Vegas but for other players?

Exclam 10/14/2015 03:13

@Rational I am sure they have w ays to ensure people aren't sandbagging, if the
benefactor w ants to promote chess offering big prizes to low ratings sections then so be
it. It only becomes a problem if people are intentionally playing to keep their ratings low .

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Raymond Labelle 10/14/2015 06:36

Too bad the organizers did not arrange so that there be no conflict w ith the Rapid and
Blitz championships.

ChiliBean 10/14/2015 06:49

Congratz to Hikaru! Had to fight for that last spot then defeat tough opponents.
Reminded me of a Bruce Lee movie fighting his w ay to get to the final boss. And also a
beautiful end in the final game w ith the final move queening a paw n.

Aristarchus 10/14/2015 06:51

So, there w as a rapid and blitz W orld Cup, w ith the participation of the best players in the
w orld (W orld Champion included) and the three top American players deserted it to play
the Millionaire Chess show .
Am I the only one to find this regretful?
johnmk 10/14/2015 07:13
Hika (or Naka if you prefer) is a good-looking young fellow . But I've never seen such a
smug smile on a face. But I guess he's entitled.

treetown 10/14/2015 08:01

I understand that historically a short agreed draw has been part of big time chess.
But consider that among of the sporting "offenses" predetermining a result (or "fixing") a
match/game/contest is for many fans the one unforgivable sin - drunk driving,
manslaughter, being a terrible human in general are often forgiven if player is very
capable and skillful but "fix" a match - banned for life. Imagine if Real Madrid and Chelsea
about 5 minutes into a football match as part of the EUFA League both decided w ell,
neither side really w anted to press things and so after kicking the ball around a bit just picked it up and
w ent to the referee and said "OK, w e agreed to a nil nil tie and w e're off to the show ers". You'd have to
call out the army to quell the unrest.
ff2017 10/14/2015 08:40
@treetow n Those offenses are forgiven after a respectively lengthy JAIL sentence. A ban
"merely' means you can't play chess competitively.
Jail is by far the greater punishment.
Jacob woge 10/14/2015 09:21
I once more point to the fact that by agreeing to a draw both players got to play a w hole
lot more chess than they w ould have otherw ise.
This is most often not the consequence of a draw agreement, but in this particular case, it
w as.
DJones 10/14/2015 09:43
Fide scheduled the W orld Rapid and Blitz event long after Millionaire chess w as scheduled
so the American players w ere the ones w ho got screw ed. They did not choose Millionaire
chess over this event. They shought they w ould be able to play both but FIDE did w hat
FIDE does. Carlsen by the w ay collapsed completely in day tw o of the blitz event and lost
40 points. Not only did he lose the title to Grischuk but he lost the w orld #1 blitz rating ot
Nakamura w ho w as busy making 100k in Vegas. Double gut punch.
Ivan Wijetunge 10/14/2015 10:10
Someone put this up on the chat during the event:
Some fun sandbagging facts about Khasen Levkin (U1600 w inner): 1. He entered w ith
FIDE rating of 1490. 2. He's had a FIDE rating for just THREE months. 3. To get that rating,
he played 54 games in Russia in that time: lost 40, drew 3, w on 11. 4. In MC2, he scored
an incredible 6/7, then 5/6 in the playoffs. Time for an investigation?
daftarche 10/14/2015 10:20
i don't understand w hy semi finals and final match w as in rapid and blitz time control.

Aighearach 10/15/2015 01:30

It isn't sandbagging to improve w ithout having played many rated games. The class
sections are going to be tough. And the kids improve so much faster than their rating,
they could be hundreds of points under-rated even playing every w eekend. Actual
sandbagging can be detected by computer analysis of the ratings database.
Congratulations to Nakamura, $100k that's like 2 w eeks of rent in NY, right?
Raymond Labelle 10/15/2015 05:49
To Aristarchus
No, you are not the only one w ho finds it regretful that the three high-rated Americans did
not participate to the FIDE Rapid and Blitz W orld Championship. The Millionaire thing
organizers should have arranged the event so that it does not happen at the same time.
And chessbase should have covered the official event in priority to the private Millionaire
event.

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DJones 10/15/2015 06:30

Given that he lives in florida now , property is cheap.

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