Millionaire Chess Open 2: Covering the costs and dealing with sandbaggers

I think this is a good time to bring this up since the deadline to register for $1000 is the very last day of this month

From what I've seen on the forums, this was a very controversial topic when Millionaire Chess was first announced months before it actually happened.  Chess enthusiasts were very skeptical about how it would turn out, and thought that it would less successful than the HB Global Chess Open.  From firsthand experience, I competed in the MCO #1 last year and I have no regrets playing in it at all.  It was by far the classiest tournament I've been to and one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had  in chess and in life.  I won the raffle for 5 nights of a free hotel stay, I won $1000 for placing 13th in the U1400 section, I got interviewed after my 1st round victory, and I experienced the life of Las Vegas, Nevada.  It was also a very cool feeling to meet so many different players from around they globe.  I'm sure there were at least 50 different countries represented among all the players in the tournament.

But on to the actual subject matter. The two biggest issues that my friends and other players bring up is the entry fee and the sandbaggers. It's roughly $500 for a there-and-back plane ticket, $1000-$1200 for six nights in a Las Vegas hotel, $1000 for the entry fee, and then at least $100 on food depending on your preference.  Adding that all up, the trip is anywhere from $2800 - $3000.  Yes that is a very hefty amount of money!  If you know you can't afford the travel expenses and the entry fee, there's nothing wrong with that.  Nobody is going to hold it against you for not having the money to travel to an upscale tournament.  On the other hand, if you know for sure that you can cover all the costs and you're confident in your abilities as a player, then by all means go for it.

Now for the second concern, the sandbaggers.  Were they at the tournament last year? Absolutely.  Did MCO implement measures to control the sandbagging? Yes indeed they did.  To make it better, every player that competed on Millionaire Monday in last year's tournament in the top four playoffs is no longer eligible for whichever prize they won, even if they play in the same section this year.  This includes those that competed for under prizes in certain sections (Example, the U1400 section had players that competed for U1200 and U1000 prizes).  

 The most important thing to bear in mind is to NEVER judge a player by their rating, especially in MCO.  When the stakes are high, players are going to bring out their full potential.  At the same time, just because a sandbagger is better than their rating doesn't mean that they are indestructible machines.  They are human, which means that they are still capable of making mistakes.  Otherwise, they would've already been Grandmasters.    

I hope this helps with those that considering the MCO for this year.  I'll probably be editing this post again later tonight in case I forgot to bring up anything else.

TL;DR version:

Play in MCO only if you can afford, and if you it's something that you're genuinely interested in.

Forget about the sandbaggers, just play your best chess.

I think your first paragraph is the true reason to play the MCO.  You get to go to Las Vegas and enjoy for a couple of days.  Having a chess tournament is just an excuse to go to LV.

AaronGo yep just like Wimbledon is just an excuse for a tennis player to visit London.

I said it before in the big Millionaire chess thread and I'll repeat it here.

If you feel you get your money's worth out of it, more power to you. I don't mind anyone going there and having fun.

My gripe is with them marketing it as "taking chess to the next level", and pretending to do something great for the whole chess community.

If they were honest saying "look, this is the high-roller tournament of chess, it's expensive to enter and isn't for everyone but prizes are great" then I'd be content to let the issue be.

But having costs assiciated with it like you've shown DragonSavage I really despise their pretense of doing something good for chess when in reality they're just trying to make a buisiness from a tournament for a minority of chess players.

I think you need to invited to play Wimbledon.  For the chess tourn you just show up with your payment.

Some friend and I were thinking about going to the first one, and we all decided not to, simply because none of us could justify the expense.  Its chess...a game we love, but seriously?  What we thought would happen did happen.  With the exception of the top 2 sections, all the winners were people that hadnt played in years, or had provisional ratings.   

Here's something else that I forgot to mention before.  The number of players that will walk away with a cash prize has actually been cut down by a lot.  Last year, the top 50 players of each section won at least $500.  Now it's been changed to where only the top 20 players in each section win a cash prize, but the prize amount per player is significantly higher.  What this means is that the stakes are going to be higher and there will be more players leaving Vegas empty handed.  I still have not determined if it's for the better or for the worse.  Either way, I will be there to give it my all!

I wish you good luck DragonSavage, hope you get some good games going.

Be prepared though that with the reduced number of ppl actually winning a cash prize there will be even more sandbagging in the lower sections.

In the open section, there will be professionals (GMs) getting the top spots, but that's fine with me, at least the best players will win the money there. Nothing wrong with it being decided by skill.

Have you been preparing Mr. Dragon?