Ashley's Million-dollar chess tourney - but bring your own clocks

Of course, the theme music for the tournament would HAVE to be Peggy Lee's Big Spender. ("The minute you walked in the joint ...I could see you were a man of distinction, a real big spender...")

But seriously, the only people who should care whether this tournament makes it or not are the organizers. Go if you want to go, don't go if you don't want to go.

I'm just amazed that there are people who argue over this issue for months on end. What are you going to do after the tournament, start arguing over next year's tournament?

That was quite subtle, I wonder who will take the bait.

Yeah, that question was really rhetorical; I hope nobody actually answers it.

well, we have already started arguing over the next tournament. The first version of the debate was - the next MC tournament will ever happen or not. Then we graduated to while the next one will happen whether there will be more or less people signing up on that compared to this October one. We will go even far on this if the October gathering doesn't turn out to be a 100% disaster with everyone coming out screaming and tearring their hairs and red eyes and bla bla bla....

One reason you can think of why we can't stop from talking about the tournament is because we simply can't wait till October to join the fun. So we are trying to have fun even earlier by dreaming of the tournament atmosphere ahead of time. But the critics of the tournament - they must get tired. I dont know how they can enjoy like us. rdecredo claims he simply is enjoying bashing the tournament... but is that much fun? May be.... but can't be as much as we are having!   

>I'm just amazed that there are people who argue over this issue for months on end.<

Doesn't take much to jaw drop you, I guess. Next up...the bearded lady! One of my favorite posting ploys is the "above it all" guy who is amazed, stunned, mystified, or just plain amused that anyone could spend so much time posting about a topic. Never mind that he's now part of it, and is posting too, and is part of the general amazement-making...and isn't really above it all, in the end...

> Scantily clad cigarette girls walking around? <

No, but rumour has it that Gata Kamsky has been hired to perform a fan dance in the lobby...dressed as Tarzan, with huge palm fronds instead of the usual feather boas. 

Doh! (Homer head slap)

I really just wanted to get the Peggy Lee song in there; I thought it was funny.

And yes, I'm a part of it now, but I don't plan on making that part much larger going forward.

Oh that's ok. Your good humor is finely appreciated in a thread were others have been less than kind :)

Here ya go!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFsSC_qAGlQ

I just checked in on the Chillionaire Mess website. The blog remains unused since mid-April, and even then it was a reprint of Ashik's spirited defense from this board...hope you get a second trip to the VIP room for that one, Ashy! 

The number of pie-eyed goofballs, blithe opportunists, diffident grandmasters, or just beleagured souls who have signed up for the event is still a solid 550.  There IS now a product line for those of you who, after losing your $1000 entry fee and settling your Vegas hotel bill and plane fare, still have a little cash in hand even after blowing whatever you thought was left at video poker. 

There's a millionaire chess bag going for about $60. It's large and uncomfortable looking, and is complimentary to the first 500 who sign in...so expect a stampede since the last 50 entrants won't get one.

Once again, MC creates a strange and unnecessary divide of perks and privilege between its players, despite the alleged democracy of the universal entry fee. 

My favorite is the $40 book written by Maurice Ashley about how he created Millionaire Chess. No, I'm not kidding. The shameless self-promotion that characterizes this project breaks new ground by the week:

http://millionairechess.com/product/millionaire-chess-book/

--TMB

If you made it up, no-one would believe it!

The word "grasping" springs readily to mind.

M.A. should write a book with Kiyosaki and Donald Trump.

Later, he can go on his own giving business advice in a best seller series of self-help/business books.

what happens when you get on the black card or chairman's membership for a casino ?

and how do you get on te list

seems premature, the book i mean, obviously... .  applaud his initiative though.  nobody's forced to buy it.  he's probably done more for chess than anyone who reads this every will.

>applaud his initiative though.<

How about bobble-head dolls of the organizers? Is there nothing about this celebration of self you won't defend?

<nobody's forced to buy it. <

That little dodge is getting a little tired on this thread.  The fact that people aren't forced to do something doesn't render that something impervious to criticism.

>he's probably done more for chess than anyone who reads this every will.<

That supposition is unprovable either way, so it's a waste of space.

From the book's blurb:

>the raging controversies against it<

Someone please tell me he's not just referring to this one thread on this one chess forum. I haven't seen anything else, anywhere, that speaks ill of Millionaire Chess. Maybe I'm not google searching well enough, but all the coverage I've found, and it's not much, is anticipatory and generally complimentary.  Please correct me if I'm wrong, and post the links.

Because if the "raging controversies against it" are merely the opinions of about four posters on this one thread, then I do fear the organizers have profoundly thin skins. Of course, people whose public image is highly important to them usually do. Maybe bobble-head dolls aren'st such a bad idea after all.

Masked bishop, if you're truly dedicated to this thread, you will buy the book.

I want to read your review.

celebration of chess and of self is constructive and mostly healthly, i support such activities.  yeah, i find the idea of a book to be silly and slightly pretentious and i would never buy it, but it does not disturb my sensibilities in the slightest.  i like constructive activities and chess, which is why i support endeavors such as MC, the Sinquefield cup, the local chess scene and chess sites with quality material (such as this one).

ok, but suppositions can be measured.  the meaningfulness of rhetoric is in the eye of the beholder.  evidenced for instance that i expect your comments to have provocative and vituperative by my interpretation of them in many instances but the fact that i am amused by them renders them meaning to me in the absence of substantiative or factual content.

btw, if you knew the organizers and their upbringings, you would know that they have endured hardships.  i find it wonderful that they have continued to overcome them.

I'll wait for the Kindle version :)

>if you knew the organizers and their upbringings, you would know that they have endured hardships<

Again, this supposition, which can't really be proven in a forum like this, has nothing to do with the merits of Millionaire Chess.

The only actions of these people I can or would comment on are the ones relating to MC, because that's the subject of this thread. I will not speculate upon or dramatize their personal lives or histories because those are irrelevant to the debate whether or not MC should take place or not.

And it IS going to take place, and only a few people here have objected to it (those raging controversies). That this thread is so long, and so filled with posts from people who want to discuss or argue with that handful of naysayers, tells me that perhaps MC *is* a controversial idea and that it *does* push buttons, even on those who supposedly are all for it.