Millionaire Chess 2!!

>the current list of 182 registrants doesn't include him name yet. I guess it will be updated later.<

Yes, all the way up to 183.  

The enthusiasm is starting to tip from genial support to cultish self-deception. 

60 hours left to contribute to "pushing wood". It has raised ~$8000 of the $50,000 goal.

Home stretch baby!

That's much better than I suspected would be the case.

Hehehehe . . . You said "wood" . . . Hehehehehehehehehehe

"60 hours left to contribute to "pushing wood". It has raised ~$8000 of the $50,000 goal"

I can't believe people are paying for this. At first they said the documentary was about MC#1, but now I read it is about Maurice Ashley and his dream of making chess popular; seems a bit vain to me.

The participants now are 190, GM Wesley So, one of the top GMs in the world, also will participate, but I believe the real news today is that the Kasparov foundation is organizing tournaments in Africa for letting the winners come to play at the millionaire!!

So all the negative trolls who don't actually do anything for chess, have been proven wrong once more. In this case, real good players, who don't have many chances to play at top level in Africa, will receive a chance thanks to the Millionaire tournament.

But let's remember how many times the trolls predictions failed:

1. The Millionaire wouldn't be held. It was, and thanks to that one GM from Philippine had the chance to become pro, and become one of the top.

2. The Millionaire wouldn't continue because Amy Lee lost a lot of money. We are at the second edition!

3. It wouldn't help players. It clearly did, to those who participated, those who stayed here complaining, and trolling, yes it didn't help them.

So some folks from africa are going to get to attend. How does that change the fact that MC still has an unsustainable business model, and will have unless they undergo some drastic changes? As it is now certainly, yes, it could continue, probably for a few years even, as long as Amy Lee is willing to take a hosing on it. Eventually, however, she's going to run out of money and/or patience to keep funding it out of her own pocket. They're going to have to figure out a way to make it self-sustaining if they want MC to be a long-term thing.

As a "negative troll" (aka somebody who doesn't think this tournament format makes sense), where I have been wrong is that I didn't expect Amy Lee to carry on with the idea even in the face of losing millions of dollars. Where I've not yet been wrong is:

a) There won't be a significant number of generous sponsors interested in the tournament.

b) The tournament isn't going to be able break even (which is related to the previous point, although if enough players enter it could remove the need for serious sponsorship).

As I've said before, I don't particularly care whether the idea floats or sinks, but I'm allowed an opinion and my opinion is that it's going to sink as it isn't financially viable. I've yet to be proven wrong in that respect.

Uhm, well, I hate to break it to you but no one was really proven wrong. We were correct. We said it would be a financial failure and it was.... we said there would not be many participants and there wasnt. 

winning an open tournament is a great feat, even a top seed will have to perform above his normal level to win.

as a VIP member (one of the first 75 or so entrants last year) i get half off, so $440 entry is not bad at all.  not much more than some open tournaments and much bigger prizes... so for me it is travel expenses that cost quite a bit more.

i'm not used to playing in good playing conditions and against professionals in a professional environment.  i enjoyed the company of some interesting players.  and obviously strong players in the open.  and it definitely has made me a better chess player and a few players demonstrated how to be a better person too.

the first tournament was exceptionally well-run.  i hope i get to play dannnnaaaayyy and john bbbbbb.  playing alejandro would also be cool.  winning against them would also be awesome.  i have to improve a lot however and i have a lot of stuff to do...

but instead of 183, i see the number is 192...

+1

Naka just joined.
 

I hate it to break it to you, but Hikaru Nakamura, one of the strongest players in the world just joined! And last year the number of players were 550, I don't know the tournaments you organize, but feel free to show me when you achieved 500+ players in one of your tournaments.

With all due respect, I'd like to state the following:

1, When I speak of "negative trolls" I mean people like maskedbishop, who have posted thousand of negative messages, not someone who voices their own opinion.

2. The problem with your "opinion" is that honestly is worth less than ZERO. With all due respect, once you will be able to achieve the financial wealth and success Amy Lee has achieved, then I can actually consider your opinion. But at the moment you are not. So many enterprises (financial and not) in history were thought impossible, or not viable, because of "naysayers" luckily for us those geniuses didn't give up.

So it would be more meaningful to try to cheer those who are going to lose a million of dollars in chess, because they are putting themselves on the line, and I believe it is enough for them to have to pay "the bill" for the rest of us who are clearly not contributing to chess.

Instead some people last year attacked very heavily GM Ashley and Amy Lee for giving the chance to chess players to improve their financial conditions. The proof, again maybe you don't care, is that Wesley So, a player from a federation which doesn't have money to pay FIDE, had the chance to pass from part-time player to professional chess player, thanks to the money won at the Millionaire. Wesley So wouldn't have that chance if GM Ashley and Amy Lee didn't put themselves on the line. So let's give them credit for helping a fellow chess player (someone who is serious about chess, not trolling like maskedbishop) the chance to make his dream come true.

Am I too sleepy and dreaming - I see Nakamura in the top of registration list ! Or may be capablanca coming back? Or morphy? Well can someone tell me if i am drunk!! ;-)

Maybe you're drunk, but Naka is definitely playing. 

:D

Does Nakamura's entry suddenly make MC a profitable venture? Does he bring with him some incredible sponsorship that's going to foot the bill for MC?

And yes, 500 entrants is commendable, but far short of the 1,500 they were counting on.