2008 World Open (Philadelphia, USA)
Photos from the 2008 event in downtown Philly.
Photos by Daaim Shabazz.
The 36th World Open will kick off on June 30th and host nine rounds of chess through July 6th in Philadelphia. Having carved out a niche as America’s premier tournament, the $400,000 tournament draws some of the world’s top players. This year, the venue will return to the aesthetically-pleasing downtown location after one year in Valley Forge.
The 36th World Open. July 2-6, 3-6, 4-6 or June 30-July 6, GPP: 300 (enhanced), Pennsylvania, USA
36th Annual World Open. 9-round Swiss, 40/2, SD/1 (4-day option, rds 1-2 G/75, 3-day option, rds 1-5 G/45). Under 900, Under 600 and Unrated Sections play separate 3-day schedule only, G/45. At Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel, 17th & Race Sts., Philadelphia, PA 19103. Special parking rate for all players $5/day. Downtown location, Franklin Institute and many other museums as well as stores & restaurants within a few blocks.
Prizes $400,000 based on 1450 paid entries (seniors, re-entries, U1200 Section, GMs, WGMs count as half entries, U900, U600 & Unrated Sections not counted), otherwise raised or reduced in proportion, with $320,000 minimum (80% of each prize) guaranteed.
Details: https://www.chesstour.com/wo08.htm
Results: https://www.chesstour.com/wo08r.htm
Games: https://www.monroi.com
Put me down for two shirts. Black.
Put me down for 3 double x or 2x lets keep the beat going.
My family will buy at least 3 shirts for each of us when we see you!
Do you have any baby sizes? If not, then babies will someday grow up! Right now my order is two whites XXL and one baby sized black… Looking forward to reconnecting with folk in the East…
Peace, and thanks for the shirts —by the way, do you have any
pens?
Daaim,
Be sure to have a few for my family. My fiance is going to Philly with me, as is my step-daughter, so if you have any shirts that fit 5-year-olds, please make them available! I prefer black to white, but might invest in one of each if you have them available.
Hotep,
Maliq
I would like to buy two large Black shirts when I come to the tournament on Sunday
Thanks
Let’s get down to brass tacks.
After two rounds, who’s winning and does anybody know where to find scores for yesterday and today?
Thanks, Daaim.
That’s how it appears to me, too.
Please hold 2 of your largest black shirts for me (and one white if possible). I’ll be arriving this evening. Thank you for all you do!!!!!
Thank you again, Daaim.
Hey Kimani –
Grab me one large black shirt, and I will pay you back when you trek back to the Bay Area this summer. Thanks.
Daaim, keep up the great work. Peace.
Shakland is coached by Josh Friedel who recently became a GM(uschess.org)
Daaim – Great coverage of the WO, as always. Thanks for giving those of us who couldn’t make the trip a sense of the “flavor” of the 2008 edition.
Hey man, regarding the tweaks you mention, c’mon, its the WO!! Sure, it would be nice for the GM’s, etc, to be sequestered in a calm, professional type environment .. at least good for them! But when I shell out $350 to enter, I want to be able to stroll and check out a a few top board games. If General Electric was funding the $70,000 of prizes in the open, then ok .. but that’s my money they are playing for – or would be if I was there 🙂
I love your story about someone asking your opponent to borrow a pawn from YOUR set … summer in Philly at the WO!
Best wishes for a strong finish
I second RJT’s comments! How Daaim manages to update his coverage while actually playing in the tournament, baffles me! However, I believe this constant juggling takes a toll on our correspondent’s results at the chess board. It would really be nice if some kindly souls took some of this load off Dr Shabazz, and volunteered their time to TCD coverage. Just a thought …
Keep the Drum beating!
Okey
Daaim – Congratulations on your strong finish! Selfishly I don’t want you to not report on the events that you play in, but if you did you’d probably become a master in short order. We’d have to start calling you Mestre Daaim!
hello shabazz please can you display the games of chikwere onyekwere online.
In order for Dr Shabazz to display any games, he needs to have them publicly accessible, or the player has to give Daaim his/her games directly. Neither situation exists for Chi-chi’s World Open games. I suppose I could ask Chikwere if he wants them published here.
Interesting video. More please! 🙂
That was a good gamecast. Listening to Adu’s casual commentary about players on the rise was also interesting.
Keep the beat going!
Frank, guys have been asking for you at Woodruff park
It was great seeing everyone at the World Open…especially Frank and John…I’m always amazed by the amount of people who make the trek every year…I do really miss the Adam’s Mark Hotel. The quality of service has definitely gone down. I saw problems from TD inexperience, Poor lighting, to smaller events starting 45 min after advertised times. We all know what make events are the people, but we must demand better service! Here’s one of the characters who makes it up every year…This is Tom Murphy playing GM Vadim Milov in the blitz tourney… Milov won the first game with one second on his clock!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn0VZVeRnAM
Travis,
Tell the fellas I will be out there soon!
Daaim, I was hoping to get some more footage, but it was already 1:15am with 2 rds to go…I should have caught more of Chi Chi and Morrison. That was a slugfest. Enjoyed the gamecast.
I’m always surprised that Chessbase rarely mentions the World Open.
It was great seeing everybody at the World Open, although I wish I would have performed better. I’ll try to get into some decent playing shape for my next big tourney after getting some other stuff under control academically and personally. Daaim, if you saved that picture of me and my family, I’d love to see how it turned out.
I echoe the sentiment about missing the Adam’s Mark as a tournament site, even though the current area is better for between- or after-round lounging or eating. The ballroom setup was just much better there, with the Open section having two rooms that were separate from everything else and with a lot more space for analysis of games and blitz challenges. Additionally, the Sheraton just does not have enough space for tournament guests, and the Radisson was somewhat distant from the tournament.
The biggest problem that I had with the event is that the hotels had vastly different parking rates, and there were no good options to avoid having to deal with this at the Radisson. At the Sheraton, tournament players paid $5 per day for parking; at the Radisson, it was $30. Since I played the 5-day schedule, this amounts to an extra $100 to participate in the same event, a situation that the organizers half-heartedly admitted to not thinking about. Adequate space for participants and for supporting the competition needs to be a priority if the organizers hope to continue to draw such huge crowds.
Hotep,
Maliq
This is the first time I visited your site. It’s very interesting. I am a black New York resident and have been playing chess for years. This is the first black site I’ve found. Keep up the good work, It’s awesome! I don’t compete in matches. I’m more a student of the game than an actual participate.
Hi, I know I’m two years late, but I am a black man, and I won the U1400 section in 2008 and got NO love from The Chess Drum! I know it’s U1400, but the mental toughness and preparation AND scoring points are the SAME in each section! The objective is to WIN your section, which is a HARD feat to do, when you’re going up against people of similar strength and sandbaggers from all over the world over a course of NINE gut-wrenching games! I didn’t play last year, but I’m playing in 2010 to defend my 08 title, in the U1600… nonetheless, I love this site!!