Today was the second and final day of my brother's tournament. He lost the first round of the day, but won the second. There was a few hours in between when we all walked around Las Vegas and visited different places and buildings. My brother won his second and final match, and we went out some more.

We watched the Bellagio fountain dance to music a couple times,

At night, my brother discovered that there was another tournament later this same night. It was the North American Blitz Open, and started at 10pm. Blitz allows each player 5 minutes, so the whole tournament could be finished in a few hours.

My brother entered the tournament for a 40 dollar registration fee, and played blitz chess until 1am. He ended up tying for 4th, and won 53 dollars.

His final result in the main standard tournament (the one he's played two days for) earned him 116 dollars in prize money. His rating points went up a lot as a result of the tournament, and he should be ranked around 20th in the nation now (for his age).

In the blitz tournament, my brother mostly stayed on a table adjacent to Hikaru Nakamura, considered by many to be the best blitz player in the world. Nakamura is the third highest ranked player in the United States, and is only 19 years old... You can see him playing in the second to last photo.

This is what blitz chess can look like when the game is nearing an end, or when players are running out of time:

What Blitz Chess Looks Like

Here's a low quality clip of my brother playing standard chess against his second opponent. He lost this one.

My Brother's Second Opponent

Here's a clip of my brother playing in the Blitz tournament against a younger but higher ranked opponent. He won one and lost one against him.

A Younger Blitz Opponent