A Farewell to the Riviera

The storied Riviera was recently purchased by the Nevada Convention Authority and is set to be demolished.

I always enjoyed playing at the Riv, it had an old world charm and a perfect setup for a large convention. The rooms were always spacious and quiet, secluded away from the main casino. I'll never forget playing WBCA rated games against Emory Tate and Aleks Wojtkiewicz in the large conference hall, then sharing a beer or two with the top GMs at one of the Riviera's several bars.

Once, in 2007 or 2008, after the Riviera added a small poker room just off the convention concourse, I sat down after the 6th round of the National Open to find myself the lowest rated chess player at the poker table. GMs Jan Ehlvest, Dmitriy Gurevich, Varuzhan Akobian, and IM Andranik Matikozian filled out the game.

I bluffed Ehlvest with a 3 8 offsuit (was playing the board) and showed it to him. Ahh, the memories!