Las Vegas plays host every year to one of America's biggest class opens, the North American Open (NAO). Chess enthusiasts of all strengths from all over the world flock to the entertainment metropole for these tournaments, with hopes of winning relatively big prizes ($80,000 guaranteed for this year's NAO) and experiencing all that the city has to offer. Report by Beau Mueller.
In November 2012 Frederic Friedel and his wife Ingrid toured the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Monument Valley, the lakes, etc. in a single-engine Cessna piloted by the Unix-inventor Ken Thompson. On the trip they flew over Las Vegas, and took the following aerial pictures.

Las Vegas was founded in 1905 and incorporated as a city in 1911. It is located in an arid basin on the desert floor of Nevada and is surrounded by dry mountains. Much of the landscape is rocky and dusty, but the area is subject to torrential flash floods. The city's tolerance for gambling and various forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of Sin City, and made it world famous.