Daniel Naroditsky Lecture & A4c Variant Tournament

Last Thursday we were treated to Frisco’s excellent lecture on the games and character of the late Daniel Naroditsky, whose passing deeply affected the many members of our club who knew him. I never met Daniel but everything I’ve heard and read about him makes clear the magnitude of the loss his untimely death is for the world-wide chess community. There was a celebration of his life and legacy (one of many, I’m sure) in San Mateo this past Sunday and I hope more than a few of you were able to attend and share what Daniel meant to you and to those who knew him and his work.

After the lecture we held another 7-round Swiss blitz affair with G//5+0, a time control we don’t use all that often and one which left a number of people pining away for any increment or delay, self included. Pranav Jindal was upset in the first round by perennial threat Venugopal Mani before righting the ship and notching six straight victories for sole first place, including a final-round victory against the ever more formidable Austin Chen. Austin tied for second with Alex Chin at 5.0 points while returning player William Mandrusov and junior Caleb Leong shared 4th place at 4.5. Full results are in the attached image, thank you to everyone who played in this event and congratulations to our winners!

This Thursday night, after our lecture, we will once again assay Alaric Stein’s A4c variant, our third such event with this format and it proved very popular the first two times we gave it a try. The event is free and unrated (no need to register in advance) and more information may be found here:

https://menloparkchess.club/event/a4c-variant-tournament-3/

Please let me know if you have any questions and I hope to see many of you at the club tomorrow night. Regards,

Mark Drury

Casual Evening Tonight & Club Championship Registration

Just a quick reminder that tonight we’ll hold another casual evening at the club, with a free lecture at 6:30pm followed by a free, unrated blitz tournament of 5-7 rounds. We’ll also play makeup games for our Autumn Quads event in a separate room, which are always fun to spectate. Please plan to attend if you have a free hour or two for chess this evening.

Please also consider registering for our club championship beginning November 6th, which is always a highlight of the year for our group and is limited to 32 players:

https://menloparkchess.club/event/fourth-menlo-park-chess-club-championship-round-one/

Regards,

Mark Drury

October 16th Happenings & Club Championship

I wanted to share a quick update that the club’s Autumn Quads wrapped up last week, save for a few makeup games which will occur on the 23rd or 30th of this month, so tomorrow, October 16th, will include Frisco’s excellent lecture and a casual evening with a possible free, unrated blitz tournament to round out the night for those who are interested. One difference will be that I won’t attend tomorrow, given I’ll be out of town, but Hayden Brongersma, Jeff McGinnis and Hugo Pu have graciously offered to run the club in my stead. They will begin setting up round 6pm and if you are able to help them I’m sure it would be much appreciated. Casual, blitz, bughouse and hand-and-brain competition may complement any blitz tournament, I’m sure, so please plan to attend for some or all of the three hours, and thank you again, Hayden, Jeff and Hugo, for helping out!

I also wanted to send another reminder to register for our 4th annual club championship which begins November 6th, a 5-round G/45;d5 affair in one section over six weeks (no chess Thanksgiving week) that includes three or four different prize groups. This is our premier event and may very well be the most prestigious tournament north of Palo Alto and south of Atherton on the peninsula during the latter two months of the year. Details and a registration link may be found here: https://menloparkchess.club/event/fourth-menlo-park-chess-club-championship-round-one/. Regards,

Mark Drury

Quads Continue & Club Championship Registration Opens

Just a quick reminder that tonight we continue our quick-rated quads after Frisco’s 6:30pm lecture so there will be no blitz tournament this evening, while the final quad games will occur next Thursday, October 9th, to wrap up this event (the Events tab on the club website is up-to-date through early November, when our five-round club championship begins).

Speaking of our club championship, it begins November 6th and includes five rounds of dual-rated G/45;d5 chess, one game per evening over six weeks with a break during the Thanksgiving Holiday. Details about this fun event and a registration link may be found here:

As always, please let me know if you have any questions, comments or suggestions about club activities and I hope to see many of you at the club soon. Regards,

Mark Drury