Month: April 2026

Posted on

Freestyle Chess (Chess960) with Draft Tonight

Just a reminder that we plan to hold a Freestyle Chess (Chess960) with draft event this evening, likely G/5;d3 of four or five rounds, followed by an A4c Variant tournament the following week, and we will combine the scores from both events to determine the winners of book prizes donated by a former club member. More details about both events may be found at the following links:

https://menloparkchess.club/event/chess960-draft-tournament-2/

https://menloparkchess.club/event/a4c-variant-tournament-4/

In related news, we’ve had repeated requests to hold theme tournaments, specifically for various well-known gambit lines, one gambit per week over several weeks at slightly longer time controls, like G/5 or G/7 with a 3-second delay, say. I’m still mulling this over but we may do this in May, before our next rated tournament. If you have an opinion about either please let me know and we’ll likely discuss this at the club tonight — I hope to see many of you there! Regards,

Mark Drury

Posted on

Impromptu Blitz #61 Results

We enjoyed another excellent turnout for last night’s free, unrated blitz tournament and I may dub this event the inaugural “Where the heck is Hayden?!” blitzfest, given we opted for his suggested G/3 of nine or ten rounds and he wasn’t able to join us (all jesting aside, we hope everything is okay on your end, Hayden).

Filling the considerable void left by Hayden’s absence, however, were no fewer than six first-time visitors to the club, including Max Elisman, a very strong player who tied for first place with Pranav Jindal, Austin Chen and Alex Chin at 7.0 points. Sharing fifth place one point behind that group of blitz worthies were David Flores, Breakwell Loyalka and newcomer Sam Bekker. We ended up playing just nine rounds and I think that was more than enough, given the glazed expression most people were wearing near the end of the evening.

Full results are in the attached image and our club/unofficial blitz ratings and club blitz points pages have been updated at the following links:

https://menloparkchess.club/ladders/club-unofficial-blitz-ratings/

https://menloparkchess.club/ladders/club-blitz-points-standings/

The tentative plan for next Thursday is Chess960 Draft followed by the A4c Variant April 30th and I think we’re going to offer book prizes to those who score well in both events combined. More information about those two tournaments will be available in a few days. Regards,

Mark Drury

Posted on

Impromptu Blitz #60 Results

Attached are the results for last week’s blitz tournament, seven rounds of G/3+2 as is our wont. Relative newcomer NM Dmitry Dzhanhirov enjoyed another excellent showing with 6.5 points, a full point and a half ahead of second place finishers Pranav Jindal and Hayden Brongersma, while no fewer than six players tied for fourth at 4.5. Full results are in the attached image and we’ll do something similar at the club this evening for those who are interested.

Our latest club blitz ratings and blitz point standings pages have also been updated and are available via the following links:

https://menloparkchess.club/ladders/club-unofficial-blitz-ratings/

https://menloparkchess.club/ladders/club-blitz-points-standings/

A vague notion about what we’ll do with the above is swirling in the ol’ noggin and I’ll run the idea by those at the club this evening to see if there’s any interest — I hope to see many of you there! Regards,

Mark Drury

Posted on

Impromptu Blitz #59 Results & Updated Events Calendar

This past Thursday saw both an excellent lecture from Frisco Del Rosario as well as another strong showing for our free, unrated blitz tournament series, with four first-time visitors and three masters participating. After seven rounds of G/3+2 chess FIDE Master and former World Youth Under-12 Co-Champion Rayan Taghizadeh stood alone in first with 6.5 points, his lone draw ceded to our second place finisher at 5.5, NM Dmitry Dzhanhirov. Club stalwarts Hayden Brongersma, Nicholas Tan and Cameron Troy tied for third at 5.0 while Austin Chen was alone in sixth at 4.5. Full results are in the attached wall chart and I’ve also included the updated club blitz point totals and club blitz ratings, the eventual purpose of which remains embarrassingly unclear at this time.

In other chess news, our very own Lauren Goodkind enjoyed an excellent result at the XVII Campeonato Continental Femenino de Ajedrez de Las Américas 2026 (17th American Women’s Continental Championship 2026), with a score of 5.0 points out of nine games and the distinction of being the top untitled player. Well done, Lauren, and perhaps a FIDE title of your own is soon in the offing!

Lastly for now, the club’s Events page (https://menloparkchess.club/events/) has been updated through the beginning of May and, to summarize, we’ll have two more weeks of casual blitz events followed by Chess960 Draft on April 23rd and an A4c Variant tournament on the 30th, then I hope to begin our next rated event May 7th — more details about that will be shared soon. Regards,

Mark Drury