There will be no chess club meeting May 28th but we will meet June 4th

Category: lecture

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Lecture & Blitz Tournament Tomorrow Evening, Copa del Menlo Registration

I wanted to thank Jeff McGinnis once again for running the club in my absence last week, along with everyone who helped him—I truly appreciate your support! Seems we had at least seven first- or second-time visitors during the evening, which is in keeping with the current trend of lots of new people joining us—here’s hoping the burgeoning interest continues.

Tomorrow night will be another casual evening with a lecture followed by a free, unrated blitz tournament beginning round 7pm. I’ll be gone the following week, June 25th, riding my bicycle on the Oregon coast, but am hoping the club will still meet with the help of additional volunteer organizers—more about that a few days hence.

Finally for now, I updated our rated July tournament to be a G/45;d5 affair given that appears to be the club preference where time control is concerned, so we will play just one dual-rated game each of the three weeks, rather than two quick-rated games. Signups are still light so please register asap if you plan to play, something which makes planning for the tournament far easier:

https://menloparkchess.club/event/copa-del-menlo-round-one/.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions and I hope to see many of you tomorrow evening. Regards,

Mark Drury

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Club Will Meet Tomorrow, June 11th

Just a quick note to confirm that the club will meet tomorrow evening, June 11th, at 6pm with Jeff McGinnis hosting (thank you again, Jeff!) and with a possible lecture from Frisco round 6:30pm. I will not be able to get the club chess clocks to the recreation center tomorrow so please bring a clock if you own one and wish to played timed games. Also, if you are able to arrive around 6pm to help Jeff set up and/or stay until 9pm to help him tear down that would be great — both tasks take but a few minutes with several people helping.

I will be at the club the following week for another “casual” evening with lecture and free, unrated blitz chess tournament and hope to see many of you then. Regards,

Mark Drury

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Impromptu Blitz #64 Results & Copa del Menlo Registration

Last Thursday saw no less than nine first-time visitors at the club as well as a few members who returned after a considerable absence, which made for some interesting results in our Impromptu Blitz #64. Young Cameron Troy looked like he was headed for a 7-0 sweep after five rounds of crushing G/3+2 chess before running afoul of eventual winners Vedant Verma and Hayden Brongersma in rounds six and seven, respectively, both of whom amassed 6.0 points against a strong field. Pranav Jindal and Alexander Su shared third place with Cameron a point back while Lauren Goodkind sat alone in sixth place with 4.5 points. Full results are in the attached image and thank you to everyone who joined us for this casual tournament.

Relatedly, our club blitz rating and blitz points standing lists have been updated with the latest results and Hayden Brongersma has unsurprisingly taken over the top ratings spot while Pranav Jindal maintains his slim lead over Austin Chen in the points race:

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

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

Note that I will not be at the club this coming Thursday (I’ll be in Santa Barbara attending my daughter’s college graduation) but I will know in a day or two if others will run the club in my absence and will update https://menloparkchess.club/events/ no later than Wednesday afternoon with the status for this week. I will be at the club June 18th, of course, hosting another casual evening with a lecture and blitz tournament.

Finally for now, our “Copa Del Menlo” rated tournament remains scheduled for the first three Thursdays in July and one change we’re considering for this event is the time control, playing a single G/45;d5 instead of two G/20;d3 games each evening, given our club members appear to favor the longer time control. Let me know if you have a preference and please register asap if you plan to play in this event. Regards,

Mark Drury

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Impromptu Blitz #63 Results & No Chess Meeting Thursday, May 28th

We were joined by three first-time visitors at the club last night, two of whom played in our free, unrated blitz tournament (welcome, John Ballard and Lawrence Chao!), as well as several returning members whom we haven’t seen in a while and the new blood always makes these informal events that much more interesting. After seven rounds of G/3+2 action there is a new sheriff in town, with 10-year-old Austin Chen not only claiming sole first place with 5.5 points out of 7—he now tops our club blitz rating list for the first time, leapfrogging Pranav Jindal, NM Dmitry Dzhanhirov, Hayden Brongersma, FM Rayan Taghizadeh and other strong players with his 90-point gain last night:

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

Half a point behind Austin in sole second was David Flores and there followed four strong players in a tie for third at 4.5: Hayden Brongersma, Sam Bekker, Cameron Troy and Alexander Su. Full results are in the attached image, thank you to everyone who joined us last night and the updated impromptu blitz point standings may be viewed here:

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

Note that the club will not meet next week, May 28th, given Frisco and I are both unavailable that Thursday but we will hold another casual evening with a lecture and free, unrated blitz tournament June 4th—I hope to see many of you then. Regards,

Mark Drury

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Casual Night Tonight, “Copa del Menlo” in July

Sharing a quick note to let people know we’ll hold another casual evening at the club tonight, with a 6:30pm lecture followed by a free, unrated blitz tournament beginning round 7pm, with book prizes awarded based upon standing in our ongoing blitz series. I have also updated the club Events page to include our next rated offering, the “Copa del Menlo” tentatively scheduled for July 2nd, 9th and 16th (a gratuitous nod to this summer’s World Cup):

https://menloparkchess.club/event/copa-del-menlo-round-one/

This event is quick-rated (G/20;d3) with two rounds per evening but I may switch it to a single nightly game of G/45;d5 over three weeks, given our club appears to prefer the longer time controls. Take a look at the details and let me know if you have a preference (and feel free to register if you plan to play).

There remains a small chance that we’ll hold another rated event before July, given a number of members wish to do so, but I will miss the evenings of May 28th, June 11th and June 25th so I don’t know if we’ll be able to make that happen. More to come on that front soon and, as always, please let me know if you have any questions or comments in the interim. Regards,

Mark Drury

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Impromptu Blitz #62 Results

We had a good turnout this past Thursday for an excellent lecture by Frisco Del Rosario on another classic Morphy game followed by seven rounds of G/3+2 blitz action, which has become standard fare during our casual evenings. Twenty one people participated in the free, unrated tournament, including no less than five first-time visitors to the club as well as two people who returned after an absence of many months.

After the final round wound down Pranav Jindal and Hayden Brongersma shared top honors with 5.5 points out of seven, followed by junior standout Caleb Leong and relative newcomer Sam Bekker at 5.0. NM Gabe Sanchez and yours truly shared fifth place after handing younger nemeses tough losses in round 7. Full results are in the attached image and our current club blitz ratings and points totals may be viewed at the following links:

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

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

We’ll hold another casual evening this coming Thursday with a lecture and blitz tournament and will offer book prizes based on blitz point standings after the tournament concludes. May 28th is still in flux as I won’t be able to attend that evening but I’m hoping to have others run the club in my absence, while our next rated tournament begins June 4th — more details about that event will be shared soon.

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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

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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

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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

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Impromptu Blitz #51 Results

We had a smaller turnout for last week’s lecture and blitz tournament but there was no lack of appetite for the usual seven rounds of G/4;d2 chess. There were quite a few upsets over those seven rounds but Pranav Jindal still prevailed with 5.5 points and sole first place. Jason Wright and young Austin Chen tied for second with 5.0 out of 7 while Hayden Brongersma was alone in fourth with 4.5 points. Full results are in the attached image, congratulations to our winners and thanks to everyone who played in this free, unrated event.

Tonight will be much the same as last week, with a lecture beginning at 6:30pm followed by another free, unrated blitz tournament round 7pm, this time with a G/3+2 time control. I hope to see many of you then! Regards,

Mark Drury