Menlo Park Chess Club

Casual, Blitz, Lecture, Ladder Chess Evening
2024-09-26 18:00 - 21:00, 2024-10-03 18:00 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Arrillaga Family Recreation Center, 700 Alma Street, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, United States
Our regular weekly club meeting occurs Thursday evenings from 6:00-9:00pm in the Oak Room of the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center. Casual, blitz, bughouse and ladder chess games as well as a possible lecture are in the offing and we will also play another impromptu blitz tournament beginning at 7pm (free, no prizes), given there appears to be a strong appetite for same.

Casual, Blitz, Lecture, Ladder Chess Evening
2024-10-10 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-01-16 18:00 - 21:00
Our regular weekly club meeting occurs Thursday evenings from 6:00-9:00pm in the Oak Room of the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center. Casual, blitz, bughouse and ladder chess games as well as a possible lecture are in the offing and we will also play another impromptu blitz tournament beginning at 7pm (free, no prizes), given there appears to be an appetite for same.

Casual, Blitz, Lecture, Ladder Chess Evening
2025-01-23 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-01-30 18:00 - 21:00
Our regular weekly club meeting occurs Thursday evenings from 6:00-9:00pm in the Oak Room of the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center. Casual, blitz, bughouse and ladder chess games as well as a lecture are in the offing and we will also play another free, unrated blitz tournament beginning round 7pm, given there appears to be a continuing appetite for same.

Casual, Blitz, Lecture, Ladder Chess Evening
2025-02-06 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-02-20 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-03-13 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-03-27 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-04-03 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-04-10 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-04-17 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-04-24 18:00 - 21:00 and 12 more dates
Our regular weekly club meeting occurs Thursday evenings from 6:00-9:00pm in the Oak Room of the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center. Casual, blitz, bughouse and ladder chess games as well as a lecture are in the offing and we will also play another free, unrated blitz tournament beginning round 7pm, given there appears to be a continuing appetite for same. Note that our weekly lecture begins at 6:30pm and it remains one of the highlights of club attendance.

May Dual-Rated G/45;d5 Swiss in Two Sections, Round Two
2025-05-15 19:00 - 21:00
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold a US Chess dual-rated Swiss tournament in two sections beginning Thursday, May 8th, using the G/45;d5 time control and playing one game each evening over four successive weeks in May. Players will be grouped into two Swiss sections based upon rating to keep things as competitive as possible. This tournament is suitable for experienced players as well as newer US Chess members seeking to establish an over-the-board rating. Details follow:

Format: Swiss system tournament in two sections over four weeks, one game per evening
Rounds: May 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
Control: G/45;d5 (dual-rated game of 45 minutes per player plus a 5-second delay per move)
Entry Fee: $20 (PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12); entire entry fee goes to the prize fund.
Prizes: Each of the two sections will have two separate prize groups based upon rating, or four prize groups in total
Byes: One bye is available for rounds 1-3 with at least one day advance notice—no byes are available for round 4.
Register: Registrations close after the completion of Round 1
Equipment: Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a digital clock if you own one)
Membership: All tournament participants must be current US Chess members for the duration of the event
Rules: Our tournament chess rules summary is mandatory reading if you’re new to tournament play
Info: For more information please send email to info@menloparkchess.club
Social: Join our Facebook group or email list to stay abreast of future club tournaments and events

May Dual-Rated G/45;d5 Swiss in Two Sections, Round Three
2025-05-22 19:00 - 21:00

May Dual-Rated G/45;d5 Swiss in Two Sections, Round Four
2025-05-29 19:00 - 21:00

Freestyle Chess (Chess960) Draft Tournament
2025-09-11 18:00 - 21:00
A number of people have requested that we revisit Chess960 or, as it’s now styled, Freestyle Chess in another casual tournament so that’s exactly what we’ll do in this event, again using a piece placement draft with the following format and rules:

There will likely be 5 or 6 Swiss rounds at G/5;d3 in one or two sections
Registration will occur onsite–please try to arrive by 6:45pm
The games will be played with the normal Freestyle/Chess960 rules except for the use of a draft, wherein white starts black’s clock then black places the first piece on the back rank and starts white’s clock, white copies that move then places another piece of their own, black copies that placement then places a third piece, etc., until black places a final piece and white makes the first chess move of the game
It’s important to note that the draft phase covered above occurs while players’ clocks are running, just as in normal moves for the game
The king must be placed between the two rooks as in normal Freestyle/Chess960
More information about castling may be found in chess.com tutorials here and here
The bishops must be placed on opposite-colored squares
We will use clock move rather than touch move, as in our casual blitz tournaments
An illegal move pointed out by an opponent (no one else) immediately ends the game as a loss for the player who made the illegal move
