Casual, Blitz, Lecture, Ladder Chess Evening
2025-08-07 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-08-14 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-08-21 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-09-04 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-09-18 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-12-18 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 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.

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

Casual, Blitz, Lecture, Ladder Chess Evening
2025-10-16 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-10-23 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. Note that our weekly lecture begins at 6:30pm and remains one of the highlights of club attendance.

A4c Variant Tournament #3
2025-10-30 18:00 - 21:00
“A4c” or “The Clock (Almost) Never Stops” Variant

Background: One of the strongest blitz players in our club came up with this variant and, after hearing it described, we couldn’t resist holding two informal tournaments in 2024 to give it a try. It proved very popular so we’re giving it another go—it involves a good deal of fast chess plus a game within a game (a metagame) centered around how best to manage one’s fixed time allotment over several games.

Concept: Players will play best of 3 games against the same opponent in each round with 10 minutes on their clocks, with no increment or delay. When a game ends, players pause the clock but do not reset the time. They reset the pieces then restart the clock for the next game with the times remaining from the prior game(s). If a player runs out of time they lose the match. If a player wins the majority of the points possible in the 3 games, they win the match (so if a player wins two games and still has time remaining on their clock they win the match). One player gets two games with the white pieces (first and third games) and the other gets preferred clock side for all games.

Oddities: Clock location does not change so one player always keeps it on their preferred side. Typically the players start the game by drawing for colors then whomever wins the draw chooses White or Clockside, but given we’ll be holding a Swiss system tournament the player assigned White in any round gets two whites and the player assigned Black gets to choose clockside. (We could also allow the player who is assigned White by the pairing software to choose color preference or clockside to further complicate the metagame).

Comments: I like the metagame aspect of this format because it incentivizes players to manage their clock across multiple games with tactical decisions (whether it is burning down an opponent’s time when they are ahead on time or resigning quickly to preserve more time for subsequent games). It also allows a stronger slower player to manage their time differently and take more time to win the majority of games (though this is risky if they go into a third game after budgeting time poorly).

Format: As mentioned above, we will play 3 games at Gs/10 over three or possibly four rounds, depending upon when we get started, and we may split players into groups of 8-12 by rating if the tournament doesn’t start very near 7pm (leaving time for just three rounds), so please arrive a little earlier if at all possible.

Casual, Blitz, Lecture, Ladder Chess Evening
2026-01-08 18:00 - 21:00, 2026-01-15 18:00 - 21:00, 2026-01-22 18:00 - 21:00, 2026-01-29 18:00 - 21:00, 2026-02-12 18:00 - 21:00, 2026-02-19 18:00 - 21:00, 2026-02-26 18:00 - 21:00, 2026-04-02 18:00 - 21:00 and 8 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 free weekly lecture begins at 6:30pm and it remains one of the highlights of club attendance.

Freestyle Chess (Chess960) Draft Tournament
2026-04-23 19:00 - 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:

A Swiss system tournament of 4 or 5 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, though this does not apply during the draft/piece placement phase of the game
Each player’s score for this event will be combined with that from the A4c Variant tournament the following week to determine who wins nice book prizes, though one needn’t commit to playing in both events

A4c Variant Tournament #4
2026-04-30 19:00 - 21:00
“A4c” or “The Clock (Almost) Never Stops” Variant

Background: One of the strongest blitz players in our club came up with this variant and, after hearing it described, we couldn’t resist holding three informal tournaments in 2024 and 2025 to give it a try. It proved very popular so we’re giving it another go—it involves a good deal of fast chess plus a game within a game (a metagame) centered around how best to manage one’s fixed time allotment over two or three games.

Concept: Players will play best of 3 games against the same opponent in each round with 10 minutes on their clocks, with no increment or delay. When a game ends, players pause the clock but do not reset the time. They reset the pieces then restart the clock for the next game with the times remaining from the prior game(s). If a player runs out of time they lose the match. If a player wins the majority of the points possible in the 3 games, they win the match (so if a player wins two games and still has time remaining on their clock they win the match). One player gets two games with the white pieces (first and third games) and the other gets preferred clock side for all games.

Oddities: Clock location does not change so one player always keeps it on their preferred side. Typically the players start the game by drawing for colors then whomever wins the draw chooses White or Clockside, but given we’ll be holding a Swiss system tournament the player assigned White in any round gets two whites and the player assigned Black gets to choose clockside. (We could also allow the player who is assigned White by the pairing software to choose color preference or clockside to further complicate the metagame).

Comments: I like the metagame aspect of this format because it incentivizes players to manage their clock across multiple games with tactical decisions (whether it is burning down an opponent’s time when they are ahead on time or resigning quickly to preserve more time for subsequent games). It also allows a stronger slower player to manage their time differently and take more time to win the majority of games (though this is risky if they go into a third game after budgeting time poorly).

Format: As mentioned above, we will play 3 games at Gs/10 over three or possibly four rounds, depending upon when we get started, and we may split players into groups of 8-12 by rating if the tournament doesn’t start very near 7pm (leaving time for just three rounds), so please arrive a little earlier if at all possible.

Prizes: Player scores from this event will be combined with those from the previous week’s Freestyle Chess tournament to determine the winners of some nice book prizes, donated by a former club member who left the Bay Area some time ago.

Copa Del Menlo, Round One
2026-07-02 19:00 - 21:00
To honor the FIFA World Cup this summer we’ll hold our own Copa del Menlo the first three Thursdays in July (2nd, 9th, 16th), a dual-rated G/45;d5 event played in small Swiss sections of 6-8 players grouped by rating, with one game played per evening. With the World Cup in mind, this will also be a team event using the so-called “snake draft” to create teams of four or so players from each section in the tournament, with an added cash prize given to the top two teams based upon total team score (the sum or all team member scores).
Given the small sections and teams nature of this event it is paramount that players are able to play all three weeks of the tournament — no byes are available and we are not planning to hold a makeup round at this time, though that could change if sufficient people request it (July is a vacation month, after all). Full details follow:

Format: Small Swiss sections (groups of 6-8 players) based upon rating
Rounds: July 2nd, 9th and 16th with no makeup round planned for this event — games begin promptly at 7:00pm
Control: G/45;d5 (dual-rated games of 45 minutes per player plus a 5-second delay per move)
Entry Fee: $20; PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12; Zelle: 650-400-6393; entire entry fee goes to the prize fund
Prizes: Based upon 32 entries and 8-player sections, each section will offer a $70 first, $40 second and $20 third prize with ties splitting the money while the top team will split $80 and the second-place team $40 (based on 4-person teams)
Byes: No byes are available for this event
Register: Please sign up in advance using the ‘Register’ button, above
Equipment: Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a digital clock if you prefer your own)
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 Google group to stay abreast of club news, tournaments and events

Copa del Menlo, Round Two
2026-07-09 19:00 - 21:00
To honor the FIFA World Cup this summer we’ll hold our own Copa del Menlo the first three Thursdays in July (2nd, 9th, 16th), a dual-rated G/45;d5 event played in small Swiss sections of 6-8 players grouped by rating, with one game played per evening. With the World Cup in mind, this will also be a team event using the so-called “snake draft” to create teams of four or so players from each section in the tournament, with an added cash prize given to the top two teams based upon total team score (the sum or all team member scores).
Given the small sections and teams nature of this event it is paramount that players are able to play all three weeks of the tournament — no byes are available and we are not planning to hold a makeup round at this time, though that could change if sufficient people request it (July is a vacation month, after all). Full details follow:

Format: Small Swiss sections (groups of 6-8 players) based upon rating
Rounds: July 2nd, 9th and 16th with no makeup round planned for this event — games begin promptly at 7:00pm
Control: G/45;d5 (dual-rated games of 45 minutes per player plus a 5-second delay per move)
Entry Fee: $20; PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12; Zelle: 650-400-6393; entire entry fee goes to the prize fund
Prizes: Based upon 32 entries and 8-player sections, each section will offer a $70 first, $40 second and $20 third prize with ties splitting the money while the top team will split $80 and the second-place team $40 (based on 4-person teams)
Byes: No byes are available for this event
Register: Registrations closed after round one
Equipment: Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a digital clock if you prefer your own)
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 Google group to stay abreast of club news, tournaments and events
