A4c Variant Tournament #3
2025-10-30 18:00 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Arrillaga Family Recreation Center, 700 Alma Street, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, United States
“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.

Fourth Menlo Park Chess Club Championship, Round One
2025-11-06 19:00 - 21:00
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our fourth annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 6th, at 7pm, a five-round USCF-rated Swiss system event using the dual-rated G/45;d5 time control over five weeks (there will be no round on November 27th, Thanksgiving). Our championship is aimed at players with at least some tournament experience (one or two rated events, say) and may not be suitable for children under the age of 10, given games could last until almost 9pm on a school night. Details follow:

Format: Five-round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
Rounds: November 6th, 13th, 20th and December 4th and 11th (there is no round November 27th, Thanksgiving)—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
Control: G/45;d5 (dual-rated game of 45 minutes for each player plus a 5-second delay per move)
Entry Fee: $20 (the entire entry fee will be returned in prizes)

Payment: PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12, Zelle: 6504006393
Prizes: Four prize groups based upon November US Chess regular ratings with roughly 8 players per prize group (Group 1: $120, $60, $40; Group 2: $100, $60, $40; Group 3: $80, $40, $20; Group 4: $80, $40, $20, with adjustments as needed based on tournament/group size)
Byes: One half-point bye is available for any round save the last, but the bye must be requested at least two days in advance of the day of play
Register: Please sign up in advance using the ‘Register’ button, above
Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you prefer your own)
All tournament participants must be current US Chess members
Our tournament chess rules summary is worth perusing if you’re new to tournament play
For more information please send email to info@menloparkchess.club
Join our Facebook group to stay abreast of future club tournaments and events

Fourth Menlo Park Chess Club Championship, Round Two
2025-11-13 19:00 - 21:00
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our fourth annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 6th, at 7pm, a five-round USCF-rated Swiss system event using the dual-rated G/45;d5 time control over five weeks (there will be no round on November 27th, Thanksgiving). Our championship is aimed at players with at least some tournament experience (one or two rated events, say) and may not be suitable for children under the age of 10, given games could last until almost 9pm on a school night. Details follow:

Format: Five-round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
Rounds: November 6th, 13th, 20th and December 4th and 11th (there is no round November 27th, Thanksgiving)—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
Control: G/45;d5 (dual-rated game of 45 minutes for each player plus a 5-second delay per move)
Entry Fee: $20 (the entire entry fee will be returned in prizes)

Payment: PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12, Zelle: 6504006393
Prizes: Four prize groups based upon November US Chess regular ratings with roughly 8 players per prize group (Group 1: $120, $60, $40; Group 2: $100, $60, $40; Group 3: $80, $40, $20; Group 4: $80, $40, $20, with adjustments as needed based on tournament/group size)
Byes: One half-point bye is available for any round save the last, but the bye must be requested at least two days in advance of the day of play
Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you prefer your own)
All tournament participants must be current US Chess members
Our tournament chess rules summary is worth perusing if you’re new to tournament play
For more information please send email to info@menloparkchess.club
Join our Facebook group to stay abreast of future club tournaments and events

Fourth Menlo Park Chess Club Championship, Round Three
2025-11-20 19:00 - 21:00

Fourth Menlo Park Chess Club Championship, Round Four
2025-12-04 19:00 - 21:00

Fourth Menlo Park Chess Club Championship, Round Five
2025-12-11 19:00 - 21:00
