Tag: blitz

Last Thursday we were treated to Frisco’s excellent lecture on the games and character of the late Daniel Naroditsky, whose passing deeply affected the many members of our club who knew him. I never met Daniel but everything I’ve heard and read about him makes clear the magnitude of the loss his untimely death is for the world-wide chess community. There was a celebration of his life and legacy (one of many, I’m sure) in San Mateo this past Sunday and I hope more than a few of you were able to attend and share what Daniel meant to you and to those who knew him and his work.

After the lecture we held another 7-round Swiss blitz affair with G//5+0, a time control we don’t use all that often and one which left a number of people pining away for any increment or delay, self included. Pranav Jindal was upset in the first round by perennial threat Venugopal Mani before righting the ship and notching six straight victories for sole first place, including a final-round victory against the ever more formidable Austin Chen. Austin tied for second with Alex Chin at 5.0 points while returning player William Mandrusov and junior Caleb Leong shared 4th place at 4.5. Full results are in the attached image, thank you to everyone who played in this event and congratulations to our winners!

This Thursday night, after our lecture, we will once again assay Alaric Stein’s A4c variant, our third such event with this format and it proved very popular the first two times we gave it a try. The event is free and unrated (no need to register in advance) and more information may be found here:

https://menloparkchess.club/event/a4c-variant-tournament-3/

Please let me know if you have any questions and I hope to see many of you at the club tomorrow night. Regards,

Mark Drury

Twenty-four people joined us for our Impromptu Blitz #48 last week, another 7-round G/4+2 affair which produced no real surprises where the final results were concerned. Alex Chin claimed another sole first place with 6.0 out of 7, with his only loss a tough game against Breakwell Loyalka, a name we’re seeing far more of in these summaries. Hayden Brongersma and first-time club visitor and Bay Area chess stalwart Cailen Melville tied for second at 5.5, while Breakwell was alone in fourth at 5.0 followed by a raft of strong if vexed players at 4.0. I suppose after 48 iterations of these blitz tournaments it’s time to lose the “Impromptu” title and I’m thinking of ways to change the format to make it more league-like, with results over several weeks or months leading to prizes and the like—more to come about that soon. Full results are in the attached image and thank you to everyone who joined us for this tournament.

We still have some spots available in our double-round quick-rated quads or small Swisses which begin this Thursday. Note that there will be no on-site registration for this event, given I need to set up the groups ahead of time, so if you wish to play please register today, if at all possible (if you didn’t receive email from the club address today stating you are registered for the event you are not currently in the tournament):

Autumn Double-Round Quick-Rated Quads, Rounds 1-2