The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our fifth annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 5th, 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 26th, 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 5th, 12th, 19th and December 3rd and 10th (there is no round November 26th, 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 (you only need register for round one of this event, which covers all rounds)
- 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 required reading if you’re new to tournament play
- For more information please send email to info@menloparkchess.club
- Join our Facebook group or Google Group to stay abreast of future club tournaments and events
I wanted to post a quick update reminding people that we’ll be playing round 3 of our club championship this Thursday at 7pm, per the attached wall chart image. Please feel free to join us for Frisco’s 6:30pm lecture and to spectate the tournament games thereafter but we won’t be holding the typical free, unrated blitz tournament this week. We will have a skittles room available for those who wish to pick up a game or two and that room becomes reasonably active as the tournament games finish round 8pm.
Frisco is also creating an excellent tournament bulletin for each round and that for the first may be viewed here.
Please let me know if you have any questions about the club championship or about club events for the remainder of the year (https://menloparkchess.club/events/) and I hope to see you at the Arrillaga Center soon! Regards,
Mark Drury
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
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
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
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
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
Attached is the wall chart showing the final results for our 2024 Club Championship as well as the prize amounts and distributions for our different prize groups. Congratulations to our newest club champion, Yoyo He, on his perfect score in this event and on the addition of 100+ points to his regular rating—well played, Yoyo! Pranav Jindal took sole second in the event with four points followed by a number of players at 3.5, and both Thomas Petrillo and Breakwell Loyalka played well above their ratings to be part of that august group. The tournament has already been rated and the US Chess report is available here:
https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202412125552-12459313
Thank you to everyone who participated in our club championship and if you have any feedback or suggestions for future tournaments please don’t hesitate to share them with me. Regards,
Mark Drury
The image below includes the round one results for our club championship as well as the round 2 pairings. There were some amazing games in round one and it seemed the top three boards all could have ended in upsets at various points during the evening, though the higher-rated players all managed to prevail (in the final seconds on boards one and three). There were equally close games further down the wall chart but when all the clocks were finally stopped we had just one “upset,” with young Max Cheung overcoming another strong junior player, Hugo Pu, on board 15.
I liked using the two rooms as we did last week, given there was more space for everyone, so I may try to continue that for the rest of the championship if the rec. center staff allow it. Else, we’ll probably be in the Oak Room again this week, as usual. Please plan to arrive before 7pm so we can check everyone in and start the round on time, something we almost managed last week. Better yet, get there by 6:30 to enjoy Frisco’s excellent lecture and you’ll likely learn something new about this amazing game we all share. See you Thursday!
Mark Drury
Twenty-eight people joined us for our Blitz Championship #2 last night, another seven-rounder with a G/3+2 time control in place of last week’s G/5+0. Kunal Modi’s excellent 6.0 out of 7 was good for clear first and the top group’s $80 prize, while Zelin Fang and Hayden Brongersma shared first place in group two and split $60. There was a three-way tie in group three between Kaio Deeter, Breakwell Loyalka and Austin Chen, all of whom split another $60 while young Siddharth Kalra took sole first in group four, claiming all $40 of that group’s prize. This event has already been rated and the report may be viewed here: https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202410244452.
Last night also wrapped up our combined blitz championship and after fourteen long rounds over two weeks Andy Applebaum edged out Kunal Modi by half a point to take the overall Menlo Park Chess Club Championship and the extra $100 prize. Well played, Andy and Kunal, and thank you to everyone who joined us for these two blitz tournaments.
Note that we won’t meet next week, October 31st, given it’s Halloween but our five-round club championship proper begins the following week and spots are still available in that event if you prefer longer time controls: https://menloparkchess.club/event/third-menlo-park-chess-club-championship-round-1/. Regards,
Mark Drury
