Tag: chess960

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Chess960 Draft Tournament

Our club dabbled in yet another interesting chess variant Thursday with the Chess960 Draft Tournament and, poorly as I did this time around, I think I speak for everyone in stating that the event was a lot of fun, with unusual positions seen in every round. In one of my games I made the cardinal mistake of failing to take stock of immediate threats on my first move and, as a result, lost a pawn and the exchange to a marauding bishop on move 2 or 3, which was mildly embarrassing. The timed draft aspect of this variant really adds something new and different to the game, especially with a relatively short time control like G/7;d3, but players got the hang of it quickly and there were few if any illegal setups that I’m aware of.

Eighteen participants turned out to be perfect for the four rounds we were able to play and congratulations are once again due to Pranav Jindal for another perfect score, his 4-0 result half a point better than Gabe Sanchez’s 3.5 for sole second. David Zhao and Josen Kalra enjoyed another excellent showing with their shared third place finish at 3 points, ahead of some very strong expert-level competition. Thank you to everyone who played in this event, please let me know if you have any feedback and we’ll give it another go later this year. Regards,

Mark Drury

#PlayerRd 1Rd 2Rd 3Rd 4Total
1Pranav JindalW 9B 11W 7B 5
1.02.03.04.04.0
2Gabriel SanchezW 3B 8W 5B 7
1.02.02.53.53.5
3David ZhaoB 2W 16B 17W 9
0.01.02.03.03.0
4Josen KalraW 6B 7W 12B 11
1.01.02.03.03.0
5Alaric SteinB 10W 14B 2W 1
1.02.02.52.52.5
6Kunal ModiB 4W 17B 9W 10
0.01.01.02.02.0
7Wentao WuB 16W 4B 1W 2
1.02.02.02.02.0
8Alex WuW 12W 2B 10W 17
1.01.01.02.02.0
9Michael ByunB 1W 18W 6B 3
0.01.02.02.02.0
10Hayden BrongersmaW 5B 15W 8B 6
0.01.02.02.02.0
11Austin ChenB 13W 1B 14W 4
1.01.02.02.02.0
12Hugo PuB 8W 13B 4B 15
0.01.01.02.02.0
13Richard WangW 11B 12W 16B 14
0.00.01.01.51.5
14Renzo FrigatoW 18B 5W 11W 13
1.01.01.01.51.5
15Jeremy ArthurB 17W 10B 18W 12
0.00.01.01.01.0
16Mark DruryW 7B 3B 13W 18
0.00.00.01.01.0
17Aditya DhamdhereW 15B 6W 3B 8
1.01.01.01.01.0
18Carlos FuertesB 14B 9W 15B 16
0.00.00.00.00.0

Chess960 Draft Tournament

On the heels of our very successful A4c Variant Tournament, we’ll hold another Chess960 variant tournament, this time using a piece placement draft with the following format and rules:

  • There will likely be 4 or 5 Swiss rounds at G/7;d3 in one or two sections
  • The games will be played with the normal 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 second 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 Chess960
  • The bishops must be placed on opposite-colored squares
  • We will use clock move rather than touch move, as in our 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

“Tower of Flints” Team Chess960

The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold its first team Chess960 event March 30th, a follow-on to our Team Blitz on March 9th and part of a long-promised experiment to see if the team format works for our membership. The tournament will consist of eight teams of four players in a 3-round Swiss with a G/10 d/3 time control and free entry. The Chess960 starting positions to be used will be shared at the beginning of each round.

Sign up individually using the Register button, above, and teams will be crafted by the tournament director, with the avowed goal of making the event as equitable as possible where rating and/or skill level are concerned. Given the fixed team nature of this event there is little flexibility where the number of participants is concerned, so if you wish to play please sign up early. That said, please do not register if you are on the fence about playing on the 30th, as nothing causes more swirl in a team event than late withdrawals or, worse, no-shows.

Shortly after registrations close team rosters and pairings will be shared with all participants. If you need to withdraw for any reason please let the tournament director know as soon as possible, so that a replacement player may be found and the teams rebalanced, as necessary. The first round will begin promptly at 7:00pm so please arrive by 6:45 Thursday to check in. Our Tournament Rules Summary will be followed for this tournament with the lone exception that we will observe clock move rather than touch move (the distinction will be shared before the start of the first round). Please send any questions or comments to info@menloparkchess.club and we look forward to seeing you at at this event!

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Fischer Random (Chess960) Tournament Results

Eighteen brave souls took part in our four-round Fischer Random/Chess960 tournament this past Wednesday, with Alaric Stein cooly claiming yet another first place in club events and taking the $20 Feldman’s Books gift certificate with a perfect score. Pranav Jindal, Adam Stevens, Alexander Su and Adithya Karavadi tied for second with three points apiece and, after a tense G/3+0 blitz playoff, Adam won the $15 second prize gift certificate and Adithya the $10 third.

Everyone appeared to enjoy this event, even with pieces hanging left and right, so we may try the variant again soon if people wish to do so. The starting positions for each round are listed in the image, below, please let me know if you have any questions about this tournament and a hearty “thank you!” to everyone who participated.