Last Thursday saw no less than nine first-time visitors at the club as well as a few members who returned after a considerable absence, which made for some interesting results in our Impromptu Blitz #64. Young Cameron Troy looked like he was headed for a 7-0 sweep after five rounds of crushing G/3+2 chess before running afoul of eventual winners Vedant Verma and Hayden Brongersma in rounds six and seven, respectively, both of whom amassed 6.0 points against a strong field. Pranav Jindal and Alexander Su shared third place with Cameron a point back while Lauren Goodkind sat alone in sixth place with 4.5 points. Full results are in the attached image and thank you to everyone who joined us for this casual tournament.
Relatedly, our club blitz rating and blitz points standing lists have been updated with the latest results and Hayden Brongersma has unsurprisingly taken over the top ratings spot while Pranav Jindal maintains his slim lead over Austin Chen in the points race:
https://menloparkchess.club/ladders/club-unofficial-blitz-ratings/
https://menloparkchess.club/ladders/club-blitz-points-standings/
Note that I will not be at the club this coming Thursday (I’ll be in Santa Barbara attending my daughter’s college graduation) but I will know in a day or two if others will run the club in my absence and will update https://menloparkchess.club/events/ no later than Wednesday afternoon with the status for this week. I will be at the club June 18th, of course, hosting another casual evening with a lecture and blitz tournament.
Finally for now, our “Copa Del Menlo” rated tournament remains scheduled for the first three Thursdays in July and one change we’re considering for this event is the time control, playing a single G/45;d5 instead of two G/20;d3 games each evening, given our club members appear to favor the longer time control. Let me know if you have a preference and please register asap if you plan to play in this event. Regards,
Mark Drury
We were joined by three first-time visitors at the club last night, two of whom played in our free, unrated blitz tournament (welcome, John Ballard and Lawrence Chao!), as well as several returning members whom we haven’t seen in a while and the new blood always makes these informal events that much more interesting. After seven rounds of G/3+2 action there is a new sheriff in town, with 10-year-old Austin Chen not only claiming sole first place with 5.5 points out of 7—he now tops our club blitz rating list for the first time, leapfrogging Pranav Jindal, NM Dmitry Dzhanhirov, Hayden Brongersma, FM Rayan Taghizadeh and other strong players with his 90-point gain last night:
https://menloparkchess.club/ladders/club-unofficial-blitz-ratings/
Half a point behind Austin in sole second was David Flores and there followed four strong players in a tie for third at 4.5: Hayden Brongersma, Sam Bekker, Cameron Troy and Alexander Su. Full results are in the attached image, thank you to everyone who joined us last night and the updated impromptu blitz point standings may be viewed here:
https://menloparkchess.club/ladders/club-blitz-points-standings/
Note that the club will not meet next week, May 28th, given Frisco and I are both unavailable that Thursday but we will hold another casual evening with a lecture and free, unrated blitz tournament June 4th—I hope to see many of you then. Regards,
Mark Drury
Sharing a quick note to let people know we’ll hold another casual evening at the club tonight, with a 6:30pm lecture followed by a free, unrated blitz tournament beginning round 7pm, with book prizes awarded based upon standing in our ongoing blitz series. I have also updated the club Events page to include our next rated offering, the “Copa del Menlo” tentatively scheduled for July 2nd, 9th and 16th (a gratuitous nod to this summer’s World Cup):
https://menloparkchess.club/event/copa-del-menlo-round-one/
This event is quick-rated (G/20;d3) with two rounds per evening but I may switch it to a single nightly game of G/45;d5 over three weeks, given our club appears to prefer the longer time controls. Take a look at the details and let me know if you have a preference (and feel free to register if you plan to play).
There remains a small chance that we’ll hold another rated event before July, given a number of members wish to do so, but I will miss the evenings of May 28th, June 11th and June 25th so I don’t know if we’ll be able to make that happen. More to come on that front soon and, as always, please let me know if you have any questions or comments in the interim. Regards,
Mark Drury
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 quick-rated G/20;d3 event played in small Swiss sections of 6-8 players grouped by rating, with two games played per evening against the same opponent, one as white and one as black. 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 with two games against the same opponent per evening, one as white and one as black
- Rounds: July 2nd, 9th and 16th with no makeup round planned for this event — games begin promptly at 7:00pm
- Control: G/20;d3 (quick-rated games of 20 minutes per player plus a 3-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
