Our regular weekly club meeting occurs Thursday evenings from 6:00-9:00pm in the Oak or Elm Room of the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center. Casual, blitz 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.
Casual Evening with Lecture and Blitz Tournament
Our regular weekly club meeting occurs Thursday evenings from 6:00-9:00pm in the Oak or Elm Room of the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center. Casual, blitz 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.
Casual Evening with Lecture and Blitz Tournament
Our regular weekly club meeting occurs Thursday evenings from 6:00-9:00pm in the Oak or Elm Room of the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center. Casual, blitz 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.
Casual Evening with Lecture and Blitz Tournament
Our regular weekly club meeting occurs Thursday evenings from 6:00-9:00pm in the Oak or Elm Room of the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center. Casual, blitz 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.
After another of Frisco’s excellent lectures last week we played the first round of our Copa del Menlo dual-rated Swiss tournament, one which includes three sections of eight players each and an additional teams component. Attached are the first round results, second round pairings and team standings and we’ll play the second round tomorrow evening beginning promptly at 7pm. Note that we should have a skittles room open so those of you not playing in the tournament should feel free to visit and perhaps play some casual chess–several people did so last week.
On the scheduling front, we’ll play the third and final round of our Copa del Menlo September 24th and then on October 1st from 7-8pm Lauren Goodkind has offered to give a free lecture covering one or two of her recent tournament games, a lecture aimed at encouraging more women and girls to play chess and one suitable for beginners as well as more advanced players. Please plan to attend Lauren’s lecture in October and help spread the word, especially among your female friends who are or may be interested in getting more involved in the game we all share. More information may be found here.
Regards,
Mark Drury
Lauren Goodkind Chess Lecture
Lauren Goodkind, a well-regarded chess coach and author in the Bay Area, will give a FREE chess lecture at the Menlo Park Chess Club to inspire more women and girls to play chess. Lauren will review one or two of her recent tournament games and the lecture is suitable for beginners and experienced players. Please let others know about this event so we can help grow the game among women and girls who are or may be interested in the game we all love.
After the lecture there will be free casual play for anyone wanting a game and chess boards, chess sets and chess clocks will be provided by the club. We hope to see many of you there and please help spread the word!
Impromptu Blitz #72 Results
Well, after Frisco’s excellent lecture last week we were supposed to hold a bughouse tournament, which may go some way to explaining the smaller turnout of 23 players seen Thursday, but our bughouse fanatics didn’t show so we opted instead for yet another impromptu blitz event with seven rounds of G/3+2 chess, the clear preference of those in attendance. After the conclusion of the dramatic seventh round, when no fewer than eight players had some chance of nabbing a possible tie for first, Lauren Goodkind claimed her first victory in this blitz series with 5.5 points, a half point ahead of Carlos Jerez, Hugo Pu and Jeff McGinnis (who also enjoyed his best finish to date). The three strong players tied for 5th place at 4.5 points give some idea how hard-fought this tournament was and make Lauren’s performance all the more impressive. Full results are in the attached wall chart, thank you to everyone who joined us for this fun, free event and I’ll update the club’s blitz points standings and club blitz ratings in another day or two.
Please note that the club will not meet this week per the listing on our Events page but we will begin our three-week Copa del Menlo rated tournament the following Thursday, September 10th. If you wish to play in that event please register asap via the following link (you only need register for the first round/week):
https://menloparkchess.club/event/copa-del-menlo-round-one/
As always, please let me know if you have any questions or comments and I hope to see many of you on September 10th. Regards,
Mark Drury
Lecture & Casual Chess Evening
This week we will have a lecture beginning at 6:30pm followed by casual play for the remainder of the evening, given Mark is out of town and cannot host a blitz tournament or the like. Please bring your own clocks if you would like to play timed games — boards and sets will be provided, as always.
Queen’s Gambit Thematic #1 Results
We enjoyed another good crowd for our Queen’s Gambit Thematic #1 last week, with forty people taking part in six rounds of 1. d4 d5 2. c4 action using the faster G/3+2 time control. After the final c-pawn was pushed some familiar names stood atop the wall chart, with Austin Chen, Pranav Jindal and Carlos Jerez sharing first place at 5.0 points. Sam Bekker and Yoyo He tied for 4th at 4.5, leaving a long list of strong players at 4.0 to wonder what might have been. This was a fun event and I think the majority of participants preferred the faster G/3+2 time control. Full results are in the attached image and thank you to everyone who joined us for this thematic tournament.
Note that this week Frisco Del Rosario, Brian Chen and Jeff McGinnis will be hosting the club in my absence and there will be a lecture followed by casual play, so bring your clock if you wish to play timed games. The following week we may hold a bughouse tournament for those interested and will offer casual play for those who are not—I hope to see many of you then. Regards,
Mark Drury
King’s Gambit Thematic #1 Results
Twenty-six people joined our King’s Gambit Thematic #1 last week and my casual observations saw most people accept the proffered pawn, leading to some honest, fighting chess which would have made Frisco proud, I think (Frisco’s lecture earlier that evening covered the King’s Gambit). After five rounds of G/6;d2 gambiteering, then, newcomer Sean Zhang stood alone atop the wall chart with 4.5 points, and that success without any avowed familiarity with or preference for the opening. David Flores, Hayden Brongersma and Austin Chen tied for second with 4.0 points while Yoyo He managed sole fifth at 3.5. Full results are in the attached image and thank you to everyone who who joined us for this foray into 19th-century chess.
One bit of feedback I received from many in attendance is that they would prefer a casual evening with lecture and blitz event rather than another thematic tournament this week, so I updated our Events page to reflect that change (we’ll hold another seven-round G/3+2 blitz tournament after the lecture this week). As always, please let me know if you have any suggestions or preferences for chess activities and I hope to see many of you at the club this week. Regards,
Mark Drury
