No fewer than 40 aspirants to the mantle “Menlo Park Chess Club Champion” took part in round one of our tournament Wednesday evening and, despite it being the first round of a single-section Swiss event, when contests are typically more lopsided, there were a good many close games which came down to the final minutes or seconds of the G/60 d/5 time control.
Truth be told, we had more people who wished to play in this event than we were able to accommodate, given we had access to just the Cypress and skittles rooms for tournament play—the Oak Room, into which we typically overflow, was occupied by another group early in the evening. Yet another reason to register online early for our more popular events.
I have the pairings for round 2 and will share those no later than Monday, and will also complete the Lichess study with round 1 games over the weekend, perhaps as early as Friday. Thank you again to everyone who joined us for round one of this event!
— Mark Drury
The US Chess rating reports for our June Mini-Marathon and now available via the following links:
Main Tournament
Extra Rated Games
Note that Pranav Jindal ended with a provisional 2255 rating based on the three games he played (all wins), so it will be interesting to see where his rating goes from there (he joked at the club Wednesday that he may retire from rated tournament play, undefeated, or some such).
We’d like to thank Jim Eade again for his excellent lecture and game review this past Wednesday. It is a sincere privilege to have someone with his experience, expertise and clear love for the game help foster our club in the way that he has and we appreciate all that you do for the broader chess community, Jim!
We’ve had quite a few people register for our free G/5+3 blitz tournament next week. If you haven’t already done so and wish to play in this event please sign up asap, as we may limit participation to ~32 players this time around (you can withdraw at any time if your plans change).
Please let us know if you have any questions about the tournament rating reports or the blitz tournament (info@menloparkchess.club) and we hope to see all of you at the club soon!
Our rated June Mini-Marathon wrapped up this past Wednesday with some very exciting games and a clear first place: Mikhail ended up with 3.5 points after a tough win over Shahin, while Ritam, Cesar and Pranav tied for second with 3.0 out of 4. Pranav was slated to play Mikhail in the final round but came down with the flu and was unable to join us, regrettably, though as some consolation his first provisional Regular rating is 2255 (based on 3 games).
Daniel and Ragav were our top juniors at 2.5 and Daniel had an excellent chance to join Mikhail with 3.5 points, but succumbed in time trouble in a wild game with Ritam. I’ll share all the games as Lichess studies soon (thank you again to those who sent me your digital scores), have submitted both the tournament and extra games for rating and would like to offer a hearty thanks to all of you who participated!
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold another rated mini-marathon beginning Wednesday, June 1st, at 6:30pm, a four-round Swiss system event of G/45 d/5 over four weeks and one suitable for experienced players as well as new or newer US Chess members seeking to establish an over-the-board rating. Details follow:
- Format: Four-round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
- Rounds: June 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd — games begin round 6:30pm
- Control: G/45 d/5 (Game in 45 minutes for each player plus a 5-second delay per move)
- Entry Fee: $0 (the MPCC will pay for prizes and the US Chess rating fees for this event)
- Prizes: Bookstore gift certificates and/or mousepad chessboards to the top three finishers, top three under 17 years of age
- Byes: Half-point byes are available for any round save the last
- Boards, sets and clocks will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you own one)
- All tournament participants must be current US Chess members
- Sign up for the tournament by clicking the “Register” button directly above
- 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 first rated quads over three weeks from April 27th – May 11th, 2022, with a make-up round to be held May 18th, if needed. The time control will be the same as that used for our earlier Swiss tournament, the dual Quick- and Regular-rated G/30 d/5, while quads will be based on a factor of rating/skill level and age. Chess sets, boards and clocks will be provided but please feel free to bring your own digital timer if you wish. Entry fee will again be $0 and prizes for first place in each quad will be $20 gift certificates for Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park (https://www.keplers.com/) with ties being decided by a blitz chess playoff. More information can be found in our TLA here.
