Tag: swiss

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Impromptu Blitz #41 Results & Summer Schedule

Twenty intrepid people, including five first-time visitors to the club, joined us this past Thursday for another excellent lecture followed by seven rounds of G/3;d3 blitz, which is fast becoming the favored (or least despised) time control at the club of late. Alex Su once again shared first place with 6.0 out of 7 points, though this time with relative newcomer Vishesh Agrawal, a strong blitz player who took third the previous week, while Adam Ferrell had another strong showing with sole third at 5.0, ahead of the usual dejected throng of 4.0 players. I was expecting a lighter turnout given we met on the eve of a national holiday but attendance was good and it was great to see so many new people at the club.

This coming Thursday we’ll do the same, with a lecture and free, unrated blitz tournament, then we’ll take the weeks of July 17th and July 24th off (I’ll be riding my bike across Iowa with the RAGBRAI horde). I’m including the tentative summer schedule below but always check https://menloparkchess.club/events/ for the latest event and tournament information:

Jul 10: Lecture & Free Blitz Tournament
Jul 17: No Chess Meeting
Jul 24: No Chess Meeting
Jul 31: Lecture & Free Blitz Tournament
Aug 07: Rounds 1-2, August Double-Round Quick-Rated Event
Aug 14: Rounds 3-4, August Double-Round Quick-Rated Event
Aug 21: Rounds 5-6, August Double-Round Quick-Rated Event
Aug 28: No Chess Meeting

Registration is now open for our August Double-Round Quick-Rated Quads & Small Swisses for those who are interested. Participation is limited to 32 players so please register early. Regards,

Mark Drury

August Double-Round Quick-Rated Quads & Small Swisses, Rounds 5-6

The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold a double-round, quick-rated event beginning Thursday, August 7th, using the G/15;d5 time control and playing two games each evening against the same opponent (one as white and one as black) over three successive weeks. Players will be grouped into quads or small Swiss sections based upon rating to keep things as competitive as possible. This tournament is suitable for experienced players as well as newer US Chess members seeking to establish an over-the-board rating. Details follow:

  • Format: Quads or small Swiss sections (6-8 players) over three weeks, two games per evening against the same opponent, one as white and one as black
  • Rounds: August 7th, 14th and 21st—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
  • Control: G/15;d5 (quicki-rated game of 15 minutes per player plus a 5-second delay per move)
  • Entry Fee: $20; PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12; entire entry fee goes to the prize fund
  • Prizes: Each quad will offer a $50 first and $30 second prize, while any Swiss section prizes will depend upon the number of players
  • Byes: No byes are available for this event
  • Equipment: Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a digital clock if you own one)
  • 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 email list to stay abreast of future club tournaments and events

August Double-Round Quick-Rated Quads & Small Swisses, Rounds 3-4

The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold a double-round, quick-rated event beginning Thursday, August 7th, using the G/15;d5 time control and playing two games each evening against the same opponent (one as white and one as black) over three successive weeks. Players will be grouped into quads or small Swiss sections based upon rating to keep things as competitive as possible. This tournament is suitable for experienced players as well as newer US Chess members seeking to establish an over-the-board rating. Details follow:

  • Format: Quads or small Swiss sections (6-8 players) over three weeks, two games per evening against the same opponent, one as white and one as black
  • Rounds: August 7th, 14th and 21st—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
  • Control: G/15;d5 (quicki-rated game of 15 minutes per player plus a 5-second delay per move)
  • Entry Fee: $20; PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12; entire entry fee goes to the prize fund
  • Prizes: Each quad will offer a $50 first and $30 second prize, while any Swiss section prizes will depend upon the number of players
  • Byes: No byes are available for this event
  • Equipment: Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a digital clock if you own one)
  • 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 email list to stay abreast of future club tournaments and events

August Double-Round Quick-Rated Quads & Small Swisses, Rounds 1-2

The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold a double-round, quick-rated event beginning Thursday, August 7th, using the G/15;d5 time control and playing two games each evening against the same opponent (one as white and one as black) over three successive weeks. Players will be grouped into quads or small Swiss sections based upon rating to keep things as competitive as possible. This tournament is suitable for experienced players as well as newer US Chess members seeking to establish an over-the-board rating. Details follow:

  • Format: Quads or small Swiss sections (6-8 players) over three weeks, two games per evening against the same opponent, one as white and one as black
  • Rounds: August 7th, 14th and 21st—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
  • Control: G/15;d5 (quicki-rated game of 15 minutes per player plus a 5-second delay per move)
  • Entry Fee: $20; PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12; entire entry fee goes to the prize fund
  • Prizes: Each quad will offer a $50 first and $30 second prize, while any Swiss section prizes will depend upon the number of players
  • Byes: No byes are available for this event
  • Register: Please sign up in advance using the ‘Register’ button, above
  • Equipment: Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a digital clock if you own one)
  • 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 email list to stay abreast of future club tournaments and events

Casual, Blitz, Lecture, Ladder Chess Evening

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 weekly lecture begins at 6:30pm and it remains one of the highlights of club attendance.

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Impromptu Blitz #40 Results

Twenty people took part in last week’s free, 7-round G/3;d3 blitz tournament, with several new visitors and some returning players in the mix. Alex Su and Yoyo He shared first place with 6.0 points out of 7, first-time visitor Vishesh Agrawal took sole third with 5.0 points and a raft of players tied for fourth at 4.0. This G/3;d3 time control seems to be working for us, with little in the way of complaint, but we’re always willing to try something different if earlier arrivals at the club have a request.

We will meet tonight, July 3rd, for a lecture and another free blitz tournament and will do the same the following week, July 10th, before taking two weeks off for a summer break of sorts. In August the tentative plan is to hold double-round quick-rated quads or small Swisses over 3-4 weeks, as we’ve done in the past, but please let me know if you’d prefer some other format which might work with our ~7-9pm time constraint. I hope to see many of you at the club this evening! Regards,

Mark Drury

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Last Week’s Impromptu Team Blitz #1 Results

Last Thursday we tried, for the first time, a free team blitz event using the SwissSys ‘fixed team’ setup with eight teams of two for the sixteen brave souls who were willing to give this format a try. Suffice to say, the pairings were interesting, as were the results. I haven’t yet taken a closer look at the pairings in question but during many of the rounds the higher rated players on each team were not paired against one another, as I was expecting–it may be the software was favoring color alteration or actual team player score in these intra-match pairings but there was no lack of questions as the tournament unfolded, understandably.

When all was said and done, Josen Kalra and Lua Loyalka stood atop the other teams with four match points out of five, followed by three other teams at 3 points. The team scores were reasonably even which suggests that the proprietary algorithm used to make the teams was a success, never mind the good-natured grousing heard from a couple of the younger teams. I don’t know that I would call this event a success but we may give it another try at some point if there’s any interest, and thank you to everyone who boldly took part.

Tonight we’ll have another lecture at 6:30pm followed by a free, unrated blitz tournament at 7pm–I hope to see many of you then! Regards,

Mark Drury

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Impromptu Blitz #39 Results

We had an excellent turnout for our lecture and blitz tournament last week, with 28 people playing a full seven rounds of G/3;d3. After five rounds Breakwell Loyalka found himself alone in first place with 4.5 points, before running afoul of Simon Rubinstein-Salzedo in round six. Similarly, young Austin Chen was sole first after six rounds with 5.0 points, before falling to Simon in the final round, leaving Breakwell and Simon tied for first at 5.5 out of 7 when all was said and done. Austin held on to sole third with 5.0 points, ahead of some very strong players. The full results are in the attached image and thank you to everyone who joined us for this event.

Note that this evening there will be no lecture, given Frisco is covering the Golden State Valkyries game at Chase Center tonight, so we’ll hold casual play until 7pm then start our free, unrated blitz tournament at that time, perhaps with a team twist to mix things up. I hope to see many of you at the club this evening! Regards,

Mark Drury

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May Dual-Rated Swiss Results & Lecture + Blitz Tournament Tonight

Attached are the final results and prize distributions for our May Dual-Rated Swiss event. Congratulations to Alex Chin for his first place win and perfect score in the 1400+ section, to Hayden Brongersma and Yaniv Vinish for shared second and to Austin Chen and Josen Kalra for splitting the 1600-and-under prize. In the U1400 section, Di Lin and Neeraj Rao shared first place followed by David Tagatac and Cameron Troy in a tie for third. Note that Cameron claimed the U1200 prize in that section, leaving David with the $60 third prize (the U1400 section had two more paid entries than did the 1400+, hence the slightly larger prize fund).

The tournament was rated by US Chess earlier this week and the results are available here: https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202505299942.0 (full cross tables for both sections are in the attached images).

Thank you to everyone who played in this event and to Sriram Rao for ably directing it. We’ll hold additional rated tournaments in July and September—as always, please let me know if you have a preference where format and/or time control are concerned.

Tonight we will hold another casual evening with a lecture beginning at 6:30pm followed by a free, unrated blitz tournament round 7pm–I hope to see many of you at the club then!

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Impromptu Blitz #36 Results & Casual Play/Blitz Evening Tonight

Twenty-two people played in our Impromptu Blitz #36 last week, a G/5;d2 affair over six rounds and, when the final flag fell, Pranav Jindal and David Flores tied for first place with five points each out of six. Breakwell Loyalka had another good result and sat alone in third with 4.5 points, followed by three of the club’s typically strong blitz players at 4.0 points. Full results are in the attached image, congratulations to all of our top finishers and thank you to everyone who joined us for this fun, free event.

Tonight is another casual evening with a free lecture beginning at 6:30pm followed by another free, unrated blitz tournament round 7pm. Next week we commence our four-week rated Swiss event with the G/45;d5 time control and four rounds over four consecutive weeks in two sections. A couple spots remain if you’d like to join us for this event:

https://menloparkchess.club/event/may-dual-rated-g-45d5-swiss-in-two-sections-round-one/

Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions and I hope to see many of you at the club this evening. Regards,

Mark Drury