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.
Copa del Menlo Final Results & Prizes
Our rated Copa del Menlo chess tournament wrapped up Thursday after a makeup round and I wanted to thank Hugo Pu once again for so ably directing this event for our club! Attached is the wall chart with final scores and prize distributions for each section and if I hear no concerns about errors or omissions by Sunday evening I will send the prize money to our individual and team winners.
Speaking of winners, congratulations to Neeraj, Ujjwal and Zayn for claiming sole first with perfect scores in each of their sections. Neeraj’s result is especially impressive given he was the lowest-rated player in the top section and faced some very tough opponents on his way to three full points. Aiden Huang and Austin Chen also had excellent results in that section, winning clear second and third respectively, a feat made all the more interesting when you consider that the average age of the top three finishers is likely less than ten years. Youth will be served, it seems!
The tournament has already been rated and may be viewed here: https://ratings.uschess.org/event/202609240083 (the dropdown list atop the table allows one to see different sections). Our next rated event will be the club championship beginning November 5th and I’ll share more information about that tournament soon. Regards,
Mark Drury
Copa del Menlo Final Round Tonight
Just a quick reminder that we will play the third and final round of our Copa del Menlo this evening at the club, though we plan to have the skittles room open for casual play if anyone wishes to drop by for same (and/or to watch the tournament games). Next week Lauren Goodkind will give a talk from 7-8 followed by casual play until 9pm and we’ll hold more free, unrated blitz tournaments in October. Our rated club championship will begin in November — more to come about that event soon. Regards,
Mark Drury
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
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
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
Impromptu Blitz #70 & #71 Results
I was on vacation most of last week in Monterey, returning to the Bay Area Thursday afternoon, and did not post an update for the previous July 23rd meeting, when we enjoyed what may be a record 40 people participate in our Impromptu Blitz #70, with another 5-6 visitors spectating or playing casual games in the hall that evening. That was followed a week later by the 34 participants in our Impromptu Blitz #71 and, again, 6-8 visitors who played casual games in the overflow room—both evenings saw six or more first-time visitors to the club so the membership largesse continues unabated.
As consistent as the larger turnout these past couple months was the play of 13-year-old Sarp Sahin from Turkey, whose worst performance in his five weeks with the club was a tie for first place—twice—the other three weeks he was first alone, including a 7-0 run on July 16th. What’s more, his was the first and only club blitz rating to surpass the rarified air of 1700 on July 16th and 1800 last week, settling at 1812, a full 134 points above the next player on our list (an NM) and, it must be said, bettering Bobby Fischer’s ratings differential of 125 points over Boris Spassky in 1972, for those who keep track of such things.
In all seriousness, it was an honor to host Sarp and his equally-talented younger brother, Bora, this past month and we hope they enjoyed visiting Disneyland this week on their way home to Turkey. I’ve attached a couple images of the boys, one with me and another of both playing bughouse with Sam Bekker and Hayden Brongersma after last week’s blitz tournament. Full blitz results are in the attached wall chart images and there’s a bonus photo of Shlok, Pranav, Austin and Cameron shortly before or after they, too, threw down some bughouse last week.
Note that this week we will play the long-promised King’s Gambit thematic tournament with a slightly longer time control of G/6;d2 or so over five or six rounds. Each game will begin simply 1. e4 e5 2. f4 and the following week we’ll do the same with the Queen’s Gambit (1. d4 d5 2. c4), so let’s hear no excuses where your prep is concerned. The club Events page (https://menloparkchess.club/events/) has most of the next two months fleshed out if you are curious what we’ll be up to (bughouse tournament on August 27th) while the latest club blitz points standings and blitz ratings are available at the usual links:
https://menloparkchess.club/ladders/club-blitz-points-standings/
https://menloparkchess.club/ladders/club-unofficial-blitz-ratings/
As always, please let me know if you have any questions or comments about our schedule and I hope to see you at the club again soon. Regards,
Mark Drury
Lecture, Bughouse Tournament & Casual Play
After Frisco’s lecture from 6:30-7:00pm we’ll hold a free 4- or 5-round bughouse tournament for those who are interested, though the chess room will be open and available for casual play for those who do not wish to participate. We’ll follow the rules documented here and will use the G/5+0 time control for this event. If you arrive after the tournament has started you may not be able to join in the event we are unable to maintain an even number of teams with your entry.
Queen’s Gambit Thematic Tournament
After Frisco’s lecture from 6:30-7:00pm we’ll hold a free 6- or 7-round Queen’s Gambit thematic tournament beginning with the moves 1. d4 d5 2. c4, using the shorter G/3+2 time control of our impromptu blitz series. Brush up on your favorite lines as both white and black in this dynamic opening and join us for some fighting chess in August! (Please try to arrive before 7pm to complete sign-up given we’re now maxing out our available space and equipment for these free tournaments and late arrivals are not guaranteed registration).