Tag: tournament

April Dual-Rated G/45;d5 Swiss in Two Sections, Round One

The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold a US Chess dual-rated Swiss tournament in two sections beginning Thursday, April 3rd, using the G/45;d5 time control and playing one game each evening over four consecutive weeks. Players will be grouped into two 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: Swiss system tournament in two sections over four weeks, one game per evening
  • Rounds: April 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
  • Control: G/45;d5 (dual-rated game of 45 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 of the two sections will have two separate prize groups based upon rating, or four prize groups in total
  • Byes: One bye is available for rounds 1-3 with at least one day advance notice—no byes are available for round 4.
  • 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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Recent Tournament Results & Upcoming Tournaments

Our February Small Swisses concluded March 13th with a couple make-up games and the full results with prize distributions are available on the following page:

Congratulations to Pranav Jindal, Breakwell Loyalka, Amogh Rao and Evan Sobel for winning clear first in their respective sections, with a special shout out to Pranav for the perfect score in his group–well played, all of you! I should also point out that 8 out of 11 of our prize winners were junior players, proving once again the old maxim that “youth will be served!” The full US Chess rating report for this quick-rated event may be viewed here, and thank you to everyone who joined us for this tournament.

Speaking of youth served, the top four finishers in last week’s Impromptu Blitz #34 were all juniors, perhaps for the first time ever in our club but certainly not the last. Breakwell Loyalka secured first alone with 5 out of 6 points after a tough last-round win over Hugo Pu, who tied with Zelin Fang and Austin Chen for second at 4.5 points. Zelin ground me down in the final round and Austin did the same to newcomer (and another strong junior) Cameron Troy. Full results for #34 are in the attached image.

Interestingly, in my third-round game with Breakwell he played some offbeat b4 line as white against my Sicilian and quietly encouraged me to take the pawn, that it was “perfectly safe.” I accepted and soon found my uncastled king and uncoordinated pieces in a world of hurt. Not two rounds later I was seated next to Breakwell and Vinayak Vikram during their game when the same b4 position in the Sicilian arose, and I’m certain I heard the same, now hollow-sounding “perfectly safe” assurances emanating from the white side of the board during that game, as well (with the same result, it seems). Just a heads-up in case you find yourself playing Breakwell and he offers you similar “safety.”

Note that tomorrow evening Frisco will give his lecture from 6:30pm to 7pm and then we will hold another free, informal Freestyle Swiss tournament of 4 or 5 rounds, with a draft format and G/5;d3 time control. More information about the tournament is here and you can register at the club Thursday beginning round 6:30pm. The following week we’ll hold a blind draw bughouse tournament and on April 3rd we’ll begin a four-week, four-round rated Swiss in two sections with a G/45;d5 time control. I’ll send more information about both tournaments in a day or two. As always, I hope to see many of you at the club soon! Regards,

Mark Drury

Freestyle Chess (Chess960) Draft Tournament

A number of people have requested that we revisit Chess960 or, as it’s now styled, Freestyle Chess in another casual tournament so that’s exactly what we’ll do in this event, again using a piece placement draft with the following format and rules:

  • There will likely be 4 or 5 Swiss rounds at G/5;d3 in one or two sections
  • Registration will occur onsite–please try to arrive by 6:45pm
  • The games will be played with the normal Freestyle/Chess960 rules except for the use of a draft, wherein white starts black’s clock then black places the first piece on the back rank and starts white’s clock, white copies that move then places another piece of their own, black copies that placement then places a third piece, etc., until black places a final piece and white makes the first chess move of the game
  • It’s important to note that the draft phase covered above occurs while players’ clocks are running, just as in normal moves for the game
  • The king must be placed between the two rooks as in normal Freestyle/Chess960
  • More information about castling may be found in chess.com tutorials here and here
  • The bishops must be placed on opposite-colored squares
  • We will use clock move rather than touch move, as in our blitz tournaments
  • An illegal move pointed out by an opponent (no one else) immediately ends the game as a loss for the player who made the illegal move
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February Small Swisses Rounds 3 & 4 Results

Below are the results from rounds 3 and 4 of our February Small Swisses event along with the tentative pairings for final rounds 5 and 6, to occur on March 6th. The prizes for each section are as follows:

Sections One & Four : $80, $50, $30
Section Two: $60, $40, $20
Section Three: $50, $30

Section One

#Name/Rating/IDRd 1Rd 2Rd 3Rd 4Rd 5Rd 6TotalPrize
1Pranav JindalB 6W 6W 3B 3W 4B 4
1965p 306288841.02.03.04.05.06.06.0$80
2Zelin FangW 5B 5B 8W 8W 7B 7
1851 170830430.00.01.02.03.04.04.0$50
3Chase WangB 7W 7B 1W 1W 5B 5
1788 150158521.02.02.02.03.03.53.5$30
4Vedant VermaW 8B 8B 5W 5B 1W 1
1733 169948320.01.02.03.03.03.03.0
5Jialin WuB 2W 2W 4B 4B 3W 3
1707 304102901.02.02.02.02.02.52.5
6Yash ShahW 1B 1W 7B 7B 8W 8
1717 306521910.00.00.00.01.02.02.0
7Cesar TamondongW 3B 3B 6W 6B 2W 2
1688 124390910.00.01.02.02.02.02.0
8Josen KalraB 4W 4W 2B 2W 6B 6
1639 126152101.01.01.01.01.01.01.0

Section Two

#Name/Rating/IDRd 1Rd 2Rd 3Rd 4Rd 5Rd 6TotalPrize
1Breakwell LoyalkaB 5W 5W 3B 3W 4B 4
1526 315695211.01.52.53.04.04.54.5$60
2Hayden BrongersmaW 3B 3B 6W 6W 5B 5
1562 312404410.00.01.02.03.04.04.0$30
3Venugopal ManiB 2W 2B 1W 1W 6B 6
1500 164197531.02.02.02.53.04.04.0$30
4Yaniv VinishW 6B 6W 5B 5B 1W 1
1516p 321056530.51.52.52.52.53.03.0
5Hugo PuW 1B 1B 4W 4B 2W 2
1439 310938600.00.50.51.51.51.51.5
6Justin DongB 4W 4W 2B 2B 3W 3
1598p 172122530.50.50.50.51.01.01.0

Section Three

#Name/Rating/IDRd 1Rd 2Rd 3Rd 4Rd 5Rd 6TotalPrize
1Amogh RaoB 3W 3W 2B 2B 4W 4
1295p 309493411.02.02.53.04.05.05.0$50
2Austin ChenB 4W 4B 1W 1B 3W 3
1373 312932491.02.02.53.04.04.54.5$30
3Jeffrey UngarW 1B 1W 4B 4W 2B 2
1202p 163967430.00.01.02.02.02.52.5
4Michael SherrardW 2B 2B 3W 3W 1B 1
1300 124473680.00.00.00.00.00.00.0

Section Four

#Name/Rating/IDRd 1Rd 2Rd 3Rd 4Rd 5Rd 6TotalPrize
1Evan SobelB 7W 7W 5B 5W 2B 2
839p 318600441.01.02.03.04.04.54.5$80
2Zelan FangW 8B 8W 6B 6B 1W 1
882 306297641.02.03.03.53.54.04.0$50
3Lua LoyalkaW 5B 5W 7B 7B 6W 6
813 315695310.01.02.02.03.03.53.5$30
4Lucian LiuB 6W 6W 8B 8W 7B 7
unr. 322753270.00.01.01.02.03.03.0
5Alon DoitelB 3W 3B 1W 1B 8W 8
unr. 322523261.01.01.01.02.03.03.0
6Daniel JostW 4B 4B 2W 2W 3B 3
unr. 322923271.02.02.02.52.53.03.0
7Tyler MiddletonW 1B 1B 3W 3B 4W 4
unr. 323011630.01.01.02.02.02.02.0
8Alfred DavisB 2W 2B 4W 4W 5B 5
unr. 319392410.00.00.01.01.01.01.0

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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February Small Swisses Round 1 & 2 Results

Below are the results from rounds 1 and 2 of our February Small Swisses event along with the tentative pairings for rounds 3 and 4, to occur on February 27th. The prizes for each section are as follows:

Sections One & Four : $80, $50, $30
Section Two: $60, $40, $20
Section Three: $50, $30

Section One

#Name/Rating/IDRd 1Rd 2Rd 3Rd 4Total
1Pranav JindalB 7W 7W 2B 2
1965p 306288841.02.02.0
2Chase WangB 8W 8B 1W 1
1788 150158521.02.02.0
3Jialin WuB 6W 6W 4B 4
1707 304102901.02.02.0
4Vedant VermaW 5B 5B 3W 3
1733 169948320.01.01.0
5Josen KalraB 4W 4W 6B 6
1639 126152101.01.01.0
6Zelin FangW 3B 3B 5W 5
1851 170830430.00.00.0
7Yash ShahW 1B 1W 8B 8
1717 306521910.00.00.0
8Cesar TamondongW 2B 2B 7W 7
1688 124390910.00.00.0

Section Two

#Name/Rating/IDRd 1Rd 2Rd 3Rd 4Total
1Venugopal ManiB 6W 6B 2W 2
1500 164197531.02.02.0
2Breakwell LoyalkaB 5W 5W 1B 1
1526 315695211.01.51.5
3Yaniv VinishW 4B 4W 5B 5
1516p 321056530.51.51.5
4Justin DongB 3W 3W 6B 6
1598p 172122530.50.50.5
5Hugo PuW 2B 2B 3W 3
1439 310938600.00.50.5
6Hayden BrongersmaW 1B 1B 4W 4
1562 312404410.00.00.0

Section Three

#Name/Rating/IDRd 1Rd 2Rd 3Rd 4Rd 5Rd 6Total
1Austin ChenB 2W 2B 3W 3B 2W 2
1373 312932491.02.02.0
2Michael SherrardW 1B 1B 4W 4W 1B 1
1300 124473680.00.00.0
3Amogh RaoB 4W 4W 1B 1B 4W 4
1295 309493410.0
4Jeffrey UngarW 3B 3W 2B 2W 3B 3
1202 163967430.0

Section Four

#Name/Rating/IDRd 1Rd 2Rd 3Rd 4Total
1Zelan FangW 8B 8W 2B 2
882 306297641.02.02.0
2Daniel JostW 7B 7B 1W 1
unr. 322923271.02.02.0
3Evan SobelB 5W 5W 6B 6
839p 318600441.01.01.0
4Lua LoyalkaW 6B 6W 5B 5
813 315695310.01.01.0
5Tyler MiddletonW 3B 3B 4W 4
unr. 323011630.01.01.0
6Alon DoitelB 4W 4B 3W 3
unr. 322523261.01.01.0
7Lucian LiuB 2W 2W 8B 8
unr. 322753270.00.00.0
8Alfred DavisB 1W 1B 7W 7
unr. 319392410.00.00.0
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February Small Swisses Round 1 & 2 Pairings

Below are the tentative round 1 and 2 pairings for our February double-round, quick-rated small Swisses in three sections (by rating). These pairings (or even groups) could change before the start of play Thursday, February 13th, but will be updated here if that is the case.

Section One

Section Two

Section Three

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Impromptu Blitz #32 Results

We enjoyed another full house at the club last Thursday, with 30 people participating in our free, unrated G/3+2 blitz tournament and with several first-time visitors to boot. Yash Shah proved his blitz mettle once again with 6.5 points out of 7 for clear first, followed a half point behind by Zelin Fang in sole second, while three others tied for third with five points: Alex Chin, Pranav Jindal and Venugopal Mani. Full results are in the attached image, congratulations to our winners and thank you to everyone who joined us for this event!

Regarding our rated quads which begin this week, many people let me know that there is no school in some local districts the week of February 17-21, with many players (parents and/or kids) being out of town on the 20th, so I have rescheduled the quads to occur on February 13th, February 27th and March 6th, with the week of the 20th being another casual night with a lecture and informal blitz tournament. If you wish to play in our quads please register asap on the website: https://menloparkchess.club/event/february-double-round-quick-rated-quads-round-one/.

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.