The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our first annual blitz chess championship beginning Thursday, October 17th, at 7pm, a seven-round USCF-rated Swiss system event using the G/5+0 time control (no increment or delay) over one evening. Our blitz championship is aimed at players with some rated or blitz tournament experience and may not be suitable for beginners or for children under the age of 10, given this event could last until almost 9pm on a school night.
Note that the US Chess Rules for Blitz Chess are slightly different than those the club typically follows in our impromptu blitz events so please spend the ~10 minutes needed to read the rules summary linked here.
This tournament will be followed Thursday, October 24th, by another seven-round USCF-rated Swiss system event using the G/3+2 time control, one which requires a separate registration and entry fee (see the Events page for a link). The individual who participates in both events over two weeks and has the highest combined score will be declared our Blitz Chess Champion and will receive an additional $100 prize. In the event of a tie there will be a G/3+0 playoff for both the prize and the title–first player to win a game is the victor.
Details for the G/5+0 event follow:
- Format: Seven-round Swiss-system rated tournament in one section over one evening
- Rounds: Round 1 begins promptly at 7:00pm and participants are strongly encouraged to check in by 6:45pm; subsequent rounds begin 1-2 minutes after previous round ends
- Control: G/5+0 (blitz-rated game of 5 minutes for each player with no increment or delay
- Entry Fee: $5 (the entire entry fee will be returned in prizes)
- Payment: PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12, Zelle: 6504006393
- Prizes: Two prize groups based upon October US Chess regular, quick or blitz ratings (TD discretion for each player) with roughly 16 players per prize group, winner take all: Group 1, $100; Group 2, $60, based on 32 players
- Byes: Zero-point byes are available for any round
- Register: Please sign up in advance using the ‘Register’ button, above
- 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
- The US Chess Rules for Blitz Chess is short, required reading
- 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 third annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 7th, at 7pm, a five-round USCF-rated Swiss system event using the dual-rated G/45;d5 time control over five weeks . Our championship is aimed at players with at least some tournament experience (one or two rated events, say) and may not be suitable for children under the age of 10, given games could last until almost 9pm on a school night. Additionally, if your child has trouble sitting still or remaining quiet for an hour or two then we would humbly request that you consider registering him or her in one of our other rated events and forego the club championship (we love our junior players but there are a few who struggle to remain quiet during even the shorter time controls). Details follow:
- Format: Five-round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
- Rounds: November 7th, 14th, 21st, December 5th, 12th (there is no round November 28th, Thanksgiving)—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
- Control: G/45;d5 (dual-rated game of 45 minutes for each player plus a 5-second delay per move)
- Entry Fee: $20 (the entire entry fee will be returned in prizes)
- Payment: PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12, Zelle: 6504006393
- Prizes: Four prize groups based upon November US Chess regular ratings with roughly 8 players per prize group (Group 1: $120, $60, $40; Group 2: $100, $60, $40; Group 3: $80, $40, $20; Group 4: $80, $40, $20, with adjustments as needed based on tournament/group size)
- Byes: One half-point bye is available for any round save the last, but the bye must be requested at least two days in advance of the day of play
- Register: Registrations are closed for this event
- Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens 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
- 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 third annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 7th, at 7pm, a five-round USCF-rated Swiss system event using the dual-rated G/45;d5 time control over five weeks . Our championship is aimed at players with at least some tournament experience (one or two rated events, say) and may not be suitable for children under the age of 10, given games could last until almost 9pm on a school night. Additionally, if your child has trouble sitting still or remaining quiet for an hour or two then we would humbly request that you consider registering him or her in one of our other rated events and forego the club championship (we love our junior players but there are a few who struggle to remain quiet during even the shorter time controls). Details follow:
- Format: Five-round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
- Rounds: November 7th, 14th, 21st, December 5th, 12th (there is no round November 28th, Thanksgiving)—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
- Control: G/45;d5 (dual-rated game of 45 minutes for each player plus a 5-second delay per move)
- Entry Fee: $20 (the entire entry fee will be returned in prizes)
- Payment: PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12, Zelle: 6504006393
- Prizes: Four prize groups based upon November US Chess regular ratings with roughly 8 players per prize group (Group 1: $120, $60, $40; Group 2: $100, $60, $40; Group 3: $80, $40, $20; Group 4: $80, $40, $20, with adjustments as needed based on tournament/group size)
- Byes: One half-point bye is available for any round save the last, but the bye must be requested at least two days in advance of the day of play
- Register: Registrations are closed for this event
- Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens 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
- 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 third annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 7th, at 7pm, a five-round USCF-rated Swiss system event using the dual-rated G/45;d5 time control over five weeks . Our championship is aimed at players with at least some tournament experience (one or two rated events, say) and may not be suitable for children under the age of 10, given games could last until almost 9pm on a school night. Additionally, if your child has trouble sitting still or remaining quiet for an hour or two then we would humbly request that you consider registering him or her in one of our other rated events and forego the club championship (we love our junior players but there are a few who struggle to remain quiet during even the shorter time controls). Details follow:
- Format: Five-round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
- Rounds: November 7th, 14th, 21st, December 5th, 12th (there is no round November 28th, Thanksgiving)—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
- Control: G/45;d5 (dual-rated game of 45 minutes for each player plus a 5-second delay per move)
- Entry Fee: $20 (the entire entry fee will be returned in prizes)
- Payment: PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12, Zelle: 6504006393
- Prizes: Four prize groups based upon November US Chess regular ratings with roughly 8 players per prize group (Group 1: $120, $60, $40; Group 2: $100, $60, $40; Group 3: $80, $40, $20; Group 4: $80, $40, $20, with adjustments as needed based on tournament/group size)
- Byes: One half-point bye is available for any round save the last, but the bye must be requested at least two days in advance of the day of play
- Register: Registrations most likely closed after round 1 was played but send email to info@menloparkchess.club to inquire about possible late registration
- Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens 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
- 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 third annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 7th, at 7pm, a five-round USCF-rated Swiss system event using the dual-rated G/45;d5 time control over five weeks . Our championship is aimed at players with at least some tournament experience (one or two rated events, say) and may not be suitable for children under the age of 10, given games could last until almost 9pm on a school night. Additionally, if your child has trouble sitting still or remaining quiet for an hour or two then we would humbly request that you consider registering him or her in one of our other rated events and forego the club championship (we love our junior players but there are a few who struggle to remain quiet during even the shorter time controls). Details follow:
- Format: Five-round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
- Rounds: November 7th, 14th, 21st, December 5th, 12th (there is no round November 28th, Thanksgiving)—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
- Control: G/45;d5 (dual-rated game of 45 minutes for each player plus a 5-second delay per move)
- Entry Fee: $20 (the entire entry fee will be returned in prizes)
- Payment: PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12, Zelle: 6504006393
- Prizes: Four prize groups based upon November US Chess regular ratings with roughly 8 players per prize group (Group 1: $120, $60, $40; Group 2: $100, $60, $40; Group 3: $80, $40, $20; Group 4: $80, $40, $20, with adjustments as needed based on tournament/group size)
- Byes: One half-point bye is available for any round save the last, but the bye must be requested at least two days in advance of the day of play
- Register: Registrations most likely closed after round 1 was played but send email to info@menloparkchess.club to inquire about possible late registration
- Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens 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
- 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 third annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 7th, at 7pm, a five-round USCF-rated Swiss system event using the dual-rated G/45;d5 time control over five weeks . Our championship is aimed at players with at least some tournament experience (one or two rated events, say) and may not be suitable for children under the age of 10, given games could last until almost 9pm on a school night. Additionally, if your child has trouble sitting still or remaining quiet for an hour or two then we would humbly request that you consider registering him or her in one of our other rated events and forego the club championship (we love our junior players but there are a few who struggle to remain quiet during even the shorter time controls). Details follow:
- Format: Five-round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
- Rounds: November 7th, 14th, 21st, December 5th, 12th (there is no round November 28th, Thanksgiving)—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
- Control: G/45;d5 (dual-rated game of 45 minutes for each player plus a 5-second delay per move)
- Entry Fee: $20 (the entire entry fee will be returned in prizes)
- Payment: PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12, Zelle: 6504006393
- Prizes: Four prize groups based upon November US Chess regular ratings with roughly 8 players per prize group (Group 1: $120, $60, $40; Group 2: $100, $60, $40; Group 3: $80, $40, $20; Group 4: $80, $40, $20, with adjustments as needed based on tournament/group size)
- Byes: One half-point bye is available for any round save the last, but the bye must be requested at least two days in advance of the day of play
- Register: Please sign up in advance using the ‘Register’ button, above
- Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens 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
- 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
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 possible lecture are in the offing and we will also play another impromptu blitz tournament beginning at 7pm (free, no prizes), given there appears to be an appetite for same.
Adding the wall charts for our Impromptu Blitz Tourney numbers 26 and 27, which took place September 26th and October 3rd and were well attended, with perhaps seven first-time visitors to the club last night alone.
Andy Applebaum, Mikhail Molodyk and Yoyo He took 1st-3rd places, respectively, in the G/4;d2 #26 last week while Alex Chin and Cesar Tamondong tied for first in the G/3+2 #27 last night, with Pranav Jindal and Hayden Brongersma tying for third in that event (one which saw a surprising number of upsets). The full results for both tournaments may be seen in the attached images and thank you again to everyone who participated!
Of special note, after last night’s tournament ended seven of us walked over to Barebottle Brewing Co., a mere three blocks from the club, hoping to find Viktor Grigoriev and the Silicon Valley Chess gang already playing there, but they may not have begun hosting at that venue just yet. Viktor, is that still in the works? In any case, we played some bughouse (with John Vitlacil holding court, per the attached image) and blitz and analyzed a game or two until 10:30pm or so (that’s when I left, at least). It’s a great place for casual chess (people were playing Magic: The Gathering, as well) and I hope to do this again on any given Thursday.
I wanted to share a few quick updates with the club, given it’s been a while since I posted here. First and foremost, a hearty congratulations are due to WFM Olivia Smith, who played board one for Wales at the recently-concluded Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary. Olivia finished with an excellent score of 6/9 and one can only imagine what an amazing experience this must have been for her and her entire team (https://results.fide.com/olymp2024/olymp.php?ev_code=68&team=80). Well done, Olivia!
Second, attached are the results from our last three impromptu blitz tournaments at the club, all of which used the same G/4;d2 time control. Tomorrow, Thursday, we’ll continue with another excellent lecture from Frisco Del Rosario at 6:30pm then will hold Impromptu Blitz #26 round 7pm, as usual.
Third, I’m trying to decide upon our next tournament format, whether it should be rated or unrated, blitz or a longer time control, how many weeks it should run–all the usual questions rolling around in a TD’s head. If you have an opinion about the format for our next event please let me know and it may begin as soon as the second week of October.
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 possible lecture are in the offing and we will also play another impromptu blitz tournament beginning at 7pm (free, no prizes), given there appears to be a strong appetite for same.
