Tag: tournament

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Impromptu Blitz #22 Results

We enjoyed another excellent lecture last Thursday courtesy of Frisco Del Rosario, one centered round a lesser-know rook sac theme which was most recently seen in high-level play about three weeks ago (between Caruana-Firouzja, see https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2732198). Frisco’s lectures are quickly becoming one of my favorite aspects of the club, never mind the way he treats me in our blitz tournaments, and I highly recommend that you visit the club to see and learn for yourself (the lectures begin at 6:30 each Thursday).

Speaking of blitz tournaments, we had 21 players in our most recent G/5;d2 affair and the six rounds we played weren’t enough for many in attendance, given the general clamor for a seventh round (alas, we had too little time for a seventh inning). Despite a first-round bye and a second-round draw/save, Pranav Jindal wound up on top after the sixth round was complete with 5.0 points, followed closely by masters Mike Arne and Frisco Del Rosario at 4.5. Hayden Brongersma, Cesar Tamondong and Kornel Csernai rounded out the top six with 4.0 points apiece. The full results are in the attached image and thank you to everyone who participated in this event.

Note that we have 14 entries for our August Double-Round Quick-Rated Quads beginning this Thursday and the tournament will be more interesting if we get at least 16-24 players, so please sign up asap here if you plan to play. Also of note for you blitz players: we’ll hold our first US Chess-rated blitz tournament (perhaps two of them over two weeks) in September and I’ll send more information about that event once the details are finalized.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions, comments or suggestions for the club and I hope to see many of you this Thursday. Regards,

Mark Drury

August Double-Round Quick-Rated Quads, Round 3

The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold US Chess quick-rated double-round quads and/or 6- or 8-person 3-round Swiss sections over three consecutive weeks beginning Thursday, August 8th, using the G/15;d5 time control and playing two games against each opponent during the same evening, one as white and one as black. Players will be grouped into quads or small Swiss sections based upon rating to keep things as competitive as possible. No byes will be available for this event so if you are unable to play all three weeks (August 8th, 15th, 22nd) please do not register. These quads are suitable for experienced players as well as newer US Chess members seeking to establish an over-the-board rating. Details follow:

  • Format: Double-round quads and/or small Swiss tournaments over three weeks, two games per evening against the same opponent, one as white and one as black
  • Rounds: August 8th, 15th and 22nd—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
  • Control: G/15;d5 (quick-rated game of 15 minutes per player plus a 5-second delay per move)
  • Entry Fee: $15 (PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12); entire entry fee goes to the prize fund.
  • Prizes: First place in each quad receives $40, second place receives $20, any ties will split the cash prize(s)—Swiss sections will offer three prizes
  • Byes: No byes are available for this event
  • Register: Registrations close after the start of the first round
  • 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
  • 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, Round 2

The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold US Chess quick-rated double-round quads and/or 6- or 8-person 3-round Swiss sections over three consecutive weeks beginning Thursday, August 8th, using the G/15;d5 time control and playing two games against each opponent during the same evening, one as white and one as black. Players will be grouped into quads or small Swiss sections based upon rating to keep things as competitive as possible. No byes will be available for this event so if you are unable to play all three weeks (August 8th, 15th, 22nd) please do not register. These quads are suitable for experienced players as well as newer US Chess members seeking to establish an over-the-board rating. Details follow:

  • Format: Double-round quads and/or small Swiss tournaments over three weeks, two games per evening against the same opponent, one as white and one as black
  • Rounds: August 8th, 15th and 22nd—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
  • Control: G/15;d5 (quick-rated game of 15 minutes per player plus a 5-second delay per move)
  • Entry Fee: $15 (PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12); entire entry fee goes to the prize fund.
  • Prizes: First place in each quad receives $40, second place receives $20, any ties will split the cash prize(s)—Swiss sections will offer three prizes
  • Byes: No byes are available for this event
  • Register: Registration closes after start of first round
  • 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
  • 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, Round 1

The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold US Chess quick-rated double-round quads and/or 6- or 8-person 3-round Swiss sections over three consecutive weeks beginning Thursday, August 8th, using the G/15;d5 time control and playing two games against each opponent during the same evening, one as white and one as black. Players will be grouped into quads or small Swiss sections based upon rating to keep things as competitive as possible. No byes will be available for this event so if you are unable to play all three weeks (August 8th, 15th, 22nd) please do not register. These quads are suitable for experienced players as well as newer US Chess members seeking to establish an over-the-board rating. Details follow:

  • Format: Double-round quads and/or small Swiss tournaments over three weeks, two games per evening against the same opponent, one as white and one as black
  • Link: https://menloparkchess.club/event/august-double-round-quick-rated-quads-round-1/
  • Rounds: August 8th, 15th and 22nd—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
  • Control: G/15;d5 (quick-rated game of 15 minutes per player plus a 5-second delay per move)
  • Entry Fee: $15 (PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12); entire entry fee goes to the prize fund.
  • Prizes: First place in each quad receives $40, second place receives $20, any ties will split the cash prize(s)—Swiss sections will offer three prizes
  • 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
  • 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 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.

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Impromptu Not-Quite-Blitz #2 Results

This past Thursday we tried another Swiss event with the G/7;d2 time control over four rounds in two sections and the format was again well received. The only drawback was that some of the games finished quite early, leaving those players (typically younger) to wait for as much as ten minutes for the next round to begin, and when more than a few people are awaiting the next round the room tends to become loud. The noise was only a minor problem after two of the rounds so while not a huge issue it’s something for us to work on as a club (note that we wouldn’t stand for a similar noise level during a rated event).

Congratulations are due to Wentao Wu for winning the Open section with 3.5 out of four points, while Andy Applebaum, first-time visitor Edward Muginshteyn and Hayden Brongersma tied for second with 3.0 points (Hayden is taking up permanent residency in the top three spots of these events). In the Reserve section another first-time visitor, Zelin Fang, scored a 4.0 out of 4.0 to claim sole first while youngsters Austin Chen and Hugo Pu tied for second with 3.0 points. Thank you to all who played in this free, unrated tournament and will likely do something similar this week, ahead of a rated evening set to begin August 8th (more about that soon).

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 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.

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Recent Tournament Results & Updates

I’m sharing the results from a couple of our recent impromptu blitz tournaments (attached images) and wanted to pass along that we’ll hold another free, unrated blitz tournament tomorrow evening beginning promptly at 7pm. Depending upon entries we may have one single section, as below, or we may break players into groups of 6, 8 or more to create more equitable sections. Please plan to arrive at the club by 6:30 to partake of Frisco’s excellent lecture before the tournament (last week’s explication of the mating pattern with king, bishop and knight versus king was a revelation to me and may be worth repeating soon).

Also, Chris Torres and I are trying to nail down the next rated club tournament, which could begin as early as August 1st, and I’ll share details here as soon as I have them. I hope to see many of you tomorrow, Thursday, evening! Regards,

Mark Drury

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 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.

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Last Week’s Results & Upcoming Meetings

Yet another late update for the previous week: we enjoyed an excellent lecture from Frisco Del Rosario then assayed a longer time control in our first impromptu slightly-longer-than-blitz event, a G/7;d2 affair with 18 people joining the fray, and with yours truly being treated most shamefully over the board, it must be said. Andy Applebaum once again claimed first with a perfect 4-0, while Pranav Jindal, Adam Ferrell and Venugopal Mani tied for second a full point behind (3-0); full results for this event are in the attached image. People appeared to approve of the time control but the general thinking is that G/5 or less with some small delay affords more rounds and less waiting between rounds, so we’ll likely return to the faster time controls for our impromptu tournaments.

Frisco will give another lecture this Thursday evening beginning at 6:30pm sharp then we’ll play another free, unrated blitz event beginning shortly after 7pm. As a reminder, there will be no club meeting July 4th, given it’s a national holiday and I believe the Arrillaga Center will be closed, and I will be out of town July 11th but Frisco offered to host the club that evening for a lecture, casual play and/or a thematic tournament. Thank you once again for all you are doing for the club, Frisco!