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, February 13th, using the G/20;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 (February 13th, 27th and March 6th) please do not register. (Note that February 20th occurs during a “ski week” for local schools so we’ll hold a casual evening then.) 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/february-double-round-quick-rated-quads-round-one/
- Rounds: February 13th, 27th and March 6th—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
- Control: G/20;d5 (quick-rated game of 20 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: First place in each quad receives $50, second place receives $30, 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
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, February 13th, using the G/20;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 (February 13th, 27th and March 6th) please do not register. (Note that February 20th occurs during a “ski week” for local schools so we’ll hold a casual evening then.) 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: February 13th, 27th and March 6th—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
- Control: G/20;d5 (quick-rated game of 20 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: First place in each quad receives $50, second place receives $30, 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 button/link found here
- 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
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.
I am belatedly posting the results from our 7-round G/3+2 blitz tournament of last week, which saw several of the first-time visitors from the previous week return for another chance at glory and/or revenge. Alex Chin ended up alone in first place with a perfect 7/7, with Hayden Brongersma in sole second a point behind and Pranav Jindal and Josen Kalra sharing T-3 with 5 points. Congratulations to our winners and thank you to everyone who joined us last week!
Apparently, and somewhat humorously, a couple people tried to let me know last Thursday that a first-time visitor was engaging in a running monologue during his games and I thought they were implicating another new person with whom I was playing a casual game. In any case, apologies I didn’t get the message and didn’t hear the person in question but I’ll be certain to keep an eye and an ear out for this behavior Thursday, when we’ll play another free, unrated Swiss of some kind.
Lastly, I will share the details for our next rated event tomorrow or Thursday at the latest, but expect it to be a quick-rated tournament beginning on February 13th. More to come soon!
We had 32 people participate in our free lecture and unrated blitz tournament last week, per the attached results image, including 10 or 12 first-time visitors to the club, which must be a record (there were clearly some play-over-the-board-chess New Year’s resolutions to thank for the big turnout). Congratulations to Triet, Hayden and Raaja on their first-place tie at 5 out of 6 and to Breakwell for his solo fourth performance at 4.5, another excellent showing ahead of a raft of strong players at 4 points! We’ll do the same thing this Thursday (lecture and blitz tournament) and I’ll send more information soon about our upcoming rated event in February.
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.
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.
Attached is the wall chart showing the final results for our 2024 Club Championship as well as the prize amounts and distributions for our different prize groups. Congratulations to our newest club champion, Yoyo He, on his perfect score in this event and on the addition of 100+ points to his regular rating—well played, Yoyo! Pranav Jindal took sole second in the event with four points followed by a number of players at 3.5, and both Thomas Petrillo and Breakwell Loyalka played well above their ratings to be part of that august group. The tournament has already been rated and the US Chess report is available here:
https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202412125552-12459313
Thank you to everyone who participated in our club championship and if you have any feedback or suggestions for future tournaments please don’t hesitate to share them with me. Regards,
Mark Drury
Last night’s round 4 of our 2024 Menlo Park Chess Club Championship was replete with more upsets and heartbreaking losses, setting up a final-round showdown between Pranav Jindal and Yoyo He for the title and $120 first prize. This has been a great tournament thus far and has likely been more enjoyable as a spectator than a player, given some of the tragicomic events witnessed over the board these past many weeks. We’ll play round 5 next Thursday, hold another free, impromptu blitz tournament December 19th then take a few weeks off for the Holidays. As always, Frisco’s 6:30pm lectures alone are worth a visit to the club, even if you’re not playing in the championship, and I hope to see many of you before the year ends. — Mark Drury
