unrated Archives - Page 5 of 8 - Menlo Park Chess Club

December 8, 2023December 8, 2023

Impromptu Blitz #7 Results, Schedule Updates

We enjoyed a record 31 participants in our Impromptu Blitz #7 last night, a 5-round G/3+2 affair which included no less than nine first-time visitors to the club. As is often the case, Pranav Jindal and Alaric Stein sat atop the wall chart when all was said and done, Pranav taking first this time with a perfect 5-0 while Alaric shared joint second at 4-1 with Cesar Tamondong, who nicked me in the final round with his accursed From’s Gambit (between he and Kornél I’m considering a temporary ban at the club on that particular response to my beloved Bird). Full results for the tournament may be viewed in the attached image.

I’ll update the club’s schedule of events this weekend (https://menloparkchess.club/events/) but we’ll meet December 14th and 21st for casual, blitz or variant tournaments then there will be no meetings December 28th and January 4th, due to the Holidays. Beginning January 11th we’ll hold a 2- or 3-week quick-rated event of some kind, likely G/15, perhaps double-round quads again. As always, let me know your preferences and/or dislikes and I hope to see many of you next week.

#	Player	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Total
1	Pranav Jindal	B 21	W 7	B 4	W 2	W 6
		1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	5.0
2	Alaric Stein	W 12	B 19	W 8	B 1	W 10
		1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	4.0	4.0
3	Cesar Tamondong	B 22	W 4	B 26	W 13	B 9
		1.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0
4	Ramkumar Jeyaraman	W 26	B 3	W 1	B 16	B 11
		1.0	2.0	2.0	2.5	3.5	3.5
5	Richard Wang	B 13	W 17	B 10	W 23	W 16
		1.0	1.5	1.5	2.5	3.5	3.5
6	Kornel Csernai	bye	W 29	B 14	W 10	B 1
		0.5	1.5	2.5	3.5	3.5	3.5
7	David Zhao	W 31	B 1	W 18	B 14	W 15
		1.0	1.0	1.5	2.5	3.5	3.5
8	Gabriel Sanchez	B 29	W 16	B 2	W 11	W 18
		1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0
9	Mark Drury	bye	W 15	B 17	bye	W 3
		0.5	1.5	2.5	3.0	3.0	3.0
10	Charlie Mayville	W 18	B 11	W 5	B 6	B 2
		1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
11	Hayden Brongersma	B 27	W 10	B 22	B 8	W 4
		1.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
12	Joey Lo	B 2	W 27	B 16	– 26	W 20
		0.0	1.0	1.0	X2.0	3.0	3.0
13	Paul Hartel	W 5	B 31	W 19	B 3	B 21
		0.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0
14	Kanav Maheshwari	bye	B 20	W 6	W 7	B 23
		0.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	2.5	2.5
15	Rohan Kapre	bye	B 9	W 29	W 17	B 7
		0.5	0.5	1.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
16	Josen Kalra	W 23	B 8	W 12	W 4	B 5
		1.0	1.0	2.0	2.5	2.5	2.5
17	Taewoo Kim	W 28	B 5	W 9	B 15	B 25
		1.0	1.5	1.5	1.5	2.5	2.5
18	Aditya Dhamdhere	B 10	W 24	B 7	W 19	B 8
		0.0	1.0	1.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
19	Gagan Prakash	B 30	W 2	B 13	B 18	W 27
		1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0
20	Hugo Pu	B 24	W 14	B 23	W 22	B 12
		1.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
21	Beata Ang-Dutta	W 1	B 23	W 27	B 28	W 13
		0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
22	Ugo Madagu	W 3	B 28	W 11	B 20	W 30
		0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0
23	Austin Chen	B 16	W 21	W 20	B 5	W 14
		0.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
24	Taein Kim	W 20	B 18	– 31	W 25	B 28
		0.0	0.0	X1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0
25	Shlok Chowdhury	bye	—-	—-	B 24	W 17
		0.5	U0.5	U0.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
26	Arjun Goel	B 4	W 30	W 3	– 12	—-
		0.0	1.0	1.0	F1.0	U1.0	1.0
27	Maybeline Hinlo	W 11	B 12	B 21	W 30	B 19
		0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
28	Minsoo Kim	B 17	W 22	B 30	W 21	W 24
		0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
29	Amogh Rao	W 8	B 6	B 15	—-	—-
		0.0	0.0	0.0	U0.0	U0.0	0.0
30	Bud Woll	W 19	B 26	W 28	B 27	B 22
		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
31	Jimmy Chen	B 7	W 13	– 24	—-	—-
		0.0	0.0	F0.0	U0.0	U0.0	0.0

September 30, 2023September 30, 2023

Impromptu G/2+3 Double-Round Blitz #6

We enjoyed another excellent turnout for our casual evening this past Thursday and 26 people played in our impromptu G/2+3 double-round blitz tournament (two games played against each opponent), with Andy Applebaum taking sole first with a perfect 8 points. One point behind in sole second was first-time club visitor Ramkumar Jeyaraman, while Cesar Tamondong claimed sole third with 6 points. Of particular note was the result of Hayden Brongersma at 5 points, a young player who seems to get stronger each week and, if memory serves, only took up the game seriously earlier this year. Full results for the tournament are given below and we’ll continue to offer these blitz events (with different formats and time controls) on casual nights given it’s clearly what club membership wishes to do.

#	Name/Rating/ID	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Total
1	Andy Applebaum	W 22	B 22	B 17	W 17	W 11	B 11	W 3	B 3
		1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	6.0	7.0	8.0	8.0
2	Ramkumar Jeyaraman	B 6	W 6	W 15	B 15	W 8	B 8	B 11	W 11
		0.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	6.0	7.0	7.0
3	Cesar Tamondong	W 16	B 16	W 13	B 13	B 7	W 7	B 1	W 1
		1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0
4	Rohan Kapre	bye	bye	W 6	B 6	B 19	W 19	W 5	B 5
		0.5	1.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	5.0	5.0
5	Kornel Csernai	B 24	W 24	W 7	B 7	W 12	B 12	B 4	W 4
		1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
6	Hayden Brongersma	W 2	B 2	B 4	W 4	B 21	W 21	W 10	B 10
		1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.5	4.5	5.0	5.0
7	David Zhao	W 19	B 19	B 5	W 5	W 3	B 3	B 15	W 15
		1.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	4.0	4.5	4.5
8	Mark Drury	W 10	B 10	bye	bye	B 2	W 2	W 17	B 17
		1.0	2.0	2.5	3.0	3.0	3.0	4.0	4.5	4.5
9	Josen Kalra	B 15	W 15	W 16	B 16	W 18	B 18	W 21	B 21
		0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.5	2.5	3.5	4.5	4.5
10	Amogh Rao	B 8	W 8	W 26	B 26	B 13	W 13	B 6	W 6
		0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	4.5	4.5
11	Pranav Jindal	B 14	W 14	W 21	B 21	B 1	W 1	W 2	B 2
		1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
12	John Vitlacil	bye	bye	bye	bye	B 5	W 5	B 14	W 14
		0.5	1.0	1.5	2.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
13	Lasha Lakarbaia	W 26	B 26	B 3	W 3	W 10	B 10	W 22	B 22
		1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0
14	Paul Hartel	W 11	B 11	B 23	W 23	B 17	W 17	W 12	B 12
		0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	4.0	4.0
15	Jay Wacker	W 9	B 9	B 2	W 2	B 22	W 22	W 7	B 7
		1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.5	3.5	4.0	4.0
16	Atul Dhingra	B 3	W 3	B 9	W 9	W 20	B 20	W 23	B 23
		0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0
17	Nikita Grinkin	B 25	W 25	W 1	B 1	W 14	B 14	B 8	W 8
		1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.5	3.5
18	Aditya Dhamdhere	bye	bye	—-	—-	B 9	W 9	B 25	W 25
		0.5	1.0	U1.0	U1.0	1.5	1.5	2.5	3.5	3.5
19	Isaiah Scott	B 7	W 7	W 24	B 24	W 4	B 4	W 20	B 20
		0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
20	Hugo Pu	bye	bye	—-	—-	B 16	W 16	B 19	W 19
		0.5	1.0	U1.0	U1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0
21	Ashwin Ganesh	W 23	B 23	B 11	W 11	W 6	B 6	B 9	W 9
		1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
22	Richard Wang	B 1	W 1	W 25	B 25	W 15	B 15	B 13	W 13
		0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
23	Jerome Oriel	B 21	W 21	W 14	B 14	B 26	W 26	B 16	W 16
		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
24	Victor Chen	W 5	B 5	B 19	W 19	B 25	W 25	W 26	B 26
		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0
25	Michael Darr	W 17	B 17	B 22	W 22	W 24	B 24	W 18	B 18
		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
26	Ganesh R.	B 13	W 13	B 10	W 10	W 23	B 23	B 24	W 24
		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

September 23, 2023September 25, 2023

Impromptu G/2+3 Double-Round Blitz #5

We enjoyed another good turnout for our casual evening this past Thursday and 24 people played in our impromptu G/2+3 double-round blitz tournament (two games played against each opponent), with Andy, Pranav and Alaric sharing first place with 7 out of 8 points. The time control was a bit unusual and was chosen solely because we wished to try something different, something a little faster than normal. I don’t know that we’ll play G/2+3 again as it was not obviously better than G/3+2 or the like but it was perhaps worth trying. We’ll play another impromptu blitz tournament next week (September 28th) and our club championship will begin the following week, October 5th. Regards,

Mark Drury

#	Player	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Total
1	Andy Applebaum	bye	bye	B 13	W 13	W 15	B 15	B 10	W 10
		0.5	1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	6.0	7.0	7.0
2	Pranav Jindal	W 17	B 17	B 5	W 5	W 10	B 10	W 3	B 3
		1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	6.0	7.0	7.0	7.0
3	Alaric Stein	B 18	W 18	W 6	B 6	W 11	B 11	B 2	W 2
		1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	6.0	6.0	7.0	7.0
4	Rohan Kapre	bye	bye	bye	bye	W 21	B 21	B 11	W 11
		0.5	1.0	1.5	2.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	6.0	6.0
5	David Zhao	B 20	W 20	W 2	B 2	W 13	B 13	W 7	B 7
		1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
6	Josen Kalra	W 9	B 9	B 3	W 3	B 8	W 8	W 12	B 12
		1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	5.0
7	Julian Tai	bye	bye	B 15	W 15	W 19	B 19	B 5	W 5
		0.5	1.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	5.0	5.0
8	Paul Hartel	B 15	W 15	B 17	W 17	W 6	B 6	W 20	B 20
		0.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	5.0
9	Austin Chen	B 6	W 6	W 18	B 18	W 23	B 23	B 16	W 16
		0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	5.0
10	Richard Wang	B 21	W 21	W 16	B 16	B 2	W 2	W 1	B 1
		1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
11	Nikita Grinkin	W 19	B 19	W 12	B 12	B 3	W 3	W 4	B 4
		1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
12	Ashwin Ganesh	W 24	B 24	B 11	W 11	W 14	B 14	B 6	W 6
		1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
13	Isaiah Scott	B 22	W 22	W 1	B 1	B 5	W 5	W 21	B 21
		1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0
14	Hugo Pu	bye	bye	bye	bye	B 12	W 12	B 24	W 24
		0.5	1.0	1.5	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0
15	Thomas Gerber	W 8	B 8	W 7	B 7	B 1	W 1	B 18	W 18
		1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0
16	Arnav Bhavsar	B 23	W 23	B 10	W 10	W 20	B 20	W 9	B 9
		1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
17	Amogh Rao	B 2	W 2	W 8	B 8	W 18	B 18	B 19	W 19
		0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0
18	Hayden Brongersma	W 3	B 3	B 9	W 9	B 17	W 17	W 15	B 15
		0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
19	Jeff Ungar	B 11	W 11	W 24	B 24	B 7	W 7	W 17	B 17
		0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
20	Aditya Dhamdhere	W 5	B 5	W 22	B 22	B 16	W 16	B 8	W 8
		0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
21	Michael Darr	W 10	B 10	W 23	B 23	B 4	W 4	B 13	W 13
		0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
22	Johann Loeb	W 13	B 13	B 20	W 20	B 24	W 24	B 23	W 23
		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0
23	Victor Chen	W 16	B 16	B 21	W 21	B 9	W 9	W 22	B 22
		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
24	Maxime Gerber	B 12	W 12	B 19	W 19	W 22	B 22	W 14	B 14
		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

September 9, 2023September 9, 2023

Impromptu G/5+0 Blitz Tournament #4

There was another good turnout for our casual evening this past Thursday and twenty people played in the 4-round G/5+0 blitz tournament, won (yet again) by Pranav Jindal with a perfect 4-0 score, followed by Kunal Modi, Nikita Grinkin, Satya Chitturi and yours truly at 3 points. At the conclusion of this tournament quite a few people wanted to play another 4-rounder but we simply didn’t have time–perhaps if we manage to start earlier we can hold two complete blitz tournaments in one evening. Regards,

Mark Drury

#	Player	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Total
1	Pranav Jindal	B 15	W 5	B 4	W 2
		1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0
2	Kunal Modi	W 16	B 9	W 3	B 1
		1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
3	Nikita Grinkin	B 12	W 11	B 2	W 6
		1.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0
4	Satya Chitturi	W 17	B 13	W 1	B 10
		1.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0
5	Mark Drury	B 18	B 1	W 14	W 11
		1.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0
6	David Zhao	W 14	B 8	W 9	B 3
		0.5	1.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
7	Hugo Pu	bye	bye	B 12	W 14
		0.5	1.0	2.0	2.5	2.5
8	Josen Kalra	W 13	W 6	B 19	B 17
		0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0	2.0
9	Cesar Tamondong	B 20	W 2	B 6	W 18
		1.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0
10	Rohan Kapre	bye	bye	B 18	W 4
		0.5	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
11	Arnav Bhavsar	B 19	B 3	W 13	B 5
		1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
12	Eddie Zhao	W 3	B 20	W 7	B 19
		0.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0
13	Hayden Brongersma	B 8	W 4	B 11	W 16
		1.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0
14	Aditya Dhamdhere	B 6	W 15	B 5	B 7
		0.5	1.5	1.5	2.0	2.0
15	Ashwin Ganesh	W 1	B 14	W 17	B 20
		0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0
16	Kornel Csernai	B 2	W 18	W 20	B 13
		0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
17	Michael Darr	B 4	W 19	B 15	W 8
		0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
18	Jeff Ungar	W 5	B 16	W 10	B 9
		0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
19	Kyan Agdassi	W 11	B 17	W 8	W 12
		0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
20	Paul Hartel	W 9	W 12	B 16	W 15
		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

September 2, 2023September 2, 2023

Impromptu G/3+2 Blitz Tournament #3

Our casual/blitz/bughouse evening this past Thursday was more lightly attended than usual, perhaps due to the upcoming Labor Day Weekend and the fact that we completed our Quick-rated tournament the week before, but many club stalwarts and several first-time visitors played in a five-round impromptu blitz tournament, with Andy Applebaum taking sole first with a perfect 5-0 score (I gave Andy a run for him money in the final round). Satya Chitturi was second with 4 points and Jeff McGinnis third at 3.5. It was another fun event and we may do this every casual evening as there appears to be an appetite for it. Full results follow and note that our Surfeit of Blitz Redux event will likely occur over two weeks September 23rd and 30th. Regards,

Mark Drury

#	Player	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Total
1	Andy Applebaum	B 8	W 4	B 2	W 9	B 7
		1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	5.0
2	Satya Chitturi	W 10	B 9	W 1	B 6	W 4
		1.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	4.0
3	Jeff McGinnis	bye	bye	bye	B 11	B 9
		0.5	1.0	1.5	2.5	3.5	3.5
4	Deep Bardhan	W 11	B 1	W 7	B 10	B 2
		1.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
5	Aranya Kundu	W 12	W 14	B 6	B 15	W 10
		0.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0
6	Chase Wang	W 7	B 16	W 5	W 2	B 12
		0.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0
7	Mark Drury	B 6	W 12	B 4	bye	W 1
		1.0	2.0	2.0	2.5	2.5	2.5
8	Hayden Brongersma	W 1	B 11	W 16	B 13	—-
		0.0	0.5	1.5	2.5	U2.5	2.5
9	Ashwin Ganesh	B 17	W 2	B 12	B 1	W 3
		1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
10	Arnav Bhavsar	B 2	W 17	B 14	W 4	B 5
		0.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
11	Hugo Pu	B 4	W 8	B 17	W 3	W 13
		0.0	0.5	1.5	1.5	2.0	2.0
12	Esther Mendoza	B 5	B 7	W 9	W 14	W 6
		1.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
13	Colin Taylor	bye	bye	bye	W 8	B 11
		0.5	1.0	1.5	1.5	2.0	2.0
14	Aditya Dhamdhere	W 16	B 5	W 10	B 12	B 17
		1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0
15	Abhik Chatterjee	bye	bye	bye	W 5	B 16
		0.5	1.0	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
16	Michael Darr	B 14	W 6	B 8	W 17	W 15
		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0
17	Paul Hartel	W 9	B 10	W 11	B 16	W 14
		0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

August 8, 2023September 2, 2023

Impromptu G/3+2 Blitz Tournament #2

We had another good showing at our casual night this past Thursday and threw together a second impromptu G/3+2 blitz tournament, which Pranav won with a perfect 4-0 score. Full results are below for the curious. We’re overdue to host our second Surfeit of Blitz marathon so that may happen in September or October, at the latest.

Our August Quick-Rated Double-Round Quads begin this Thursday and I’ll send the groups and round-by-round pairings later today or tomorrow. Note that we have one extra spot in the larger Swiss section for someone rated 750 or below—please contact me if you or someone you know may wish to play some quick-rated games over the coming three weeks. Regards,

Mark Drury

June 2, 2023June 2, 2023

Isles of Blood and Spices Blitz Results

We enjoyed an excellent turnout for our 5-round G/5 Isles of Blood and Spices Blitz tournament last night, with 28 players vying in one Open section for modest cash prizes in three ratings groups. Congratulations to Pranav and Adam S. for shared first overall, to Lasha and Nicholas for shared first 1000-1499 (and their excellent 4.0 result) and to young Siddharth for yet another strong showing in taking first alone in the U1000 group, with Hayden, Marc and Trinton tying for second a point behind. The common lament heard during this event was that “I was n moves away from mate or a draw but lost on time!” so we may revisit an increment or delay during our next blitz tournament. The full results may be seen in the attached image—I’ll follow up with prize winners about payment and, as always, please let me know if you have questions or if a correction is needed.

Our next tournament will be a 3-round, dual-rated G/30;d5 Swiss over three weeks beginning June 15th, and we’ll again offer 2, 3 or 4 sections to keep the ratings within groups as close as possible. The entry fee is $5, all of which will be returned in cash prizes. More information and a registration button may be found here: https://menloparkchess.club/event/june-dual-rated-short-swiss-round-1/. Note that you only need register for round 1 of this event and you’re good for all three rounds.

As mentioned at the club last night, I may be out of town next Thursday, June 8th, but I’ll try to find someone to bring the chess equipment to the club in my stead. If that turns out to be impracticable we may still open for casual/blitz/bughouse/ladder play but you’ll need to bring your own equipment, is all. I’ll send another note once I know more. Regards,

Mark Drury

Isles of Blood and Spices Blitz

In a final homage to Mervyn Peake—for now—the Menlo Park Chess Club will hold an unrated 5-round tournament with a G/5 time control (no increment or delay) in one section over one evening Thursday, June 1st, our Isles of Blood and Spices Blitz. The entry fee is $5, all of which will be returned in prize money, the distribution of which will be based on ratings groupings and number of entries. Games played during this event which meet our blitz ladder criteria will also impact ladder standings. Entries are limited to 32 players so please register early using the button, above, and provide a US Chess ID or Lichess.org/Chess.com handle to give some idea of your blitz strength. The first round begins promptly at 7pm—please check in at the club no later than 6:45pm!

May 18, 2023May 18, 2023

MPCC Ladders

This evening we’ll host casual, blitz and bughouse play at the club but will also open up our Blitz and Quick ladders a little early for those seeking to climb either. The idea remains to run each ladder for three months and award points for ladder games as one would an ordinary Swiss, where a win is one point, a draw half a point and a loss zero points, and we may also incorporate a bonus for the person or persons who climb the most rungs during each three-month period.

As mentioned during the Quick Swiss last week, Chess.com is sponsoring some nice prizes, including 1-month Diamond memberships for three club members every month, which we will award to ladder participants based on monthly results, with some additional prizes awarded for one’s three-month performance. If you’ve read this far, you deserve a little prize already—please use the following link to get Chessable Pro free for one month, another benefit Chess.com is passing along to affiliate clubs such as ours: http://chessable.com/MenloParkChessClub.

More information about our ladders, along with rules and initial standings based upon our two most recent tournaments, may be found here: https://menloparkchess.club/ladders/ (if you wish to be added to either ladder just let me know). Questions? Send a message to info@menloparkchess.club or see me at the club tonight. Regards,

Mark Drury

May 4, 2023May 9, 2023

Raphael Yelluas Memorial Blitz

The Raphael Yelluas Memorial Blitz event held last night at the Kolty Chess Club was a great success, with a very large turnout split into two sections, 1600+ and U1600. The Menlo Park club was well represented and saw excellent results from the likes of Cesar, Adam, Kunal, Marshall, Nicholas, Samuel, Ashwin, Alex Chin, Shahin Aghevli, Josen Kalra, Michael Ho and certainly others I’m forgetting at present.

I don’t have the official results but I believe IM Grisha Kotlyar and CM Badamkhand Norovsambuu tied for first in the 1600+ section, while Menlo Park Chess Club stalwarts Nicholas Tan and Samuel Agdamag shared first in the U1600 section, after an exciting final-round draw between the two (both undefeated to that point!).

The photos below are from the first round, with Cesar and Badamkhand squaring off on board two while I had the pleasure of playing Grisha on board one. We began an interesting Dutch game of a dozen or so moves until I may have been on the verge of losing a pawn or some positional concession but instead opted to boldly hang my queen, from which auspicious start I never left the bottom boards for the rest of the night. Grisha was gracious in victory, however, and may visit our club at some point to play blitz with members and/or give a lecture of some kind.

A big thank you to Wolfgang Behm, George Jeffers, Carl Lumma, Grisha Kotlyar and all the other Kolty Chess Club Players who made this happen—it was a great event!