With apologies to fans of NCAA Basketball, our next dual-rated quads tournament begins March 5th and runs three consecutive weeks, with a possible makeup round scheduled for March 26th if needed. More details and a registration link may be found here — please register asap if you wish to play in this event as we’re limiting the field to 28 players this time around (7 quads).
Relatedly, the results of our recently-concluded club survey may be seen below and made clear people prefer that our next rated event have a longer time control, so the quads will be played at G/45;d5, one game per evening. In addition to the data shared below we received a large number of helpful comments and suggestions so we’ll try to incorporate all that we can in upcoming events — thank you to those who took the time to complete the survey! Regards,
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold dual-rated quads beginning Thursday, March 5th, using the G/45;d5 time control and playing one game each evening over three successive weeks, with a possible makeup week March 26th. Players will be grouped into quads based upon current US Chess Regular ratings 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: Quads (groups of four players) or perhaps small Swiss sections of 6-8 players over three weeks, one game per evening
Rounds: March 5th, 12th and 19th with a possible makeup round March 26th — 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 quad will offer a $50 first and $30 second prize with ties splitting the money while any Swiss section prizes will depend upon the number of players therein
Byes: No byes are available for this event
Register: Registration is now closed for this event
Equipment: Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a digital clock if you prefer your own)
Membership: All tournament participants must be current US Chess members for the duration of the event
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold dual-rated quads beginning Thursday, March 5th, using the G/45;d5 time control and playing one game each evening over three successive weeks, with a possible makeup week March 26th. Players will be grouped into quads based upon current US Chess Regular ratings 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: Quads (groups of four players) or perhaps small Swiss sections of 6-8 players over three weeks, one game per evening
Rounds: March 5th, 12th and 19th with a possible makeup round March 26th — 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 quad will offer a $50 first and $30 second prize with ties splitting the money while any Swiss section prizes will depend upon the number of players therein
Byes: No byes are available for this event
Register: Registration is now closed for this event
Equipment: Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a digital clock if you prefer your own)
Membership: All tournament participants must be current US Chess members for the duration of the event
Attached are two views of the final results of our Fourth Menlo Park Chess Club Championship, one showing the usual wall chart and another the standings, in case some of you prefer either or both. Congratulations to Breakwell Loyalka, who went undefeated to claim sole first and the title of club champion, and that despite a wild endgame with Frisco in the final round which could have gone either way. I believe Breakwell is our youngest champion to date and his victory is none too surprising given the way he has performed in other recent events. Frisco was also undefeated with three wins and two draws for four points out of five, tying with Vedant Verma for overall second place—congratulations to both of you! Andrew Yu and Steven Swick also deserve mention for claiming sole first and $80 in their prize groups, while Josen Kalra, Di Lin and I tied for first in the second prize group to split the three prizes therein.
Kabir Jain won our cumulative upset prize, despite late surges by Vinayak Vikram and Caleb Leong, and will claim the Pixel Earbuds donated by the Pu family — congratulations to Kabir and thank you once again, Dennis, Helena and Hugo Pu for your generous donation to our club. I also wanted to thank Hugo Pu for ably directing this tournament, which allowed me to play without interruption — I very much appreciate your help, Hugo!
Thank you again to everyone who played in or spectated our final tournament of the year and we’ll do something similar in February or early March of next year. Regards,
Below are the current standings and round 4 pairings for our club championship, which continues after the Thanksgiving Holiday with round 4 on December 4th, 2025. We also have Frisco’s round 2 and round 3 bulletins available at the following links — many thanks once again to Frisco for producing this for our club!
I wanted to post a quick update reminding people that we’ll be playing round 3 of our club championship this Thursday at 7pm, per the attached wall chart image. Please feel free to join us for Frisco’s 6:30pm lecture and to spectate the tournament games thereafter but we won’t be holding the typical free, unrated blitz tournament this week. We will have a skittles room available for those who wish to pick up a game or two and that room becomes reasonably active as the tournament games finish round 8pm.
Frisco is also creating an excellent tournament bulletin for each round and that for the first may be viewed here.
Please let me know if you have any questions about the club championship or about club events for the remainder of the year (https://menloparkchess.club/events/) and I hope to see you at the Arrillaga Center soon! Regards,
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our fourth annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 6th, at 7pm, a five-round USCF-rated Swiss system event using the dual-rated G/45;d5 time control over five weeks (there will be no round on November 27th, Thanksgiving). 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. Details follow:
Format: Five-round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
Rounds: November 6th, 13th, 20th and December 4th and 11th (there is no round November 27th, 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)
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
Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you prefer your own)
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our fourth annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 6th, at 7pm, a five-round USCF-rated Swiss system event using the dual-rated G/45;d5 time control over five weeks (there will be no round on November 27th, Thanksgiving). 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. Details follow:
Format: Five-round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
Rounds: November 6th, 13th, 20th and December 4th and 11th (there is no round November 27th, 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)
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
Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you prefer your own)
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our fourth annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 6th, at 7pm, a five-round USCF-rated Swiss system event using the dual-rated G/45;d5 time control over five weeks (there will be no round on November 27th, Thanksgiving). 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. Details follow:
Format: Five-round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
Rounds: November 6th, 13th, 20th and December 4th and 11th (there is no round November 27th, 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)
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
Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you prefer your own)
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our fourth annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 6th, at 7pm, a five-round USCF-rated Swiss system event using the dual-rated G/45;d5 time control over five weeks (there will be no round on November 27th, Thanksgiving). 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. Details follow:
Format: Five-round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
Rounds: November 6th, 13th, 20th and December 4th and 11th (there is no round November 27th, 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)
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
Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you prefer your own)
