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
The attached image includes the December 5th round 4 pairings for our club championship and, as always, these could change if we get late bye requests or cancelations due to illness or the like. A number of you have asked about byes so I wanted to reiterate what is stated in the tournament announcement: each player is eligible for one half-point bye in any of rounds 1 through 4. Any additional bye requests (including for round 5) will be zero points, the most equitable thing to do where prizes are concerned. Late bye requests on Thursday may be given zero points (an unrated forfeit loss) if I cannot re-pair the round ahead of the 7pm start. If there are any changes to the pairings below I will email participants the updated wall chart asap. Looking forward to Thursday night!
Upsets were again a theme in round 3 of our club championship, with no fewer than ten games ending in a draw or loss for the higher-rated player. Young Austin Chen in particular showed incredible resolve to hold then win a position while down an exchange (and about 600 rating points vis-à-vis his strong opponent)–his passed c-pawn proved a difficult problem and he eventually capitalized on Wentao’s time trouble late in their game. Tough losses aside, our talented junior players are a joy to watch and I’ve little doubt more than a few of them will be candidate masters or better soon if they keep playing the game with the same enthusiasm seen at the club.
Frisco shared his excellent round 2 bulletin with us last night and if you weren’t able to pick up a copy at the club you can view or download it here, Thank you, Frisco!
As a final reminder, the club will not meet next week due to Thanksgiving, with round 4 of the championship occurring on December 5th. Have a great holiday and I hope to see many of you in December!
Below are the four page’s from Frisco Del Rosario’s round one bulletin for our club championship—a single PDF is also available if you’d like a copy (just send email to the club address, info@menloparkchess.club).
There was more exciting chess in round 2 of our club championship this past Thursday, with perhaps two games ending in what may be considered upsets along with quite a few time scrambles up and down the wall chart. Below are the current standings after two rounds as well as the tentative round 3 pairings—these could change if there are late bye requests or withdrawals. Many of you have asked me about getting a copy of Frisco’s round 1 bulletin, which includes analysis of three games from the first round, and I think he plans to make that available digitally at some point (but won’t hold him to it).
As a reminder, we’ll play round 3 of the tournament next week then will take a week off November 28th for Thanksgiving. We’ll resume the championship after the holiday with round 4 on December 5th. Regards,
Mark Drury
The image below includes the round one results for our club championship as well as the round 2 pairings. There were some amazing games in round one and it seemed the top three boards all could have ended in upsets at various points during the evening, though the higher-rated players all managed to prevail (in the final seconds on boards one and three). There were equally close games further down the wall chart but when all the clocks were finally stopped we had just one “upset,” with young Max Cheung overcoming another strong junior player, Hugo Pu, on board 15.
I liked using the two rooms as we did last week, given there was more space for everyone, so I may try to continue that for the rest of the championship if the rec. center staff allow it. Else, we’ll probably be in the Oak Room again this week, as usual. Please plan to arrive before 7pm so we can check everyone in and start the round on time, something we almost managed last week. Better yet, get there by 6:30 to enjoy Frisco’s excellent lecture and you’ll likely learn something new about this amazing game we all share. See you Thursday!
Mark Drury
Twenty-eight people joined us for our Blitz Championship #2 last night, another seven-rounder with a G/3+2 time control in place of last week’s G/5+0. Kunal Modi’s excellent 6.0 out of 7 was good for clear first and the top group’s $80 prize, while Zelin Fang and Hayden Brongersma shared first place in group two and split $60. There was a three-way tie in group three between Kaio Deeter, Breakwell Loyalka and Austin Chen, all of whom split another $60 while young Siddharth Kalra took sole first in group four, claiming all $40 of that group’s prize. This event has already been rated and the report may be viewed here: https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202410244452.
Last night also wrapped up our combined blitz championship and after fourteen long rounds over two weeks Andy Applebaum edged out Kunal Modi by half a point to take the overall Menlo Park Chess Club Championship and the extra $100 prize. Well played, Andy and Kunal, and thank you to everyone who joined us for these two blitz tournaments.
Note that we won’t meet next week, October 31st, given it’s Halloween but our five-round club championship proper begins the following week and spots are still available in that event if you prefer longer time controls: https://menloparkchess.club/event/third-menlo-park-chess-club-championship-round-1/. Regards,
Mark Drury
Below are the results of our Blitz Championship #1: G/5+0 from Thursday, which saw a full complement of 32 pre-registered players, all of whom showed up pretty much on time such that we were able to start the tournament round 7:05pm. Congratulations to Badamkhand Norovsambuu for capturing sole first place in the event and the $100 prize, ahead of some very strong blitz competition! Zelin Fang, Yoyo He and Yash Shaw tied for the 1400-1800 prize ($27 each) while young Austin Chen was the lone U1400 participant at 4 points or better, which earned him $60. Thank you to everyone who participated in this event, see the attached wall charts for full results and the US Chess rating report is available here: https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202410170182-12459313.
Next week’s rated Blitz Championship #2: G/3+2 is filling fast so please register asap if you hope to play in this event. As a reminder, the person with the highest combined score from both blitz tournaments will be crowned the club’s blitz champion and will receive an extra $100 prize (in addition to any prize won at this week’s event). We will likely have three or four prize groups again this week, just as in last week’s tournament, so just about everyone has a chance to win something: https://menloparkchess.club/event/club-blitz-championship-tournament-2-g-32/. Regards,
Mark Drury
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold the second of our blitz chess championship tournaments on Thursday, October 24th, at 7pm, a seven-round USCF-rated Swiss system event using the G/3+2 time control 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.
This tournament was preceded by the seven-round G/5+0 event the previous week. 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.
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.
Details for the G/3+2 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/3+2 (blitz-rated game of 3 minutes for each player with a 2-second increment added after each move)
- 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 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
