The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our fifth annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 5th, 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 26th, 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 5th, 12th, 19th and December 3rd and 10th (there is no round November 26th, 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)
- Payment: PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12, Zelle: 6504006393
- Prizes: Four prize groups based upon November US Chess regular ratings with roughly 7 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
- Register: Registrations closed after the start of the first round
- Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you prefer your own)
- All tournament participants must be current US Chess members
- Our tournament chess rules summary is required reading if you’re new to tournament play
- For more information please send email to info@menloparkchess.club
- Join our Facebook group or Google Group to stay abreast of future club tournaments and events
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our fifth annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 5th, 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 26th, 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 5th, 12th, 19th and December 3rd and 10th (there is no round November 26th, 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)
- Payment: PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12, Zelle: 6504006393
- Prizes: Four prize groups based upon November US Chess regular ratings with roughly 7 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
- Register: Registrations closed after the start of the first round
- Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you prefer your own)
- All tournament participants must be current US Chess members
- Our tournament chess rules summary is required reading if you’re new to tournament play
- For more information please send email to info@menloparkchess.club
- Join our Facebook group or Google Group to stay abreast of future club tournaments and events
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our fifth annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 5th, 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 26th, 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 5th, 12th, 19th and December 3rd and 10th (there is no round November 26th, 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)
- Payment: PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12, Zelle: 6504006393
- Prizes: Four prize groups based upon November US Chess regular ratings with roughly 7 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
- Register: Registrations closed after the start of the first round
- Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you prefer your own)
- All tournament participants must be current US Chess members
- Our tournament chess rules summary is required reading if you’re new to tournament play
- For more information please send email to info@menloparkchess.club
- Join our Facebook group or Google Group to stay abreast of future club tournaments and events
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our fifth annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 5th, 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 26th, 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 5th, 12th, 19th and December 3rd and 10th (there is no round November 26th, 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)
- Payment: PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12, Zelle: 6504006393
- Prizes: Four prize groups based upon November US Chess regular ratings with roughly 7 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
- Register: Registrations closed after the start of the first round
- Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you prefer your own)
- All tournament participants must be current US Chess members
- Our tournament chess rules summary is required reading if you’re new to tournament play
- For more information please send email to info@menloparkchess.club
- Join our Facebook group or Google Group to stay abreast of future club tournaments and events
Attached are the wall charts for our Impromptu Blitz tournaments of the past two weeks, with 22 and 28 players participating, respectively. #74 saw Pranav Jindal and Austin Chen tie for first with 6.0 points out of 7, while Sam Bekker and Carlos Jerez tied for third at 5.0 and, as ever, there followed a raft of strong players left gnashing their teeth at 4.0, still a respectable score in this crowd. #75 saw the return of Vedant Verma, a talented junior player who seems markedly stronger every time he visits the club. Vedant cruised to a 6.5-point first place finish, a full point ahead of second place finishers—you guessed it—Pranav Jindal, Austin Chen and Sam Bekker at 5.5, while visiting Chicagoan Max Newman managed sole fifth place at 5.0 (Max and I played an interesting game in round two which left me gnashing my teeth). Thank you to everyone who joined us for these tournaments, congratulations to our winners and we’ll do much the same next week, October 29th.
Registrations are now open for our annual club championship which begins November 5th. This is a five-round, dual-rated G/45;d5 event, one game per evening over five weeks, with a break for Thanksgiving November 26th. One bye is available for the event in any round save the last and we’ll be using Chess67 to run this tournament, so you’ll need to create an account thereon to register: https://chess67.com/club/menlo-park-chess-club/tournaments/fifth-menlo-park-chess-club-championship-20261105. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments and I hope to see you at the club soon. Regards,
Mark Drury
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our fifth annual club championship beginning Thursday, November 5th, 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 26th, 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 5th, 12th, 19th and December 3rd and 10th (there is no round November 26th, 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)
- Payment: PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12, Zelle: 6504006393
- Prizes: Four prize groups based upon November US Chess regular ratings with roughly 7 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
- Register: We’re using Chess67 for event registrations and tournament management this year
- Boards, sets, clocks, score sheets and pens will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you prefer your own)
- All tournament participants must be current US Chess members
- Our tournament chess rules summary is required reading if you’re new to tournament play
- For more information please send email to info@menloparkchess.club
- Join our Facebook group or Google Group to stay abreast of future club tournaments and events
Just a quick reminder that we will play the third and final round of our Copa del Menlo this evening at the club, though we plan to have the skittles room open for casual play if anyone wishes to drop by for same (and/or to watch the tournament games). Next week Lauren Goodkind will give a talk from 7-8 followed by casual play until 9pm and we’ll hold more free, unrated blitz tournaments in October. Our rated club championship will begin in November — more to come about that event soon. Regards,
Mark Drury
After another of Frisco’s excellent lectures last week we played the first round of our Copa del Menlo dual-rated Swiss tournament, one which includes three sections of eight players each and an additional teams component. Attached are the first round results, second round pairings and team standings and we’ll play the second round tomorrow evening beginning promptly at 7pm. Note that we should have a skittles room open so those of you not playing in the tournament should feel free to visit and perhaps play some casual chess–several people did so last week.
On the scheduling front, we’ll play the third and final round of our Copa del Menlo September 24th and then on October 1st from 7-8pm Lauren Goodkind has offered to give a free lecture covering one or two of her recent tournament games, a lecture aimed at encouraging more women and girls to play chess and one suitable for beginners as well as more advanced players. Please plan to attend Lauren’s lecture in October and help spread the word, especially among your female friends who are or may be interested in getting more involved in the game we all share. More information may be found here.
Regards,
Mark Drury
I wanted to thank Jeff McGinnis once again for running the club in my absence last week, along with everyone who helped him—I truly appreciate your support! Seems we had at least seven first- or second-time visitors during the evening, which is in keeping with the current trend of lots of new people joining us—here’s hoping the burgeoning interest continues.
Tomorrow night will be another casual evening with a lecture followed by a free, unrated blitz tournament beginning round 7pm. I’ll be gone the following week, June 25th, riding my bicycle on the Oregon coast, but am hoping the club will still meet with the help of additional volunteer organizers—more about that a few days hence.
Finally for now, I updated our rated July tournament to be a G/45;d5 affair given that appears to be the club preference where time control is concerned, so we will play just one dual-rated game each of the three weeks, rather than two quick-rated games. Signups are still light so please register asap if you plan to play, something which makes planning for the tournament far easier:
https://menloparkchess.club/event/copa-del-menlo-round-one/.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions and I hope to see many of you tomorrow evening. Regards,
Mark Drury
To honor the FIFA World Cup this summer we’ll hold our own Copa del Menlo during three Thursdays in September (10th, 17th, 24th), a dual-rated G/45;d5 event played in small Swiss sections of 6-8 players grouped by rating, with one game played per evening. With the World Cup in mind, this will also be a team event using the so-called “snake draft” to create teams of four or so players from each section in the tournament, with an added cash prize given to the top two teams based upon total team score (the sum or all team member scores).
Given the small sections and teams nature of this event it is paramount that players are able to play all three weeks of the tournament — no byes are available and we are not planning to hold a makeup round at this time, though that could change if sufficient people request it. Full details follow:
- Format: Small Swiss sections (groups of 6-8 players) based upon rating
- Rounds: September 10th, 17th and 24th with no makeup round planned for this event — games begin promptly at 7:00pm
- Control: G/45;d5 (dual-rated games of 45 minutes per player plus a 5-second delay per move)
- Entry Fee: $20; PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12; Zelle: 650-400-6393; entire entry fee goes to the prize fund
- Prizes: Based upon 32 entries and 8-player sections, each section will offer a $70 first, $40 second and $20 third prize with ties splitting the money while the top team will split $80 and the second-place team $40 (based on 4-person teams)
- Byes: No byes are available for this event
- Register: Registrations closed after round one
- 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
- 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 Google group to stay abreast of club news, tournaments and events
