Fall Tournament Winner

Congratulations to Fall Tournament winner Feng Chen, who snatched victory from the jaws of defeat at the hands of runner-up Chris Grod.

In the past couple weeks, the chess club has also played other board games and strategy games, such as Scrabble, anagrams, and Exploding Kittens! brought in by Javen C.

The Winter Tournament bracket is now set. The winner will have the right to challenge Feng for the club championship.

Have a good break and come back ready for some intense competition!

Quarter Final Bracket

The fall tournament is down to the Final Four, pending the result of a suspended match between top-seeded Franklin L and veteran tactician Syed-Hamza H. Isaac S, Nick F, and Kyle T were knocked down to "Bracket B" after tough matches against Feng C, Chris G, and Natalia L, respectively.

There is no Chess Club November 23 because of Thanksgiving, so the next meeting will be Thursday, November 30th.

This Week's Bracket

The Fall Tournament got off to a great start last week. Here are this week's match-ups:

Fall Tournament Starts Weds. 10/25

Any students who wish to participate should submit a match by using the link to the right, or see Mr. Mandel or Mr. Sterling to sign up.

Updates for the New School Year

Welcome to all our new players, and to all our veteran players, Welcome Back!
We have several updates for the 2017-18 season:

• 1. Officers

     At yesterday's meeting, there was some discussion of electing officers (President and Secretary) of the Chess Club. Advisors will put together a list of responsibilities for each position, and then students can apply and candidates will be put to a vote.

• 2. Legacy points

     Since this is the second year of online rankings, we are implementing a "fading echoes" system to incorporate previous year's ratings points. See the "rankings explained" page for details.

• 3. Fall Tournament

     The fall tournament will begin the last Thursday in October. In the meantime, make sure you are entering results of all your matches so that seeding can be as accurate as possible.

Stay checking!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back, everyone. Our first meeting of the year will be this Thursday, September 14.

Upset in the Bracket!

Last week, Chris G. knocked off defending champ Franklin L. to open up the bracket bigtime! The second semi-final has yet to be determined, with four players technically still alive: Abdul A, Hamza H, Kevin F, and Samuel M.

The last meeting of the year is this Thursday, June 15th. One way or another, a champion will be crowned.

Students vs. Faculty Results

Last Thursday saw the start - but not the end - of the students versus faculty challenge:

Franklin L. defeated Mr. Chiang
Mr. Sterling defeated Feng C.
Mr. Mandel defeated Kevin F.
Chris G. and Mr. Kennedy played to a draw...

The 5th match - between Henry R. and Mr. Mo did not conclude and was suspended - to be resumed this coming week. That means that the bragging rights still hang in the balance: If Mr. Mo can pull out a win, the Faculty wins the challenge, 3-1-1; if Henry R wins the match, the challenge is split 2-2-1 and bragging rights are up in the air until next year.

Bracket's Here!

Tournament Time!

Next week, Thursday May 18th starts the Spring Tournament. The championship will be decided over the last five meetings of the year.

New players can still get involved. Show up any Thursday to Room 25, or see Mr. Sterling or Mr. Mandel.

Monster Chess

Franklin and Henry take on Sasha and Abdul in 2 v 2 "Monster Chess," as Ethan looks on. In this variant, you play with a partner. Kill your opponent's pieces to add them as zombie soldiers on your partner's battlefield. Want to see how it works? Come on down on Thursday!

Sterling Back in the Picture

On March 9, Mr. Sterling returned from his basketball season hiatus to school our new champ in two hard-fought matches.

March 16th, Franklin and Feng, who hold the 1st and 2nd spots in the rankings, played to a draw.

Henry took the club lead in wins with his 19th - against 17 losses and 5 draws.

Movers and Shakers

Big week for Henry R. Takes the club lead in wins and moves up to 4th place.
Another win for Ethan, moving up three spots in the rankings.
Abdul A's win over Chris G and draw with Natalia L brought him to within percentage points of Samuel M for the 6th spot.
Rumors of a Linares vs Linares matchup persist, but if it took place, the result was not recorded...

• Position of the week: pinned piece.

A pinned piece is a piece that can't move because it would put the player in check.
How can black take advantage of this?

Black to move, with mate in two.

Players Stay Checking

Rankings are tightening up in the top 10. Last week, Franklin L and Kevin F played to their second consecutive draw. Kevin F moved up one spot in the rankings to 3rd place and nudged Chris G back to 4th. Feng C and Samuel M solidified their spots with wins over Abdul A and Chris G.

Position of the week: Vulnerable first rank.


Why can't white take the black queen?

Ethan R defeats Henry R

From Left to Right: Kevin F, Samuel M, Franklin L, Elijah R, Chris G, and Ethan R.

After a snow day on February 9, the Chess Club was back in action this past Thursday, February 16. 

Some notable matches from this past week:

• Ethan R defeated Henry R for a milestone win.
• Chris G reclaimed the 3rd spot in the rankings with two wins over top dog Franklin L.
• Undefeated newcomer Sasha M moved up to 8th place with two wins.

Stay checking, players! See you on Thursday.

New Champ!

Congratulations to Franklin Linares, who took the title of Club Champ from Feng C with two head-to-head wins yesterday. Franklin also tied with Feng for most wins, with 13.

Honorable mention to Natalia Linares, who graced us with her presence after she noticed her little brother was abusing her friends on the chessboard. Natalia went (2 - 0 - 1) on the day and moved into the top 10, in only the fourth meeting she has attended this year.

Chris G. reclaimed the 3rd spot in the rankings from Abdul A. by splitting two games with Franklin.

Did you know that the "Records" tab on the "View Results and Records" spreadsheet contains lots of detailed stats? Here are some of the club leaders in various categories:

• Most wins:

Franklin L / Feng C with 13 wins each.

• Most Games Played:

Henry R, with 24

• Most Draws:

Nathaniel G, with 5

• Best Winning Percentage:

Franklin L, with an absurd .806

• Toughest Schedule:

Luis C., with an opponents' winning percentage of .733

Stay checking, players!

Winter Tournament Decided

Yesterday, Franklin Linares defeated Samuel Molina to take the Winter Tournament. He now faces Feng Chen for the club championship.

Abdul Alam, with two solid wins, climbed up to third place in the rankings, edging out Chris Grod by a half a point.

Kevin Flores's win streak reached 6 games, vaulting him into 5th place on the ladder.

Stay checking, players!

Rankings Go Live

The chess club's ranking system is now live on the blog! Players can see how they rank against the competition!

There are three factors that determine a player's ranking:

• Win points P = (log10 (W + ½D))
• Winning Percentage W% = (W + ½D) / GP
• Strength of Schedule S = (average of all opponents' W%)

The formula for your rating is R = (P * (W% + S)/2) * 100

The purpose of this formula is threefold. First, it prevents a player who shows up for the first time and wins one game from instantly rising to the top of the rankings. Second, it prevents players from padding their stats by only playing against weaker opponents. Third, it takes into account the principle that "a win is a win is a win" by making Win Points the primary factor. However, it softens that scale by making it logarithmic, so that newer players have a chance to catch up to long-time members. If you don't know what "logarithmic" means, ask Mr. Sterling!

Ratings and rankings will be updated after each weekly meeting.

Enjoy the competition, and keep checking the blog to see who is currently in the top ten!

The Winter Tournament

The Fall Tournament is complete - the Winter Tournament continues. Eight players are still alive:

This is a single-elimination bracket - one loss and you're out. The last man standing will have the right to challenge Feng for the championship.