A pair of U.S. national chess championships come to Northern California on the last weekend of October. Participants may compete for the U.S. G/30 title on Saturday, October 26, or the U.S. G/60 title on Sunday, October 27.  Of course, most chess nuts seeking a wild weekend on the chess board plan to play in both tournaments, for a total of nine games.  Now that sounds like fun! Some of them will not miss out on the Blitz event on Saturday night.

 

There is projected to $20,000 in cash prizes at stake for players rated over 1000. They will compete for a projected prize fund of $8,000 (based on 167 full entries) in U.S. G/30 Championship on Saturday. The next day they will compete for a projected prize fund of $12,000 (based on 247 full entries) in U.S. G/60 Championship. The players will be in four divisions of U.S. G/30 Championship on Saturday: Open, 1600-1899, 1300-1599, and Under 1300.  For U.S. G/60 on Sunday, they will be in six divisions: Open, 1800-1999, 1600-1799, 1400-1599, 1200-1399, and Under 1200.

 

Players rated below 1000 can enter a concurrent scholastic tournament with trophies for top 15 players (with plus score) in five sections: 800-999, 600-799, 400-599, 200-399, and Under 200.

 

Over 200 players have already registered in both events combined, including GM Georg Meier from Hungary and GM Enrico Sevillano from California. Please register online by Tuesday October 22 to avoid late fee of $20. You may save $19 by registering in both events.

 

The championships are held at the Santa Clara Hilton, near the Great America theme park.  The venue is accessible by several freeways and by light rail to San Jose airport, and public transport.   Hotel guests enjoy a broad view over Silicon Valley, from Mt. Hamilton in the east to Moffett Field in the west.

 

I thank the entire chess community for helping us bring National events to the West Coast. Special thanks to NTD Tom Langland for his direction and Aamir Azhar for help in organization.  The directing staff is familiar to local players including Senior TD Jordan Langland, Justin Easterday, Ethan Chamberlain, and others.

 

Be sure to bring your digital clocks!  The time control will be G/30 d5 and G/60 d6, meaning no clock deduction for time delay.

 

For full details, please go to http://www.BayAreaChess.com/usg60g30/. To print out the flyers (pdf), go here    (for players rated 1000 and higher) and here (for players rated under 1000).  Make your plans now.

Also see advanced entries in the G/30 and the G/60.