CHESS this Wednesday, Nov. 30th at Starbucks!

Hi Everyone!

Just a short note to say we're having our regular chess over the boards session at our usual Starbucks venue tomorrow, Wednesday, November 30, 2022, from 3:00 p.m. on through closing time! Players of all ages and skill levels are welcome and early birds usually have a chance to be the first to solve a chess puzzle to win a free tall Starbucks drink of choice!

See you soon,

-- Mike T.
Contra Costa Chess Club
US Chess Federation
Affiliate Club ID #A6024746

CHESS this Wednesday Nov. 23 & Sunday Nov. 27 at Starbucks!

Hi Everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving Week, Day, and Weekend!

We're still having fun, challenging sessions of chess over the boards this Wednesday, November 23 and next Sunday, November 27, 2022 at our usual Starbucks venue, located at 1536 Kirker Pass Rd., in the Clayton Shopping Center, just a couple driveways up from the corner of Ygnacio Valley Rd. and Clayton Rd. in Concord.

We go from 3:00 p.m. on through closing time, players come and go anytime, there are no dues, and there is no purchase requirement (but it would be nice). Players arriving early usually have a chance to be the first to solve a chess puzzle on the first try to win a free tall Starbucks drink of choice!

Last Sunday saw at least 18 players and supporters -- including kids and 4 moms! -- enjoy the afternoon and evening playing chess: Reza, Varun, Red, Sam, Matthew, Ranen, Ron, Duncan, Mike T, Meredith, Ohm, Sia, Paul, Sidd, Hira, Raquel, Mrs. L, and Pamela! Did I miss anyone?

Looking ahead, we'll have some fun club tournaments,with both rated and unrated chess matches, with Blitz, Rapid, and Classic Time Controls. Stay tuned!

-- Mike T.
Contra Costa Chess Club
US Chess Federation
Affiliate Club ID #A6024746

CHESS this Sunday, November 20, 2022 at Starbucks!

Hi Everyone !

We just might have a special event this Sunday!

We meet every Sunday and Wednesday afternoon from 3:00 p.m. on through closing time at our usual Starbucks venue, located at 1536 Kirker Pass Rd. in the Clayton Shopping Center, just a couple driveways up from the corner of Ygnacio Valley Rd. and Clayton Valley Rd. in Concord. Players arriving early usually have a chance to be the first to solve a chess puzzle on the first try to win a free tall Starbucks drink of choice! We welcome players of all ages and skill levels; players come and go anytime; there are no dues, and there is no purchase required (but it would be nice); and, there's ample parking.

Despite some fairly chilly weather last Wednesday, about 9 players came by to enjoy the game of chess: Tony T., Mike T., Donovan and Andreena, Chris B., Bert, Diego, and Connor. This coming Sunday may see quite a few more players, as it looks like fine weather ahead for us, while lots of the rest of the country gets buried in snow!

Our next session is this Sunday, Nov. 26th, and players may play all kinds of chess matches, from regular games with or without clocks, to various types of speed games such as Rapid, Blitz, and Bullet! In fact, later in the session, there may even be an unrated fun tournament for players to join: a "5-3-1" round-robin for those who crave speed and even more speed (for prizes to be determined based on number of players).

In addition to all that, there may be our first intro to "960 Chess."! And, guess what -- there could even be Scrabble games featuring one or two or more of our chess players, for an odd change of pace . . . .!

See you soon,

-- Mike T.
Contra Costa Chess Club
US Chess Federation
Affiliate Club ID #A6024746

CHESS this Wednesday, November 16th at Starbucks!

Hi Everyone!

Last Sunday about 16 players enjoyed an afternoon and evening of chess over the boards at our usual Starbucks venue! Kids Michael, Sabina and Jackson and teens Paul and Meredith were there along with Mike T., Ron, Kevin, Red, Matthew, Sam, Mark, Yancy, Raquel, Ernie and Stan! Did I miss anyone? There were lots of Blitz and Rapid matches, along with regular Classic chess games, both on and off the clocks!

Our club meets every Sunday and Wednesday afternoons, from 3:00 p.m. on through closing time at the Starbucks located at 1536 Kirker Pass Rd., in the Clayton Shopping Center, just up from the corner of Clayton Rd. and Ygnacio Valley Rd. in Concord. Our next session is this Wednesday, November 16, 2022. Players arriving early usually have a chance to be the first player to solve a chess puzzle on the first try to win a free tall Starbucks drink of choice!

Looking ahead, we may have another USCF-rated set of matches in December!

Stay tuned, see you soon!

--Mike T.
Contra Costa Chess Club
US Chess Federation
Affiliate Club ID# A6024746

CHESS this Sunday, November 13 at Starbucks!

Hi Everyone!

We meet Sunday and Wednesday afternoons from 3:00 p.m. on through closing time at our usual Starbucks venue, and despite the chilly weather last Wednesday, more than a dozen came to play chess over the boards! There for the fun of it were Sam, Tony, Mike T., Olaf, John E., John S., new players Duncan and Angel, along with Connor, Yancy, Ernie, Donovan and Andreena! Yancy solved the chess puzzle on the first try. Players arriving early usually have a chance to be the first to solve a chess puzzle on the first try to win a free tall Starbucks drink!

We're located just up from the corner of Clayton Rd. and Ygnacio Valley Rd., at 1536 Kirker Pass Rd., in the Clayton Shopping Center. Players come and go anytime, there are no dues, and there is no purchase required (but it would be nice).

This Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, it will mainly be chess for the fun and challenge of the game, and there might be some players who may want to play in a USCF-rated Blitz tournament. Let's see how that develops (players need to agree on entry fee and format, plus prize allocation depending on number of entries). In any case, drop in, get your chess fix, make new friends, renew old friendships!

Results of last Sunday's tournaments have been reported to the USCF, and ratings of players who participated have been adjusted. The USCF usually sends players notification of new ratings, or players may access the info on the uschess.org website. We will more than likely have another USCF-rated club tournament in December, so stay tuned, see you soon!

-- Mike T.
Contra Costa Chess Club
US Chess Federation
Affiliate Club ID #A6024746

CHESS this Wednesday, November 9th at Starbucks!

Hi Everyone!

We meet every Sunday and Wednesday afternoon, from 3:00 p.m. through closing time at our usual Starbucks venue, located at 1536 Kirker Pass Rd., in the Clayton Shopping Center, just up from the corner of Clayton Rd. and Ygnacio Valley Rd. in Concord! Players can come and go anytime, there are no dues, and there's no purchase required (but it would be nice). Those arriving early usually have a chess puzzle to solve. First one to solve it on the first try wins a free tall Starbucks drink of choice!

Last Sunday saw more than two dozen players, not including a dozen moms and dads with their kids, enjoy an afternoon and evening of friendly competition amidst the fun and challenge of the game of chess! We also welcomed a couple of new players, Red and Sidd! There to welcome them to the scene were Connor, Ranen, Yancy, Irakli, Varun, Tony, Sam, Kevin, Diego, Matthew, Mike T., Meredith, Ronald, Bruce, Ohm, Asa, Jack, Michael, Paul, Suhas, Sia, Jackson and Sabina! There were even a few Scrabble games played by Bruce and a few of the moms! However, topping the day were two speed chess tournaments played across the parking lot at the nearby Carl's Jr. Restaurant due the lack of space at Starbucks!

Results of Sunday's USCF-rated speed chess tournaments (Time Control was G/10;d2):

1: For the Quad featuring contestants Sam, Kevin, Ohm, and Asa:
a. Sam and Asa tied for 1st Place with 2 wins apiece and split the top cash prize of $40.
b. Kevin and Ohm each won a match and tied for 2nd Place.


2. For the 6-player Round-Robin tournament, the results were:
a. Yancy won 1st Place with 4 wins and 1 draw for 4.5 points and $30!
b. Ranen took 2nd Place with 3 wins and 2 draws for 4.0 points and $20!
c. Connor gained 3rd Place with 3 wins and 1 draw for 3.5 points and $10!
d. Irakli, Varun, and Tony tied for 4th Place, as each won 1 match.

Many thanks to all the above for helping make the day a success! There's been interest in having an impromptu USCF-rated 5-minute Blitz tournament next Sunday! Let me know if you're interested -- but no matter what, we're still having our regular fun session at our usual Starbucks venue this Wednesday, Nov. 9th as well as next Sunday, November 13, 2022. See you soon!

-- Mike T.
Contra Costa Chess Club
US Chess Federation
Affiliate Club ID #A6024846

CHESS this Sunday, November 6th at Starbucks!

Hi Everyone!

Well more than a dozen players, including family members, were on hand to enjoy an afternoon and evening of chess at our usual Starbucks venue this past Wednesday: Bert was there along with Matthew, Irakli, Mark, Yancy, Conner Rdl.; Ohm and family; Tony T.; new teen player Jack; Meredith, Eric Z.; and Donovan and Andreena!

Our next session is this Sunday, November 6, 2022, starting at the usual time of 3:00 p.m. and going on through the closing time of 8:00 p.m. on weekends. We meet every Sunday and Wednesday afternoon at the Starbucks located at 1536 Kirker Pass Rd. in the Clayton Shopping Center, just up from the corner of Clayton Rd. and Ygnacio Valley Rd.

Players can come and go anytime, there are no dues, and there is no purchase requirement (but it would be nice). We welcome players of all ages and skill levels, from beginners to masters! Players arriving early usually have a chess puzzle to solve. The first one to solve it on the first try wins a free tall Starbucks drink!

If there are enough players interested either this Sunday, or next Sunday, we'll have a USCF-rated Rapid Tournament, with Time Control of G/10;d2. Entry Fee to be agreed upon by all players signing up for it, latest suggestion is for it to be $10 with cash prize distribution to be determined based on the number of entries (as usual, 85%-90% returned as cash prizes, with the balance to USCF for reports processing and ratings adjustments, with some left over for maybe a cheese danish for the TD). Starting time and number of rounds= TBD. Location = Our usual Starbucks venue.

See you soon, come by and enjoy making new friends, renew old friendships!

-- Mike T.
Contra Costa Chess Club
US Chess Federation
Affiliate Club ID #A6024746

CHESS this Wednesday, November 2nd at Starbucks!

Hi Everyone!

About 15 or more players enjoyed the afternoon last Sunday over the chess boards at Starbucks, representing various ages and even skill levels, from beginners to a master: Kids Asa, Myles, Jackson, Sabina, and teen Paul along with Tony T., John S., Kwaku, Mike T., Irakli, Yancy, Matthew, Charles, Ron, and Ronald! Did I miss anyone?

We meet every Sunday and Wednesday afternoon from 3:00 p.m. through to closing time, and we welcome players of all ages and skill levels. Come and go anytime, there are no dues, and there is no purchase required (but it would be nice). We meet again this Wednesday afternoon, November 2, 2022, at our usual Starbucks venue located at 1536 Kirker Pass Rd., in the Clayton Shopping Center, just up from the corner of Clayton Rd. and Ygnacio Valley Rd. in Concord. Players arriving early usually have a chess puzzle to solve: be the first to solve it on the first try to win a prize!

There's interest forming in having unrated or even USCF-rated Quads to compete in Blitz or Rapid tournament matches at our Starbucks location during regular sessions. Let me know if you are interested, as these can be easily set up to start and be completed in a single session.

See you soon!

-- Mike T.
Contra Costa Chess Club
US Chess Federation
Affiliate Club ID #A624746