We are pleased to announce our first Club Championship, a seven round event in one Open Section starting March 21, 2023. The winner will have their name engraved on our new Perpetual Trophy, a large Loving Cup style trophy that will show the winners for many years to come. We will also have engraved plaques for top Expert, Class A-E, Unrated, and Under 1000. Each plaque will have the SGVCC Logo and the winners name. We encourage you to register early as we will likely have to cap entries at 70. You can sign up at the link on our Calendar page. For further information contact me at wright.john82@yahoo.com.
The “perpetual trophy” will list Club Champions for many years to come. It’s at the workshop waiting to be engraved. “There can be only one!”
On March 1, 2023, the San Gabriel Valley Chess Club Board of Directors presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Laura K. Nystrom, who served as Secretary of the Club and was a founding member of the Board of Directors. Laura’s vision of “chess for all” was embodied in the Club Website that she designed and maintained. The Website not only helped to boost the Club’s membership but also served as a resource for the larger chess community. There you could find everything from chess classes for kids to the doings of the burgeoning “LA Chess Social” scene.
Laura also provided much needed guidance in 2020 when the Club had to close down in Sierra Madre due to COVID after we had only been open four weeks. Her background as a Public Information Officer was essential in helping to establish best practices and the eventual re-launch of the Club in October of 2021 in Altadena. She is stepping down from the Board to focus on her very busy work life and return to graduate school and we wish her all the best. Her many contributions will live on.
Hey Folks- Check out our own Karl Tolentino playing blitz with Nakamura recently. Took place at this Culver City coffee shop Laura has featured in our LA Chess Social Blog. Quite the scene down there these days!
John
First Time (second half of the video, first person was ~expert strength):
Second Time (second half of the video, first person was master strength):
IM Robert Shlyakhtenko showed he’s a tough guy to beat at his Simultaneous Exhibition on November 29, 2022. Facing 23 adversaries ready to make their mark he went 22-1, giving up only one loss against Expert Leo Wang. Despite our collective thumping everyone was appreciative that Robert visited the Club. The Simul was preceded by a very instructive lecture where Robert went over one of his many impressive wins. Special thanks to Senior TD Phil Chase for arranging Robert’s visit.
Hello SGVCC Members – We’ll start the New Year Open, a six round tournament, on January 3, 2023. There will be three sections and the last round ends on February 7th. A registration link with more details is below. The Club is closed on December 20 and 27. On behalf of your SGVCC Board, thanks to our players, parents, and volunteers for a great year. Membership is open to all chess enthusiasts and we hope to see a lot of new faces in 2023!
(via @chess_social) — Today the Los Angeles Chess Social announced the July event will be held at Griffins of Kinsale in South Pasadena! “As usual, there will be ooooodles of chess, some new live music acts, adult liquids and food!” the announcement, which was sent via email explained. “Chess games will be held on the lower floor, but we may be able to grab some tables outside as well! This may be the last meet at Griffin’s for a while as a remodel is coming, so don’t miss out!”
Griffins of Kinsale [1007 Mission St. South Pasadena 91030]
The SGVCC Open drew 40 players and concluded on June 14, 2022. NM Karl Tolentino was the winner, but it took a last round win over front runner Alam LaCombe to seal the deal. The early story was the outstanding performances of Leo Wang (1849) and Manu Prasad (1590), who both upset higher-rated players and found themselves leading the field with perfect 3-0 scores. Leo Wang is the younger brother of local legend IM Annie Wang and had upset Tolentino while Prasad took down two strong 1900 players. Their Round 4 battle (Photo 1) ended in a draw, leaving them in a three-way tie with LaCombe at 3.5.
Karl Tolentino (L) and Alan LaCombe (R) battle for first place in Round 6
But never count out the top players! Round 5 saw LaCombe beat Wang and Tolentino stop Prasad, setting up a last round game between them. Fittingly, it was the last game of the night and hard fought (see photo).
All eyes were on Leo Wang (foreground) and Manu Prasad (background) after they starred 3-0 and faced each other on Board 1.
So it was Tolentino clear first at 5, LaCombe, Wang and Craig Vierregg tied for second at 4.5. Vierreg continues to turn in good results and improve his rating, having risen to 1764 since first coming to SGVCC last October with an old 1517 rating. Other notable results were Rohan Daftuar, best U1400 with 4 and new members Neel Deshpande and Omkar Kanse winning best U1000 with 2 points each.
Our latest event, Summer Fun, is currently underway and attracted a new record 51 players. Check out the standings at https://caissachess.net/live/1625.
LA Chess Social has announced the next chess social! At this “Summer Kickoff Party” there will be the oodles of casual chess, live music, catered food, and libations! This is for adults age 21 and over only. Organizers say the music will be especially unique and fantastic, with special guests Inflatable Planet and White Jagg!
Where? Old Towne Pub (66 N Fair Oaks Ave. Pasadena 91103) When? June 24th, 2022 Time? 8:00pm-1:00pm
Below are some after school and weekend youth chess programs in the San Gabriel Valley & adjacent areas. All information is current as of May 2022.
Arcadia Parks and Recreation – Even if you see a message about how the Summer / Spring classes are “full” still go ahead and click on the catalogue icon on upper left and filter by keyword “chess” to see the “Introduction to Chess” class offered by the Arcadia Community Center:
La Canada/Flintridge Community Center – Click on catalogue icon on upper left and filter by keyword “chess” to find the “Chess Nuts” class led by Clint Cooper in La Cañada Flintridge:
The grand return of the LA Chess Social last month was spectacular! It was great to see everyone after so long! This month’s event will be at Griffins of Kinsale in South Pasadena, where the original Chess Social was established in 2017. There will be live music on both floors throughout the night!
1007 Mission St. South Pasadena CA 91030
8:00pm-12:00am
Free & Plentiful Parking
Very close / half-block from South Pasadena station (Gold Line)
