20th Annual Steve Brandwein / Ray Schutt / Jay Whitehead Memorial Blitz
Welcome to our new website!
If you notice anything missing or in need of an update, feel free to let us know at chessroom@milibrary.org. We appreciate your feedback!
Top 6 boards are broadcasted on Chess.com: link coming soon.
Register or Join Wait List Change Request Form
Info
- Date: Sat, Apr 25 , 2026
- Eligibility: Open to Everyone!
- Rating: n/a
- Location: Mechanics' Institute, 4th Floor, 57 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94104
- Capacity: 80
Registration
- Online Registration Open Until: Saturday, April 25: 2:30 pm
- Onsite Registration: 2:30-2:45pm
- Entry fee for Mechanics' Institute Members: $15
- Entry fee for Non-Members: $15
- Late fee: $10
- $5 admin fee for all cancellations & refunds.
- Two ways to check your entries:
- Check the live entries on the Jumbula page.
- Check the processed entries here a day before the event.
- Please note our late fee may be in effect and is usually added 24 hours before the start of a tournament in case capacity reaches 90%.
Tournament Format
- Tournament Format: Swiss System
- Total Rounds: 7
- Time control: 4 min basetime + 2 sec increment
- Round Times: 4/25 3:00pm and remaining rounds are on a rolling schedule
- Sections: Open
US Chess rating will be used for pairings.
Pairings are based on the April 2026 regular supplemental regular US Chess rating.
Prize Fund
- Prize explanations are coming after the event.
- Please allow 2-3 weeks for processing prize checks.
- Per IRS regulations, anyone who receives $2000 or more in cumulative prizes during a calendar year must complete a W-9, and Mechanics’ Institute will issue a 1099-MISC form for tax reporting purposes.
-
Prize Fund:
- $400 based on 60 paid entries
- Actual Payout: coming after the event finished.
| Open | ||
| Projected | Actual | |
| 1st Place | $130 | |
| 2nd Place | $105 | |
| 3rd Place | $80 | |
| Best u1800 | $55 | |
| Best u1300 | $30 | |
Byes
- Byes are available for players in any round in case they can't participate but would like to stay in the tournament.
- Byes can be requested up to 15 minutes prior to the round start time.
- Last round bye must be requested by the start of Round 1.
- Late registrations will receive a 0.5 bye for any missed round, up to a total of 2 rounds.
Tournament Rules
- Forfeit time: 4 minutes.
- We provide clocks and set it up for players.
- Games will NOT be US Chess.
- What do the time controls mean?
Time controls tell you how much time you have for each game.
G/4+2 means game in 4 minutes with a 2-second increment with each move. This means you get 4 minutes, your opponent gets 4 minutes, and with each move players get 2 seconds added to their clock.
Sick Policy:
The Mechanics' Institute Chess Club asks that any player who is feeling unwell withdraw from the tournament to help protect the health of others. The club reserves the right to deny entry to players who appear visibly ill. Players who withdraw due to illness before the start of the tournament will receive a full refund as a credit to their Jumbula account.
Mechanics' Institute Chess Club reserves the right to update any details of this event (including but not limited to sections, time control, round times, prize fund, etc.) as we get closer to the event date to ensure an excellent tournament experience for players.
Standings
Processed entries are coming 1 day before the event starts.
Final standings will be posted after the event is finished.
Pairings
Pairings are posted on the wall of the club. We do not post pairings online for 1-day events.