Donaldson's Blitz

Join us to hear from the one and only IM John Donaldson and stay after to play in or watch our Blitz Tournament

His new book "Inside the Mind of Bobby Fischer" provides a detailed, objective look at Fischer's life from his early career to his final years, featuring 116 annotated games, over a dozen of which appear in print for the first time. The first volume, "Bobby Fischer and His World" is considered the most comprehensive biography about Fischer and it's praised for covering all periods of his life equally, including the "dark years" after 1972. Donaldson provides in-depth looks at lesser-known aspects, such as Fischer's 1958 Moscow visit and training games with Svetozar Gligorić.

 

About IM John Donaldson

John is a former Chessroom Director of the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club, the captain of the U.S. olympic team and an expert on this period of chess history. 

 

Top games are broadcasted on Chess.com. 

https://www.chess.com/events/donaldson-blitz

Register or Join Wait List Change Request Form

Registration

• Online Registration Open Until: Thursday, March 19: 6:30 pm
• Onsite Registration: 6:00-6:45pm
• Entry fee for Mechanics' Institute Members: $25
  • Play-up fee: $10
• Entry fee for Non-Members: $30
  • Play-up fee: $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: 3 min basetime + 2 sec increment
• Round Times: 3/19 7:00pm and remaining rounds are on a rolling schedule
• Sections: 1800+ Under 1800

Play-up "200-rating point rule":

• Players must have an 1600 USCF regular supplemental or actual regular rating to be eligible to play up to the 1800+ section.

US Chess rating will be used for section determination and pairings.  FIDE or other ratings are only used if no US Chess rating is available. 

Pairings are based on the Mar 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 40 paid entries
  • Actual Payout: $200 based on minimum guaranteed payout.

 

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.

Eligibility

• Players must have current US Chess Federation membership. Expiration date of their US Chess membership must be later than the last day of the tournament.
• Not sure if you have a membership? Need to check the expiration date of your members? Visit: https://new.uschess.org/player-search
• Become a member or renew your membership: https://new.uschess.org/join-us-chess

Tournament Rules

• Forfeit time: 3 minutes. 
• We provide clocks and set it up for players.
• Games will be US Chess and FIDE blitz rated. Modified FIDE rules apply.
   
• What do the time controls mean?
  Time controls tell you how much time you have for each game.
  G/3+2 means game in 3 minutes with a 2-second increment with each move. This means you get 3 minutes, your opponent gets 3 minutes, and with each move players get 2 seconds added to their clock.

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