Notation Mania! By Jonathan Zeng
Besides the afternoon rated tournament, the chess lessons in the morning are also very important for the campers. Campers usually go over their games, as well as learn new tactics and strategies. This week, Coach Alan was going over one of his student’s games. However, right on move 4, the notation did not make sense at all. The game started off with 1. e4 e5 2. c4 Qh4 3. d3 Bc5 4. Bxf3 Be1 5. Qxe1 Qh5. In those 5 moves, pieces were flying over the board and somehow the white king was taken already. Alan was so confused and questioned how someone could possibly notate this badly. He was so shocked he put his head down for a good 15 seconds. The campers had a great laugh though!
Anderson is one of a kind! He loves running around in puddles, drawing rainbows during art, and he plays chess of course. This week, he won his tournament section and won other awards too. He is the perfect example of an improving camper.
More campers this week means more fun outside. Junior Coach Ethan had a blast helping out with the playground. His arms are tired from pushing the swing and throwing dodgeballs.
Dodgeball has always been popular but this week, a lot of kids tried soccer. Scoring on Coach Alan is very tough, but it is apparent that they are doing their best.
This week was also the 2nd week of Grandmaster Camp taught by GM Alexander Stripusnsky. This week there were 11 kids from all over the country. Unlike the day campers, their schedule runs differently, with more chess lessons, and tennis. As a GM camp alum, I was intrigued when I was called to play in the highest rated section. Everyone was a new face, and it made me feel pretty old.
In the top section, yours truly won with 3.5/4. Coming in as the top seed, playing against high rated youngsters, I was a little worried, but luckily was able to come out relatively unscathed. One of my favorite games was against Daniel Yang. Daniel came all the way from Texas, and gave me one of the most difficult games.
Out of all my games, Daniel played the most ambitious opening attempting to make the game very dynamic. After some pawn trades his plan works better than usual. He would keep the strong knight on e5, keep the dark square bishop on a1 h8 diagonal, play Qa5-Qb4, and then push b4. His plan is very simple and very effective. Not sure what I was going to do, I just played natural moves. I put my knights on squares I thought were strong and eventually played the push 22.f4!, which opens up my position. After some pawn pushes, and 25.Ng4 it seems that black will win the pawn on e5, and ultimately the game, but here he missed a tactical shot. 27. Nxh5!!. This move both wins material or mates my opponent. It was obvious this is what my opponent had missed in his calculation. I really enjoyed this game because it is an instructive game about plans. Black’s plan is very simple: queenside expansion, and minor piece domination, while white’s plan is a counterattack. This game was very exciting.
Overall, the GM Campers seem to have had a really fun and instructive week.
In Section 4 of the Weekly Camp Tournament, two campers stood out above the rest: Ethan Yang and William Mo won three out of four matches comfortably. Their fourth, which was a head to head matchup, was a draw after William escaped a dangerous situation in the endgame. Because there was a tie for top spot, we decided to have the players switch colors and play again. The same thing happened: Ethan was comfortably winning until William salvaged another draw by perpetually checking the king. Because the players could not play a decisive rapid game, the armageddon format was brought into play: William (white) started with 5 minutes with a 2 second increment while Ethan (black) started with 4 minutes with a 2 second increment. If the game was to end in a draw, Ethan would win. Unfortunately, Ethan’s gamble of starting with the Caro-Kann backfired as William got into a position where he could win a piece completely. From there, William simplified into a win and, as a result, won the section!
Gather 'round, me old china plates, 'ere's a bleedin' story 'bout Alan Jr., the junior coach wiv a right dodgeball disaster. Picture this: 'e's in the game, givin' it 'is all, but this bleedin' geezer knocks 'im out not once, not twice, but thrice! Cor blimey, Alan Jr.'s proper rubbish at dodgeball, innit?
But 'ere's the rub, me mates. Despite 'is dodgy dodgin', Alan Jr.'s got a different trick up 'is sleeve. 'E's a junior coach, teachin' the young'uns the ropes and sharin' 'is wisdom. Might not be a diamond in the dodgeball rough, but 'e's got a heart o' gold when it comes to guidin' others.
Now, 'ang abaht, 'ere's a proper rumble on the 'orizon. Albert Abzalimov, that blitzin' wiz, goes an' swears 'e'll outshine Alan Jr. in the game. It's a promise that's got tongues waggin', wonderin' if our junior coach can 'old 'is own against this up-and-comin' blitz bruiser.
So, as we watch Alan Jr.'s bleedin' wild journey unfold, let's raise a glass to 'is never-say-die attitude. Might trip up on the dodgeball pitch, but 'e's got a knack for liftin' spirits and teachin' the ropes. Whether it's the dodgeball battleground or the blitz arena, Alan Jr.'s tale keeps us on our toes, showin' that even when ya take a knock, ya can still inspire and leave a mark, mate.
More Camp Vignettes: by Jonathan Zeng
The Return of the Grandmasters: by Ethan Modi
Armageddon: by Alan Salnikov
Alan Jr.: The Dodgy Dodgeball and Blitz Bruiser
By
Albert Abzalimov Chat GPT
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