There are two groups of people in life: those who have attended chess camp in Teaneck, and those poor beings who suffer the mundane existence of life day after day. Pity them, for they have missed the epic challenge between oober-student Yujeong Yeo and our junior coaches. More on that battle in a moment.
Our week began with the traditional “welcome, campers!” speech from Slava in which he explained how chess camps work along with what is (and is not) expected from students. We immediately dove into lessons. Students are encouraged to take the lessons seriously, both because it’ll improve their skills as players, and because prizes are awarded at the end of the week to each coach’s best student (as defined by participation, learning, and behavior). This week’s coach awards went to Elan Lerman (Coach Alex), Yujeong Yeo (Coach Slava), Elisha Ben-David and Grace Chen (Coach Ivette), Anika Shah (Coach Anna), Kayla Shah (Coach Ethan), and Maximus Sherman (Coach Chloe).
Mornings are usually filled with outings to the park as well. We begin our days by playing Circle of Doom, a dodgeball variant. Late each morning we spend an hour in the park playing organized sports such as soccer, relay races, or a more traditional form of dodgeball. Each coach works with a different age-level of player, from whom a sports award is awarded to the most active and enthusiastic participant. This week the awards went to Haaris Usman (Slava’s group), Reece Goyle (Alex’s group), Lucas Macapinlac (Anna’s group), and Judah Barzideh (Ethan & Chloe’s group).
Arguably our most prestigious sports award is our weekly dodgeball award, a combination award for Circle of Doom and Dodgeball. This week’s winner was Haaris Usman, who wowed coaches and players alike with his constant agility. Our relay races were won by Team Pink Fluffy Unicorn. Winning team members included Guela Krause-Krimsky, Gilad Shoham, Yujeong Yeo, Kayla Shah, Maximus Sherman, and Jayden Kim.
On the tournament front, this week we split the camp into three groups. Our unrated group was our largest with 14 players. After four days of duking it out our winners were Reece Goyal (1st place), Yair Shemesh (2nd), and Jacob Bobrov (3rd). Our rated group consisted of eight more experienced players. After four rounds three winners emerged: Haaris Usman (1st), Geula Krause-Krimsky (2nd), and Jacob Macapinlac (3rd). I want to offer extra congratulations to Haaris, as at last week’s camp he won the unrated section. To follow that up by winning his first rated event is quite an accomplishment. This is someone to keep your eyes on in the future.
Then there was Yujeong Yeo, our most advanced student. Yujeong needed a unique challenge, so we set him to play a special event – Yujeong vs. the Coaches in an unrated series of games. Coach Anna and Coach Chloe fell to Yujeong’s might on Monday and Tuesday, so we upped the challenge on Wednesday and sent Coach Alex to do battle with him. Alex emerged victorious so we followed up with an appearance by Coach Ethan on Thursday. Ethan’s mission was simple: to make the week a 2-2 draw, and in doing so restore honor to the coaches. After a grueling game that had coaches and players alike crowding around, Ethan won the game with a mere four seconds on his clock. Kudos to Yujeong for making the week so exciting.
We also presented a number of additional awards. This week’s art award went to Kayla Shah. Our “impersonate Slava’s motivational speech contest” winner was Geula Krause-Krimsky. Our Friday blitz and bughouse tournament was divided into three sections: these were won by Yuejong Yeo & Lucas Macapinlac, Kayla Shah & Omer Barkay, and Coach Chloe & Anika Shah. Our simul survivor awards for doing well in multiple simul events went to Gilad Shoham and Yair Shemesh.
All in all, a terrific week here at ICA Chess Camp in Teaneck. We look forward to seeing both new and returning faces next week.
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