This week at camp we heard one camper brag, “Are you doing all ten weeks? Because I am!” And we love to hear it!
It was great to see more returning faces from the first week and many old faces from previous spring, winter and summer camps.
We started off each morning outside with our “Circle of Doom” warm up. The winners at the end of the week were Nicholas and Kate.
Morning chess lessons followed, where campers honed their tactics, studied new strategies, and analyzed chess games, including their own games, coach games, and of course high level grandmaster games. The winners for “Best in Group” were Geoffrey, John, Daniela, Max (1), Saashwah, Alex, Louay, Michael K and Milan.
In Coach Sean’s group, campers competed for a memory prize, memorizing 30+ move grandmaster games. Anny was the winner of the memory prize.
After our morning lessons, campers returned to the park for sports groups. The best in sports groups were: Max (1), Sam, John, Elody & Mika, Zakharii, Sonia, and Michael V.
After sports group, campers chose between dodgeball, soccer or playground. John and Emma were the winners for dodgeball and Nicholas was the winner for soccer.
Lunch followed sports, and the winner of the healthy lunch prize was Ethan. Good job eating healthy!
Tournament follows lunch, where campers have the chance to put their morning work to the test, competing in serious games. The tournament winners were: Kian, Geoffrey, Anny and Guy all tied for first in section one; Zakareeya and Yuki for section two; Maksim, Daniella and Leo for section 3; Max(1), Ean and Saashwah for section four; Daniel & Sonia, Elody and Purab for section five; and Milan & Matthias for section six.
We have plenty of fun activities in the afternoon following the tournament, including simul, problem solving, art, math and mind games. During the simul, one coach competes against all campers who are up for the challenge.
The simul winners (or drawers) were Jack, Geoffrey, Zakareeya, Alex and Max (1).
The campers who solved the most puzzles were John, Zakareeya and Louay. The winners for art were Quinton and Purab. The winners for math were Leo and Anny. The winner for mind games was Claire.
On Friday, in lieu of the regular tournament, campers competed in a blitz/bughouse tournament. The winners for the advanced section were John & Nick. The winners for the beginner section were Tony and Maksim.
The camper who put in the best effort throughout the camp was Max (II).
Great job to everyone, and we hope to see you back soon!
One of the most memorable moments at camp this week was when two of my students, Millan and Samir, surprised me with drawings they made. After a fun and engaging week of chess lessons, they handed me their pictures, both filled with vibrant colors and imaginative chess pieces. The heartfelt note they included thanked me for making the week enjoyable and fun. This simple yet touching gesture reminded me why I love teaching at this camp – seeing the joy and appreciation from my students makes all the effort worthwhile.
Personally, I think one of the most memorable moments at camp during this week was during the award ceremony, when each kid went up to get their award. Some students that won more than one award did not brag or act like they were better than others, displaying humility. The friends of these kids were very happy for them, as they did not seem upset at all that they did not have as many awards. Moments like these make me happy to be a part of these weeklong experiences at ICA.
This week in camp, there were plenty of memorable moments made throughout each aspect of camp. During outside activities, there was plenty of fun playing dodgeball and visiting the playground and campers participating in sports activities in groups. In the afternoon, the downstairs room unrated tournament sections had nail-biting games with every camper giving their all towards each game. On Friday afternoon, a three-section blitz tournament took place downstairs, where I got to see the improvement all the students made throughout the week. After a week of instruction, it is rewarding to watch students make fewer mistakes in their games while taking more time to think about their moves. Overall, this week was filled with learning and a ton of fun, and I look forward to more!
Felix Dyadyuk
Francis Osondu
Isaac Pierce
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