Camp started with so much excitement this week because we had over 40 campers join us! As we all gathered together, coaches and campers started the day off with a thrilling three games of Circle of Doom.
Although there were a lot of kids this week, Eden started off strong with two wins on Monday! Good job managing those wins with so many coaches and campers.
On Wednesday, Suri, Eden’s sister, almost won two games of Circle of Doom too! She won the second round and almost won the third, but got eliminated at the last moment. On Friday, Suri came back to claim her second win, putting herself in the lead for Circle of Doom!
The kids then went inside for lessons. Coach Sean, in particular, wanted to share what his students were tasked with throughout the week.
Coach Sean’s group studied different tactical motifs and analyzed a selection of games. The games included grandmaster games, Sean’s games, and camper games from the camp tournament. Kian and Jack were neck and neck for the most points, but Kian eked out the victory for best-in-group. Students were also challenged to memorize grandmaster games that were 30+ moves. Kian memorized the most games (for the fifth week running). Impressive! Kate also won a memory prize, showcasing two of her father’s games (GM Stripunsky) and giving the best explanations during her presentation.
After lessons, we went back outside for sports groups. Campers are divided into groups by age and compete in various sports activities, which are decided by each coach, for a prize at the end of the week.
Following that, camp reconvenes. Everyone is given a choice of dodgeball, soccer, or playground. This week, Aaron was one of the most influential players in soccer! Ethan was also very important to the camper team as he scored many goals and showed off his skills. Even though the camper team was pretty strong this week, Coaches Moshe, Jody, and Francis came through with the victory.
Then, everyone came back together to play in Coaches vs Campers dodgeball. This is usually one quick round before we head back inside. Coaches certainly were challenged this week since there were 10 of them versus 40+ students. However, coaches came out victorious with a score of 3-1.
Lunch comes next. Campers are given the opportunity to wind down and eat their lunches before putting their minds to work again in a chess tournament. Campers are split into sections by level and play either a unrated or rated USCF tournament.
At art this week, Zaharii made a paper twister that would suspend itself in the air for a few seconds! Eddie and Daniel made and decorated paper airplanes earlier in the week which sparked a paper airplane contest within the next few days. Also, Kayla, Anika and Sonia also made very nice paintings with watercolor and acrylic paint. Rusna wowed everyone with her realistic replicas of people.
On Thursday, we held a paper airplane contest where campers had to make and fly their own paper airplanes. Throughout the course of three rounds, each camper tried to fly their airplane as far as possible. Novak was the champion of the competition, but Coach Alan came in a close second with a crumpled up paper ball for an airplane.
Click HERE to watch the video of Alan's attempt!
By the time three o’clock comes, most campers are picked up, but some stay until five. Campers staying for the prolonged day participate in chess, math, art, music, or mind games. Sometimes, after 4 pm, we go outside to play a few rounds of soccer and dodgeball. On Thursday, six campers and coaches played a smaller game of dodgeball. The teams were Coach Jody and Valerie versus Coach Moshe, Zahar, Emma, Jack. Even though there were only two players on the team, Jody and Valerie won by a landslide!
Then comes the end of the day when campers go home, but, not to worry, we do it all over again the next day!
Friday, however, is a special day because campers participate in a blitz-bughouse tournament instead of a regular tournament. Campers are divided into pairs, which is their team for the tournament, and play 4-5 rounds of blitz and bughouse.
Blitz and bughouse are both versions of a regular chess game.
Bughouse is a team game that requires four people to play. Essentially, whenever a player takes their opponents piece, they give it to their partner, who is playing the opposite color as their teammate. Then, the teammate can drop the piece on their board. The exceptions are: pawns cannot be dropped on the first or last rank, drop checks and drop mates are allowed, take kings are allowed, and each player gets five minutes on the clock.
Blitz is a game that requires two players. All the regular rules of chess apply, except take kings are allowed and each player gets five minutes on the clock.
However, it seems as if some of the campers and coaches got a little tired, particularly those downstairs! With most of the rounds already completed, several of the campers decided to take a nap on Jody’s lap, thereby deciding the tournament was a wrap.
Following that comes the award ceremony: the most anticipated moment of the week. Campers are awarded prizes for various achievements made throughout the week. A prize is awarded for ultimately everything campers do throughout the week, so there are many opportunities for campers to work hard!
Congratulations to all campers who won a prize! The list of results is available as a link on this page.
Thank you for everyone who came this week and made it so much fun! We enjoyed spending these last few days with you all and hope you come again for future weeks.
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