Intro & Best Camper- Coach Artem
For our second and final week of Livingston summer camp at Do Re Mi we had 11 kids in attendance, the same number as in week 1, but with mostly new faces. While our top group remained the same, we welcomed an entirely new crop of beginner campers! Our youngest participant this week was Victor Gibson, just five years old! Victor is understandably very new to chess but tried his best throughout the week and was able to win best camper in Coach Artem’s group. He also seemed to enjoy the afternoon arts and crafts, a new activity this week under the supervision of Ms. Aparna.
Best Camper & Puzzle Solver- Coach Lev
In Coach Lev’s group it was Anton Nefedov who stole the show as best camper, thanks to his consistent enthusiasm for the game throughout the week. His older brother Andrei also won an award for best puzzle solver in the group. Although the beginner tournament did not go as well as it could’ve for the brothers, the energy and passion they brought this week to both the indoor and outdoor activities was unmatched.
Most Improved
This week’s most improved camper also goes to a member of Coach Lev’s group, Jacob Patek. Jacob is only six and just recently learned how to play but quickly earned his promotion from Coach Artem’s group of new beginners to Lev’s intermediate beginners. Clearly a smart and focused youngster, he seemingly played better with each passing day and worked on his puzzles diligently. Not only did he win an award but he also managed to finish his first ever tournament with a respectable 50% score!
Best Camper- Coach Max
In Coach Max’s advanced group it was Dylan Tsui, age eight, who won the best camper award for the second week in a row. Dylan continued to impress with his ideas during analysis and his tactical vision, as evidenced by him almost immediately finding the best move in a puzzle from Max’s game. Black to move, the solution to this puzzle (as well as the others) can be found at the end of the report. Fittingly enough this won him “Mastering Tactical Ideas,” a book we know he will put to good use!
Puzzle Solving Competition
The main activity that Master Max conducted with his group throughout the week was the puzzle solving competition, consisting of some calculation-based tactics. Campers were awarded a full point (or more for harder puzzles) for providing a full solution and partial credit for finding certain variations. A lot of effort was put into this challenge by all participants, but in the end it was Siddhanth Nidhin who emerged victorious by a point margin over the two Dylans. One of the finds that clinched his victory was the one in this photo, a classic puzzle from Alekhine-Nestor, Trinidad 1939 (white to move).
A Headachingly Hard Puzzle
The highlight of the competition was when Max decided to set up a problem from Yasser Seirawan’s “Winning Chess Tactics” that he found in a section dubbed “Professional Combinations.” That alone should’ve been a warning. But despite the name Max underestimated how difficult the puzzle (which turned out to be a forced mate in 11!) was as even he struggled to find elements of the solution along with his group! After more than 20 minutes of exhaustive calculation group work (and a glance or two at the answer key to stay on track) the checkmate was finally found. That proved to be the first and last puzzle attempted from that chapter. Here it is if you’d like to solve it, white to move from P.F. Schmidt-P.R. Schmidt, Heidelberg 1946. Warning: don’t try too hard or you might give yourself a headache.
Weekly Tournaments
This week’s tournament winners were Dylan Rosa in the top quad and Teddy Wang in the beginner section. Just like last week Dylan finished tied with Sid on 2.5/3 and had to win a rapid tiebreaker to claim the first place trophy. For Teddy it was a rather smooth 3.5/4, not the most surprising result as he just missed the cut for the top section, but still an impressive finish. Dylan Zhang also impressed by coming in second, improving upon his third place finish from last week.The bughouse competition was won by the partnership of Arhaan Rao and Teddy Wang, the fourth and fifth highest rated campers, proving that a balanced team can be the most dangerous.
Outdoor Activities
Of course we spent plenty of time outside this week, playing a variety of games ranging from soccer to the camp favorite “circle of doom.” This week’s winner was Dylan Rosa, who proved to not only be the oldest camper, but also the most elusive. Dodgeball was another highly enjoyed activity this week. Arhaan Rao was the most valuable in that regard, catching many balls aimed at him and thus saving his team on many occasions. Last but not least was “capture the flag”, another highly competitive team activity. This was a game where everyone had a chance to shine regardless of size or athletic ability. Seven year old Alex Konkel, for example, gave the big kids a run for their money with his sneaky runs into the opposing territory, even managing to steal the flag on one occasion, In the end it was Sid who was awarded the MVP, for helping his team(s) on both offense and defense.
Well that’s all for summer camp! Thanks for reading and we hope to see you back soon for classes and tournaments here in Livingston.
Puzzle Solutions
Puzzle 1: 1…Ng6! 2. fxg6+ fxg6 and black wins material due to the pin on the f4-rook
Puzzle 2: 1. Rc8 Rxc8 (Qxd7 Qf8+!) 2. Qe7! Rg8 3. d8=Q
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