2009 ICA Summer Chess Camp Week One Report (6/29–7/3)

2009 ICA Summer Chess Camp Week One Report (6/29–7/3):

 

The first week of the ICA’s 13 year summer camp program has finished. Our first week featured 30 eager campers who actively engaged in intensive chess studies and challenging sports events throughout the day. Senior Instructor and ICA Director Diana Tulman again assembled a top rated staff of chess instructors, and Master Sergey Grabuzov, in his 10^th year as Camp Director developed an exceptional physical education program which challenged everyone, even onlookers!!! Both of these highly dedicated professionals gave their students the benefit of years of teaching experience to develop both their minds and their bodies, and everyone showed great improvement.

 

This year’s staff also included Beginner & Intermediate Coach Slava Koza, Beginner& Intermediate Coach Genry Krichevsky, Senior Coach Solomon Lerner, Senior Coach Richard Napoli, Beginner& Intermediate Coach David Shekhtman, Junior Instructor Ben Wolfson, Junior Instructor Max Yelsky Beginner Coach and Tournament Director Lawrence Constance and first time Co-counselor Nathan Zelochevsky, another bright young star in the ICA family.

 

A new feature for this year’s camp will be written evaluations for the parent of each student outlining the strengths and weaknesses of their child, and the progress that they have made throughout the week.

 

Main tournament consisted this week of four sections (two rated and two unrated)

 

Section 1 Sebastian Spitz narrowly defeated Ariel Shusterman for top honors. Also worthy of note was the surprise upset of David Shekhtman by Kiernan McVay

 

Section 2 Edward Musheyev, the rated “under dog” took top honors with a solid 8 out of 10 points. We will pay close attention to his climb up the ratings ladder in the near future!

 

Section 3 The beginning of Act One of our two act unrated “play” seemed to hint that Jeremy Stein might take home all the marbles this year! Jonathan Kim was able to withstand the early onslaught of this precocious chess prodigy and came out on top with 7 out of 10 points.

 

Section 4 Aaditya Mehta played and beat almost everyone in sight, and took first place in our second unrated section with an impressive 8.5 out of 11 points. Close at hand was the youngster Emre Alptuna, who also rated honors as Best Student in his class. Emre is sure to make a big splash on the tournament scene in the future!!

 

Best Student Of The Class

Each coach selects his best student of the week based on 2 hours daily chess classes

The honor is based on the student’s participation in class, points awarded for problem solving, and their overall progress during the week.

 

Coach Sergey Grabuzov - Ari Shusterman

Coach Richard Napoli - Edward Musheyev

Coach Solomon Lerner - Philip Blumin

Coach Lawrence Constance - Emry Alptuna

Coach Genry Krichevsky - Bertina Kudrin

Coach Slava Koza - Gabriella Clemente.

 

Art Competition

Our first week art competition winner was Bertina Kudrin, whose wonderful color drawing showed that her command of the pen is as strong as her command of the chess piece. We wanted to keep the picture for our wall of fame for all to see, but we think that Bertina’s mom and dad will reap the benefits of her hard work.

Sports!!!

 

Dodge Ball Competition

 

The Gilad “the Terrible (Drillich) dodged, weaved and generally destroyed the opposition to finish “standing” as the winner of this week’s dodge ball competition. Will he return next week to attempt to keep his crown? Stay tuned to this channel for future results!

 

Results of sport ‘Olympiad’ that takes place every morning Monday through Thursday. Winners by age group:

 

Year                            Winner                       Points

2003                            Mark Vilkin                 72.5

2001-2002                   Reid Slott                    121

2000                            Philip Blumin              57

1998-1999                   Ben Mankowitz          70.5

1997 & Older             Ari Shusterman           72.5    

 

On Friday,  Max’s team (Sebastian, Christian, Bertina, Benjamin and Aaditya) won Relay Races

 

 

Congratulations to all of our wonderful students for their accomplishments. We hope to see you soon, at another of our summer sessions, evening classes, or at a tournament. Please stay in touch. Chess is a life time game, and many close friendships develop. We care about all the stars in the ICA family!!

 

Be sure to visit our website for pictures of all the students and instructors engaged in classes and outdoor activities. Can you find your favorite student? Class openings are still available for some weeks on a limited basis for new applicants or for parents who want to continue in the program. Please contact Diana Tulman at the school, 201-833-1741 or (H) 201-287-0250, (C) 201-819-8280.