Boulder County Chess School

 

Founded in August 2007, BCCS offers private lessons, classes, fund raisers (family chess knights) and chess camps throughout Boulder County.

 

Chess Camps 2009

K-12

June 8-12

July 6-10 

 

Full and half day options

 

To be held at:

Rocky Mountain School      http://www.rms.org/programs_summer.html

5490 Spine Road

Boulder, CO (in Gunbarrel)

 

Cost

            $270/wk full day (late registration $300)

            $155/wk half day (late registration $175)

 

June Camp 10% discount for early registration if postmarked by May 11th

July Camp 10% discount for early registration if postmarked by June 8th

 

To request registration materials, or for further information, email: pjjsz@idcomm.com

 

Instructors:

James Drebenstedt started playing chess seriously in the US Navy, while stationed aboard the USS Stump, DD-978. A veteran tournament player, he won the 1999 San Francisco Amateur Championship and the 2004 US Amateur Championship (G/60). Among his memorable victories includes several wins over seven-time Iowa Champion, Senior Master Kevin Burnett. He is currently a licensed teacher and works with 8th graders at Coal Ridge Middle School. His peak USCF rating was over 1950.

Josh Romero teaches chess in the St. Vrain school district. He has a rating of over 2000, which is quite impressive as he first learned chess only five years ago! Last summer Josh won a tournament in Boulder with a 9-0 score. His most memorable victory as part of that event was over National Master Brian Wall.

Mark Scheidies has been playing tournament chess since 1972 and has held a USCF Expert rating since 1980, with a peak rating of 2184. He is also a USCF postal chess master with a rating of 2200.   He has been teaching chess for over 10 years at various chess camps, as a private tutor, and also in the St. Vrain Valley School District.

Paul Szeligowski is an experienced chess teacher, on an individual, class and camp level. Among his private students are two Colorado Scholastic State Champions. He is author of numerous chess articles, including the original ones on the system now known as the Colorado Defense. He has achieved the Expert USCF title and a peak rating of 2060.

 

About the Camps

This is the second year for our summer chess program. The first camp this year will be held in June (8-12), and the second in July (6-10). Both camps are 5 days, Monday through Friday and will be held at the Rocky Mountain School in Gunbarrel. Campers can choose either full day or half-day options. Children are divided into groups (beginner, intermediate, advanced) based upon age and ability. Depending upon turnout, multiple levels within each group may be created, and group sizes may vary between levels. In addition to the teachers and director, there will also be assistant(s) to facilitate in the classrooms and also during breaks. The desired student / staff ratio will be about 8:1.  

 

There is a core curriculum, which will be covered in both camps (such as thinking techniques), however the examples used will be different in each camp. Beyond that core curriculum, topics will vary for each group from camp to camp. The exception to that is the beginners group, where the material covered will be essentially the same. Children who completed the beginners group in June could move up to an advanced beginners group or intermediate group in July. The emphasis is very much on understanding and not memorization. For instance, in the opening phase of the game, control of the center, development and king safety are each important goals. Students will be shown why that is the case and not just to memorize it as a fact.

 

For the beginners group, the morning and afternoon sessions of each day will cover/review the same material (different examples), with the emphasis being on practice to insure a good grasp of what was discussed. For intermediate and advanced groups, topics covered will be different in the morning and afternoon sessions. For all groups there will be a repeating structure of a discussion topic and game play. For the beginners group the cycle time will be shorter than for the more advanced groups; they will also have more short breaks.

 

All campers will be able to play in an on going unrated multi round chess tournament within their group (two rounds each day). The beginners group will not start their tournament until Wednesday, as there will be a certain minimum proficiency desired prior to the first round. The intermediate and advanced groups will start game play the first morning; however the Monday morning game played in the intermediate group will be a practice game that will not count toward the final standings. The last round of the tournament will be Friday morning. 

 

Friday afternoon is reserved for the simultaneous exhibition (1:00) and the awards ceremony (3:45). There will be trophies awarded for the tournament, and special prizes (usually chess books) for the best game played (in each group) in the simultaneous exhibition. All campers will get a t-shirt, certificate of completion and a chess related item. There will also be a best overall camper prize and scorekeeping prizes for each group.

 

I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have, you can reach me by email at: pjjsz@idcomm.com or phone 303 652 8890.

 

See you at camp!

                                                           

Paul Szeligowski

Director