Founded in August 2007, BCCS offers private lessons, classes,
fund raisers (family chess knights) and chess camps throughout
Chess Camps 2008
K-8
June 16-20 with
International Master Steven Odendahl
July 21-25 with noted chess author Paul Szeligowski
Full and half day
options
To be held at:
Rocky Mountain School http://www.rms.org/programs_summer.html
Cost
$270/wk
full day (late registration $300)
$155/wk
half day (late registration $175)
10% discount for early registration
by May 10th (June camp); June 14th (July camp)
To request registration materials,
or for further information, email: pjjsz@idcomm.com
Instructors:
Steve Odendahl
won the U.S. Junior Open Champion in 1976. He was awarded the life title
of International Master by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (World
Chess Federation) at the age of 20. A state champion in three different
states—
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.
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
More instructors will be listed
shortly.
About the Camps
This is the inaugural year for our summer chess camps. The first will be held in June (16-20), and the second in July (21-25). Both camps are 5 days, Monday through Friday. 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. In addition to the teachers and director, there may also be assistant(s) to facilitate in the classrooms and also during breaks. The 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 all 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, with the emphasis being on
practice to insure a good understanding 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. 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 morning game played in the intermediate group will be a practice
game which will not count toward the final standings. In the advanced group the
morning of the first day will feature a speed chess tournament. The last round
of the multi day tournament will be Friday morning (if needed). Friday
afternoon is reserved for the simultaneous exhibition (
To start off the first camp we will have Steven Odendahl, an International Master on staff. He will also conduct our first simul, so that should be a very memorable event for all players in attendance. All campers will be able to play in an on going multi round chess tournament within their group. There will be trophies awarded for the tournament, and special prizes (usually chess books) for the best game played (in each group) in the simul. All campers will get a t-shirt, certificate of completion and a chess related item. There will also be special prizes awarded in each group for various different chess camp skill sets.
See you at camp!
Paul Szeligowski
Director