BCSD Chess Rage Day Camp

The BCSD Chess Club sponsored its first chess camp for elementary and middle school aged kids earlier this summer (June 10 - 14th) and it was met with great success.  Sixteen players attended and seven high school club members served  as counselors.  The week consisted of daily instruction, play, mind games, and other lessons culminated in a tournament and a simul on Friday.  Here is the rigorous schedule:

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
9:00 – 9:10		Think, Pair, Share	Think, Pair, Share	Think, Pair, Share
9 – 9:30 am	Counselors and Campers play (evaluations) ·         Piece Value ·         Castling ·         Name that Square	Counselors and Campers play (evaluations) ·         En Passant ·         scorekeeping	Counselors and Campers play (evaluations) ·         scorekeeping	Counselors and Campers play (evaluations) ·         evaluate a game	Simul
9:30 –  9:50am	Mini-Lesson: ·         Bear Hugs ·         Ladder ·         Notation	Mini-Lesson: ·         Bad Openings ·         Pins, Forks, skewers, discovery ·         Philidor’s Defense ·         Scotch Opening	Mini-Lesson: ·         Ruy Lopez Opening ·         French Defense ·         Pawn Structures ·         Square of the Pawn	Mini-Lesson: ·         Game of the Century	Simul
9:50 – 10:15 am	Play Practice	Play Practice	Play Practice	Play Practice	Tournament
10:15 – 10:30 am	Memory Boards	Memory Boards	Memory Boards	Memory Boards	Tournament
10:30 – 10:45 am	Break	Break	Break	Break	Tournament
10:45 – 11:10 am	Opening Lesson: ·         Ideal Opening ·         Fried Liver ·         Scholar’s Mate	Middlegame Lesson: ·         Glowing Squares ·         Attackers and Defenders	Endgame Lesson: ·         Stalemates ·         Draws ·         Promoting	Aftergame Lesson: ·         Critical moments ·         analysis	Tournament
11:10 – 11:30 am	Play Practice	Play Practice	Play Practice	Play Practice	Tournament
11:30 – 12:00 pm		Chesskid.com Pawn Mowers	Pawn Mowers	Scavenger Hunt	Awards
12:00 – 12:30 pm	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch (BBQ)	Parent pickup
12:30	Think, Pair, Share	Think, Pair, Share	Think, Pair, Share	Think, Pair, Share
12:30 – 1:50 pm	Stations: ·         blitz ·         bughouse ·         giant chess ·         take away ·         snap electronics ·         Normal Chess	Stations: ·         blitz ·         bughouse ·         giant chess ·         take away ·         snap electronics ·         Four Way Chess ·         Chesskid.com	Stations: ·         blitz ·         bughouse ·         giant chess ·         take away ·         snap electronics ·         Four Way Chess ·         Ping Pong/Foosball ·         Long chess	Stations: ·         blitz ·         bughouse ·         giant chess ·         take away ·         Four Way Chess ·         Long chess ·         Ping Pong/Foosball
2:00 pm	Parent pickup	Parent pickup	Parent pickup	Parent pickup

Desmond shares some knowledge with campers

Dylan shows Otto how to record a move.

Each day began with a chess puzzle displayed on the big screen with a short discussion about the solutions.  Then each counselor worked with a small group of players teaching them what ever they wanted, or they played each of the kids and monitored their abilities.  Each student received a basic skill evaluation that each counselor was responsible for helping the students complete by the end of the week.  

Integrating Chess and Critical Thinking Basic Skills Checklist

NAME:_________________________________

DATE PASSED:

________ 1. DEMONSTRATE HOW THE PAWN MOVES. P

________ 2. DEMONSTRATE HOW THE KNIGHT MOVES.N

________ 3. DEMONSTRATE HOW THE BISHOP MOVES. B

________ 4. DEMONSTRATE HOW THE QUEEN MOVES. Q

________ 5. DEMONSTRATE HOW THE KING MOVES. K

________ 6. DEMONSTRATE KING-SIDE CASTLING

________ 7. DEMONSTRATE QUEEN-SIDE CASTLING

________ 8. STATE THE RELATIVE VALUE OF THE PIECES.

________ 9. EXPLAIN THE TERMS RANK, FILE, DIAGONAL.

________10.EXPLAIN THE TERM CENTER.

________11.SHOW THE CENTER SQUARES.

________12.EXPLAIN WHAT IS MEANT BY THE TERM DEVELOPMENT.

________13.PLACE A CHECK ON THE CHESSBOARD.

________14.PLACE A CHECKMATE ON THE CHESSBOARD.

________15.PLACE A STALEMATE ON THE CHESSBOARD—EXPLAIN.

________16.EXPLAIN THE TOUCH MOVE RULE.

________17.DEMONSTRATE A PIN.

________18.DEMONSTRATE A FORK.

________19.DEMONSTRATE A SKEWER.

________20.SET UP A BACK-RANK MATE ON THE CHESSBOARD.

________21.DEMONSTRATE A DISCOVERED ATTACK.

________22.EXPLAIN THE 3 WAYS TO GET OUT OF CHECK.

________23.BASICALLY WHEN DOES THE MIDDLE-GAME BEGIN IN CHESS.

________24.BASICALLY WHEN DOES THE END-GAME BEGIN IN CHESS.

________25.SHOW THE FOOL’S MATE AND EXPLAIN WHY IT IS CALLED A FOOL’S MATE.

________26.NAME 3 BASIC GUIDELINES/RULES FOR OPENING A CHESS GAME.

________27.NAME 2 BASIC GUIDELINES/RULES USED IN THE ENDING OF A CHESS GAME.

________28.CHECKMATE USING A KING AND QUEEN AGAINST A LONE KING.

________29.CHECKMATE USING A KING AND TWO ROOKS AGAINST A LONE KING.

________30.SHOW HOW TO PREVENT GETTING MATED BY THE SCHOLAR’S MATE

Mat'ka shows a surprising move.

The camp was a great deal for $105. It included lot's of learning and fun, but also included a morning snack, lunch, and also some tangibles like a tournament chess set, carrying backpack, a daily problem and lesson packet, a chess rage t-shirt, a medal, and a photograph certificate.  We also had a watermelon scavenger hunt, and played ping-pong and foosball during some free time.

I am showing Sarah how a chess engine works to help your game.

It was clear that all of the kids loved the camp, and they wanted it to continue or asked for another camp before the end of summer.  Each day I was surprised by e-mails or phone messages left by the parents that praised the camp and the counselors. 

More will follow . . . 

Our outstanding counselors (Left to right:  Victor Saldivia, Andre Murphy, Anna Murphy, Riley Clark, Desmond Porth, Mat'ka Last, Dylan Porth - Tanya Wilkerson missed picture day!)