• Home
    • Philosophy
    • Student Login
    • Requirements and Pricing
    • Refund Policy
  • The Community
    • The Team
    • Alan’s Ramblings
    • Adai’s Events
    • Harvey’s Adventures
    • Courtenay’s Corner
    • The CCL Constitution
  • Calendar
  • The Coaches
  • About
    • Business Policies
    • Rules of Behavior
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Contact Us
  • Join Us

The CCL Chess School

Chess, Community and Learning

 

Chess lessons and more, for players of all strengths and ages.

CCL finishes 1-2 in both Ohio HS and MS Championships

June 2, 2018

20180527_155350

CCL had many strong performances at the Ohio HS and MS Championships and all of the results are posted at http://buckeyechess.com/2018HS_MS.html .

In the HS Championship, CCLians Maggie Feng and Aristo Liu came in 1st and 2nd place respectively.  Maggie is planning on playing in the Champion of Champions Denker tournament (1 HS player from each state) later this summer.  If she changes her mind, the offer will drop down to Aristo.

In the MS Championship, CCLians Elton Cao and Aryan Balyan came in 1st and 2nd place respectively.  Elton is planning on playing in the Champion of Champions Barber tournament (1 MS player from each state) later this summer.  If he changes his mind, the offer will drop down to Aryan.  CCLian Chris Shen won the Barber tournament last year.

I took all of the pictures at the end of the tournament, so some CCL students had already left.  The top picture is all CCL students still there at the end of the prize ceremony.  Below is a slideshow of the pictures that I took at the end of the tournament.

Filed Under: News

A Successful Spring Chess Camp

April 25, 2018

Head CCL pic, IM Atanas Kizov (pictured below) made the long trip from Macedonia to help CCL at this weekend's National HS Championship in Columbus, Ohio.  Last weekend he held a chess camp to ready those who were interested and this coming weekend he will be in the large skittles room at the National HS Championship to review the games of all CCL players who participate.

Pictured below left are the trophy winners (l-r Karthik Kallam, Druvin Mutalam, James Scarbrough and Isaac Partee) from this chess camp.  In the A  section, Karthik Kallam dominated the opposition with a very strong 5.5/6.  There was a 3-way tie for 2nd place between Isaac Partee, Matt Wang, and Lainie Massick.  The tie breaks went respectively to the order just listed with Isaac taking home the 2nd place trophy.  In the B section there was a 2-way tie at 5-1 between Druvin Mutalam and James Scarbrough, with Druvin having the better tie-breaks.  Drivin got the 1st place trophy while James took home the 2nd place trophy.  Atanas is giving a free chess lesson to both 1st place finishers.

Filed Under: News

CCL Wins at MOTCF 2018

March 29, 2018

CCL Ablaze (Maggie Feng, Chris Shen, Forest Chen, Aristo Liu) and CCL Blasters (Vincent Baker, Anagh Kulkarni, Abhi Ramaswamy, Alan Casden, Aryan Balyan) tied for first along with a team from Dayton at the 2018 MidWest Open Chess Festival.  Our all girls team, CCL Empowered (Emma Cheng, Adeti Mohanselvan, Sneha Prabu, Hemma Bagley), tied for the top U-1600 team.  The first picture below is CCL Empowered.  The 2nd picture, is just a random picture were we called for any CCL player who was were around us.

2020
2001

Filed Under: News

An intensive Spring 2018 weekend, studying chess with Atanas

March 16, 2018

A weekend with IM Atanas Kizov – A CCL Chess Camp

    • Date:  Saturday/Sunday   April 21-22, 2018

    • Time:    9:00 – 5:00

    • Where:
      CCL Training Center
      at the home of:
      Dr. Carrie Casden
      736 Watterton Drive
      Westerville, Ohio

      Open only to CCL members and members of a Mulligan Chess Club.
      Lectures, game reviews, camp review book, tournament, and many prizes.
      Draw or beat Atanas in a 5-1 game or Alan in a 5-2 game and win a $1 coin, tournament trophies, free chess lessons, books, etc.
      All chess equipment and snacks will be provided but bring your own lunch.
      For more details, or questions call Alan (614) 561-2718 or email acasden@insight.rr.com

      40% discounts to 2nd/3rd person from the same family, participants coming from outside of Ohio, retired individuals, or members of the Mulligan Chess Club.
      100% refunded if you cannot make it to the camp, no questions asked.

      Update:  This camp is only open to the 1st 24 signups!  Enter early as our last chess camp sold out.

      IM Atanas Kizov will be teaching these 6 topics!:

      • Isolated pawn – how to play with it
      •  Isolated pawn – how to play against it
      • Blocking the f6 square
      • The positional piece sacrifice
      • Prophylaxis
      • Tactics in Rook endings
  • Cost of the camp
    • two days – $199
    • one day – $109
    • free to a parents of a student in 2nd grade or below

To signup, CLICK HERE!

Filed Under: News

CCL Student, Justin Storn, Wins Queen City

March 4, 2018

Justin sweep the field at Queen City, winning the open section 5 -0.  This is the 2nd year in a row for Justin, having been co-champion with CCLian Vikram Srivastava last year.

CCL had a skeleton group at Queen City as most of our better players where participating in the Arnold Classic.  As a team in the open section, the 2-player CCL team came in 2nd place.

There were not many of us there but the few that did attend did well.  Some highlights include: Justin winning the tournament; Anson Chu clear 1st in K unrated; James Scarbrough finishing clear 2nd (+ 220 points) in 4-6U800r; Matt Wang 2-way tie for 1st place in the 4th - 6th grade section.  Complete results are at https://ccpf.proscan.com/programs/queen-city-classic-chess-tournament/final-results/ .  Some pictures from the event are below.

Filed Under: News

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • …
  • 48
  • Next Page »

Search through all of our blogs!

Introduction to Our Community Chess Instructional Program

Welcome to CCL, a community-driven chess instructional initiative designed to bring timeless chess to learners of all ages and skill levels. Whether you’re a beginner taking your first steps on the board or an experienced player seeking to sharpen your strategies, our program offers something for everyone.

Chess is more than just a game—it fosters critical thinking, patience, and problem-solving skills. Our program is built around the belief that chess can unite people, challenge minds, and create opportunities for personal growth and community connection. To supplement the chess side of individual enrichment, we recently opened a prodigious activities wing to CCL, managed by renowned mathematician and prodigy Dr. Harvey Friedman.

Why Join Us?

Our program is driven by a passionate community of chess lovers dedicated to creating an inclusive, supportive, and educational environment. For details on how the community fosters the program, please go to the menu option The Community. By participating, you’ll have the opportunity to:

  • Learn at your own pace with flexible instruction formats.
  • Join a vibrant chess community and make new friends who share your interests.
  • Enhance your cognitive skills, such as strategic thinking and decision-making.
  • Compete in local tournaments and represent our community.
  • Work with renowned mathematician and prodigy Dr. Harvey Friedman in other prodigious activities.

Let’s make chess an engaging and enriching part of our community. Join us today and start your chess journey! Together, we can grow our community and inspire a love for this incredible game.

The Coaches

  • alancasden2
    National Master Alan Casden
  • International Master Atanas Kizov -- CCL Head Coach --
  • Walker
    Life Master Walker Griggs
  • GM VLATKO BOGDANOVSKI
    Grand Master Vlatko Bogdanovski
  • Zoran
    International Master Zoran Arsovic
  • NM Vladimir Kizov
    National Master Vladimir Kizov
    Head of Pre-CCL
  • Jacob Eismann
    Jacob Eismann

The Rest of the Team

  • Jeff
    Jeff Shen
    Business Manager
  • Adai
    Adai Adaikappan
    Community Laison
  • Courtenay
    Courtenay James
    Organizer
  • Shiv
    Shivkumar Kurulekar
    IT System Admin
  • Jagdish Patel
    Jagdish Patel
    Newsletter Editor
  • Harvey
    Dr. Harvey Friedman - Head of Prodigious Activites

Recent Posts

  • NEWSLETTER OF THE MOTCF April 15, 2025
  • CCL March Chess Camps February 25, 2025
  • Siddarth Kunapuli becomes the 37th CCL Graduate February 2, 2025
  • Making our 2025 MOTCF Teams January 23, 2025
  • Welcome Jacob ! January 21, 2025
  • Jeff Shen is taking over the lead role at CCL December 26, 2024
  • Simul Stuff December 23, 2024
  • CCL Alumni/Student Chess GetTogether December 13, 2024
  • 2024 State Grade Levels November 27, 2024
  • Life Master Walker Griggs is giving lessons! October 29, 2024
  • Chess Math is here! October 27, 2024
  • An Evening with Atanas October 23, 2024
  • March CCL Chess Camps October 17, 2024
  • Maxwell again! Good Gosh September 16, 2024
  • Louis Zhang becomes the 36th CCL Graduate July 30, 2024
  • Major Changes in CCL June 6, 2024
  • Catch Up Time May 17, 2024
  • Cole Braun wins Ohio Middle School Championship February 27, 2024
  • CCL Chess Camp 4/20-21/2024 February 17, 2024
  • Rohan Padhye win Cardinal Open while CCL finishes very strong January 19, 2024
  • Mehmet is a National Champion December 19, 2023
  • CCL wins most of the grades at the Ohio Grade Levels November 25, 2023
  • Justin Storn wins State Championship while CCL soars September 5, 2023
  • Matt Wang becomes the 35th CCL Graduate May 23, 2023
  • 2023 MOTCF March 29, 2023
  • 2023 Queen City Classic March 29, 2023
  • Kevin Xu February 25, 2023
  • Minghao Gu becomes the 34th CCL Graduate February 6, 2023
  • Jason Wang wins the North American Open January 3, 2023
  • 2022 National Grade Level Championships December 31, 2022

© 2025 CCL | the very best in chess instruction