We took home the money and a couple of the sections at the King’s Island Oppen

November 13, 2017

The CCL attack was lead by Ethan Ferkins’ clear 1st place in the U-1700 section and Hemma Bagley’s clear 1st place in the U-1250 section and the Mixed Doubles! What I was the most impressed with where the number of CCL dads (about 6) that played, two of which won some money. Complete results are posted HERE. Below are our money winners:

Open U-2300
- $504 Aristo Liu; tie for 1-2 money
- $504 Vincent Baker; tie for 1-2 money
- $504 Forest Chen; tie for 1-2 money
U-2100
- $308 Abhi Ramaswamy; tie for 2-5 money
- $308 Aryan Balyan; tie for 2-5 money
U-1700
- $1,512 Ethan Ferkins; clear 1st place
- $319 Abhay Adury; tie 2-5
U-1250
- $1,008 Hemma Bagley
- $252 Kevin Storn (Justin’s dad); tie 2-5
U-1000;
- $189 Krishna Mohanraj (Arjun Krishna’s dad) tie 2-5
Blitz;
- $32 Vikram Srivastava; 2nd place
- $17 Arjun Krishna
Mixed Doubles
- $420 Hemma Bagley; clear 1st place

CCL Chess Camp was a big hit

November 6, 2017

We had a sell-out crowd at our last CCL Chess Camp. Everyone seem to have a great time with a mix of hard core learning and fun. Isaac Partee won the A section camp tournament and Uku Hughes won the B section. In April we are planning on having two separate camps, with IM Atanas Kizov teaching the A camp and NM Vladimir Kizov teaching the B camp. The pictures taken below were at the end of the camp (click on a picture to see a large view of it).

Aryan Balyan becomes the 26th CCL graduate

October 9, 2017

Congratulations to our latest and 26th CCL graduate, Aryan Balyan. Aryan became our 26th graduate by having a couple of strong performance at a couple of recent tornados.

I’ve been playing chess for about 4 years now.. I made an incredible jump from 1100 to 1800. I was stuck at 1900 for about a year.

After hitting 2000, I felt more relief than excitement. I owe most of my success to Coach Goran, Coach Vlatko and Coach Alan. They have played a key role in my time playing chess. Outside from school and apart from chess, I enjoy playing sports such as basketball, participating in school math olympiad teams, and hanging with friends. If I’m not doing anything productive, I’m usually on my phone or gaming. Although it may seem I spend a lot of time apart from chess, I spend a majority of the time following chess.

What Aryan has reported above happens often to serious chess players. They hit a long period where their rating does not increase, especially after a previous large increase in their rating. At this point CCL either loses the student or they stick it out and head to very high levels of chess. Please do not give up on yourself too quickly. The return on your investment of hard work will always pay off, there are just going to be delays and bumps in the road. I am positive that we will see this in Aryan as we have in many others. Aryan is a huge talent and I expect exceptional performances in his future.

See a game that Aryan recently played to earn his CCL graduation by CLICKING HERE. This Who’s Who chess list has been growing with great talent which is clearly characterized by a high value on perseverance, hard work, and passion. What is a CCL graduate? It is an honorary degree that we give to any CCL player who has worked their way through the ranks while in CCL and has made a USCF experts rating (>= 2000). This group is becoming a who’s who of the top young talent around. It is little surprise that the top 13 rated scholastic chess players in Ohio are all CCL graduates!!! Being a CCL graduate entitles them to lifetime membership in CCL, based on good behavior, without the requirement of taking lessons. They are allowed to receive email spam from me for the rest of their lives!! Who will be next?

CCL graduates are (in order of obtainment):

John Hughes
Walker Griggs
Maggie Feng
Rahul Ramaswamy
Annorjan Naguleswaran
Luke Xie
Chris Shen
Noah Keating-Adams
Sam Massick
Anagh Kulkarni
Vikram Srivastava
Aristo Liu
Abhi Ramaswamy
Jason Wang
Ricky Wang
Vincent Baker
Forest Chen
Neo Zhu
Alex Kolay
Xavier Paganini
Justin Storn
Stanley Cao
Elton Cao
Jasen Lai
Shourjya Ghosh
Aryan Balyan

An intensive weekend, studying chess with Atanas

October 1, 2017

A weekend with IM Atanas Kizov – A CCL Chess Camp

- Date: Saturday/Sunday November 4-5, 2017
- Time: 9:00 – 5:00
- Where:
  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!
- IM Atanas Kizov will be teaching these 6 topics!:
  - Controlling the Open File
  - Isolated Pawn Endgames – 4 Things to Keep in Mind
  - Opening a File
  - Positional Sacrifice – Sacrifice of Minor Pieces
  - Positional Sacrifice – Pawn Sacrifice
  - Simplifications and Transposing to the Endgame

Cost of the camp
- If paid by Sunday 10/22
  - two days – $179
  - one day – $99
  - free to a parents of a student in 2nd grade or below
- if paid after Sunday 10/22
  - two days – $199
  - one day – $109
  - free to a parents of a student in 2nd grade or below

To signup, CLICK HERE!

Shourjya Ghosh becomes the 25th CCL graduate

September 19, 2017

Congratulations to our latest and 25th CCL graduate, Shourjya Ghosh.

Shourjya became our 25th graduate by having a strong performance at a recent Ohio Chess Congress, finishing tied for 1st in the U-2100 section, gaining 70 points and bringing his rating up to 2004.
I’ve been playing chess since 2012, but I’ve known how to play since the age of 5. I rose from 400 to about 1700 pretty quickly, so finally achieving 2000 has been a big relief since it’s long overdue. I owe a large part of my success to CCL and all the coaches I’ve been lucky to work with, like Coach Atanas and especially Coach Goran. Outside of school and apart from chess, I enjoy playing tennis and basketball, participating in school clubs, playing viola, and watching the Cavs and the Indians. My favorite school subjects are math and biology. If I’m not doing anything productive, I’m either sleeping or I’m glued to my phone.
See a game that Shourjya played at his last tournament to earn this honor by CLICKING HERE.
This Who’s Who chess list has been growing with great talent which is clearly characterized by a high value on perseverance, hard work, and passion.What is a CCL graduate? It is an honorary degree that we give to any CCL player who has worked their way through the ranks while in CCL and has made a USCF experts rating (>= 2000). This group is becoming a who’s who of the top young talent around. It is little surprise that the top 13 rated scholastic chess players in Ohio are all CCL graduates!!! Being a CCL graduate entitles them to lifetime membership in CCL, based on good behavior, without the requirement of taking lessons. They are allowed to receive email spam from me for the rest of their lives!!
Who will be next?