Saturday and Sunday      November  1st – 2nd
(with extended times, now going until 5:30 PM)

This is the second in our series of Tag-Team chess camps.  There will be two International Master chess coaches giving the lessons, moving from group to group.  There is a greater value in this approach as the students can learn chess from two different accomplished coaches, who each have their own perspective on the game.   It is the CCL way to provide the very best in everything that we do.  In these camps, there will be a U-1400 and an O-1400 group, with 6 periods across the two days.   Please pack a lunch to eat during a game playing break in the middle of the camp.  These camps are only open to CCL, Pre-CCL, and the Mulligan Chess Clubs members.

Space is limited to these camps and they are both first come, first serve.

Date:  November  1st – 2nd (Saturday – Sunday)
Time:  9:30 – 5:30, total of 16 hours (two hours longer than previous camps)
Place:  Ramada Plaza Hotel and Convention Center; 4900 Sinclair Road; Columbus, Ohio   43229
Salon AB and Salon C

At every chess camp, we try to improve on the one before it.  At the last camp, the number one concern was the short time control for the tournament games (which start at a prescribed position).  I believe we had 10 rounds of g/10 games.   At this camp we will be having 8 rounds of g/20 d/5.  Although there will be two less games, the games will take a couple of more hours to complete, so we added two hours to the length of the camp so as not to effect the total amount of lecture time.  We also changed from 6 sessions to 4 sessions.  Since this camp is on endgames, a moderate level of depth into these topics may not be enough for a significant gain.  By extending the lecture times on these topics we feel much more comfortable that the students will leave this camp as significantly better endgame players than when they entered.  We also have a small period at the end of each camp where the students can come to the coaches with individual concerns and questions.  We will keep our tag-team approach from the last camp, where both coaches work with both groups, which we felt was very effective.  We value your feedback in helping us to continue to improve our processes.

50% discounts to 2nd child from the same family, retirees and to participants coming from outside of Ohio.

100% money back if you cannot make it to the camp, for any reason.

Registration is now open

Cost per camp:

Two day = $219
One day = $119

Registration with credit cards online at https://cclchess.com/payments-chess-camp/ ‎ or with check via mail to:

Alan Casden
7520 Deer Crossing Court
Worthington, Ohio   43085

Any questions can be addressed to:

acasden@insight.rr.com
(614) 561-2718

 

o   First of all, congratulations to Coach Hans for winning the State Championship (and $1000) this year and keeping it as a CCL tradition for the 4^th straight year.  Although this was Han’s first state championship he looked like someone who wins it every year.  He took a 1^st round bye then won 4 in a row before giving up a ‘clinch the tournament’ draw in the last round.  From what I could see, he never seemed in trouble throughout the event, playing relaxed and with focus.

o   On a personal note, I had a rough going. I decided not to take morning byes and consequently was paired against CCL players Noah Keating-Adams and Blake Baumgartner on two consecutive mornings.  They both simply outworked me, making me feel like the old man that I am becoming.  I was torn between being disgusted and proud, saddened and happy.  It stinks to lose but there is also an immense joy that I experience when I see how well you are all playing.  I dropped out of the tournament in the last round and watched your games.  I cannot express in words how impressed and blissful I felt watching you play.  You have come so far and you are so young.  So mature beyond your years.  I tried to hold back my smiles, not wanting to appear like a father who thought that their kids were the best ‘Sneetches on the Beaches’.   I am so proud of you, and of the excellent coaching staff that we have at CCL.  I doubt that there is anything, anywhere, quite like what we are doing now.  It is an honor to be part of this experience.

o  

o   They had a ceremony before the last round where they singled out 5 kids as being the future of chess in Ohio.  They were CCL players (l-r) Dakshin Pisini, Vincent Baker, Alan Zhang, Jason Wang, and Emma Cheng.  Chris Shen was wondering why he was not chosen since he is so young and higher rated than anyone else in that group.  That is obvious, it is because Chris is not part of the future of chess in Ohio, he is part of the present!

o   You all played so well that I hate to single out just a few but I will

• 2014 – 2015 State of Ohio Chess Champion = Coach Hans Multhopp
• U – 2000 Clear 2^nd place = Abhi Ramaswamy
• U-1400 was dominated by the CCL girls:
  • Clear 1^st place = Stella Huang
  • Clear 2^nd place = Emma Cheng
  • Clear top U-1100 = Victoria Baker
• Gained most rating point (143) = Dakshin Pisini

–          The 25 Club

o   Dakshin Pisini              +143    1496    Ohio Chess Congress

o   Emma Cheng              +100    1324    Ohio Chess Congress (2^nd Place U-1400 $350)

o   Elton Cao                     +93      1613    Ohio Chess Congress (2-way tie for 3^rd place in U-1700 $125)

o   Stella Huang                +75      1429    Ohio Chess Congress (1^st Place U-1400 $650)

o   Kevin Wang                 +59      1654    Tennessee Open

o   Austin Yan                   +36      1775    Southwest Open

o   Vikram Srivastava       +35      2037    Ohio Chess Congress (2 way tie for u-2200 money – $225??)

o   Luke Xie                       +33      2095    Ohio Chess Congress

o   Abhi Ramaswamy       +28      2001    Ohio Chess Congress (2^nd in U-2000 $500 ??)

o   Sujan Rachuri              +26      1660    Ohio Chess Congress (top U-1700

o   Almost (Alan Z, +19, Victoria +20 (won U-1100 money in U-1400 section $200), Nolan +20, Blake +23, Joshua +23)

o   Noah Keating-Adams  –  (2 way tie for u-2200 money – $225??)

o   Coach Hans – $1000 and title of State of Ohio Chess Champion

[royal cats=5]

Congratulations to our latest and 13th CCL graduate, Abhi Ramaswamy.

• Abhi earned his graduation at the Ohio Chess Congress, last weekend,  coming in 2nd place in the U-2000 section (details on this tournament will be posted in a couple of days)
• Abhi has just started 9th grade.
• This Who’s Who chess list has been growing with great talent at an increasing fast rate.  Abhi has worked extremely hard for this honor, as has all of our CCL graduates.  They have all learned the value of perseverance and hard work.
• 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 entitles them to lifetime membership in CCL, based on good behavior, without the requirements 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

o   Walker beat IM Calvin Blocker in the last round to tie for first and take home $633.  This brought Walker’s rating up to the very respectable 2348.  Hopefully Walker will make it to the Ohio Chess Congress to win another State Championship for CCL.

o   The Bakers, Vincent and Victoria, had a field day at the tournament.  Vincent earned $457 for his 1^st place tie in the U-2100, Victoria earned $200 for her 2^nd place finish in the U-1200 and they won the Mixed Doubles Teams to take home another $600.  In total bringing home $1,257.  Vincent is now within striking range to qualify for the 2015 World Youth Championships.  He will probably need to gain 100 rating points in about the next 8 months.

o   Also in the prize money was John Xiang, taking home $200 for a share of the U-1600 class prize, in the U-1800 section

o   Complete results can be seen at http://chessevents.com/clevelandopen/

o   Members of this weeks 25 club are:

• Alan Zhang          +116      1181       Sunday in the Park
• Vincent Baker    +105      1950       Cleveland Open
• John Xiang          +104      1697       Cleveland Open
• Om Borkar          +74         1721       Cleveland Open
• Victoria Baker    +65         1160       Cleveland Open
• Jason Wang        +47         1944       Cleveland Open
• Evan Huang        +43         1696       Cleveland Open