Welcome to the CCL Chess School!

chess lessons, for players of all strengths and ages

THE CCL CHESS SCHOOL
Private Chess Lessons … with group activities
… for students of all ages and strengths

Alan Casden – CEO – (614) 561-2718
Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/cclchess

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2020 Queen City Classic

March 3, 2020

CCL cleans up at the Queen City Classic

- Aryan Balyan wins the tournament (K-12) for the 2nd year in a row while the team comes in 1st place.

- Jack Hamilton wins the 4-6 section while the team comes in 1st place.

- Evan Fan wins the K-3 section while the CCL team comes in 1st place.

Despite a small turnout by CCL, we took control at the 2020 Queen City Classic

20200229_185146

K-12 team

(l-r) Matt Wang, Aryan Balyan, Siddarth Kunapuli

20200229_172134

4-6 team

(l-r) James Scarbrough, Colin Park, Jashwin Pisini, Jack Hamilton, Abhinav Pullabhotla

20200229_170949

K-3 team

(l-r) Evan Fan, Aryan Kondekar, Patrick Counts

Filed Under: News

Some Holiday Results

December 28, 2019

National Grade Levels

Elton Grade Levels

Elton came in clear 1st place in the 10th grade section of the 2019 National Grade Level Championships.  This has been an amazing year for Elton, adding to this result, he won the State of Ohio (adult) Championship and the National Junior U-15 Championship.

Top CCL results include:
11th grade - Vincent Baker tied for 5th
11th grade - Aristo Liu tied for 5th
10th grade - Elton Cao clear 1st place
6th grade - Rohan Padhye tied for 6th
6th grade - Edison Liu tied for 31st
4th grade - Siddarth Kunapuli tied for 16th
1st grade - Evan Fan tied for 36th

Cleveland Holiday Open

Mason Cleveland

Mason Wu finished in clear 1st place in the U-1200 section of the 2019 Cleveland Holiday Open.  He won $500 for his efforts.

Filed Under: News

CCL wins most of the grades at the 2019 Ohio Grade Level Championships

November 11, 2019

For a very long time we have won most of the grades at the Ohio Grade Levels.  This year was not an exception, with CCL  winning 7 of the grades.  It was an exciting event with many ups and downs.  The grade levels were at a nice facility this year and we had a great CCL room.  Although we had many top 5 finishes, I am only going to list our Grade Level Champions below. Complete results are at https://www.chesscincinnati.com/wp-content/uploads/Grade-Level-Individual-and-Team-Standings.pdf.

Grade 1 -Evan Fan; co-champion
Grade 4 - Siddarth Kunapuli; sole champion
Grade 5 - Brody Broderick; sole champion
Grade 7 - Dae San Kim; sole champion
Grade 8 - Michael Lin; co-champion
Grade 8 - Varun Sathyajeeth; co-champion
Grade 10 - Aryan Balyan; sole champion
Grade 11 - Vincent Baker; sole champion

Some pictures from the event are in the slideshow below.

Filed Under: News

CCL tops the charts

October 15, 2019

8th grade CCL chess student, Jason Wang, is now the highest rated ‘adult’ in Ohio.  Actually 3 of the top 6 players in Ohio are CCL members.  This includes Chris Shen at 3rd and Walker Griggs at 6th.  The top 6 scholastic players in Ohio are all USCF Masters and are all CCL members.  They are:

October 2019
Ranking Name Rating Grade
1 Wang, Jason 2422 8
2 Shen, Christopher 2390 10
3 Baker, Vincent 2320 11
4 Cao, Elton Yutong 2284 10
5 Liu, Aristo 2269 11
6 Storn, Justin 2214 11

Filed Under: News

CCL Chess Camp 11/2-3/2019

September 16, 2019

A weekend chess camp by International Master Atanas Kizov

    • Date:  Saturday/Sunday   November 2-3, 2019

    • 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 cclalanc@gmail.com.

    • 40% discounts to 2nd/3rd person from the same family, participants coming from over a 45 minute drive fto Columbus, and retired individuals.
      100% refunded if you cannot make it to the camp, no questions asked.This camp is only open to the 1st 24 signups! IM Atanas Kizov will be teaching these 6 topics, first 3 on Saturday and the second 3 on Sunday
Piece mobility Expand

- The Reserves

Until the endgame, rarely all the forces take part to the various local battles on the chess
board. So, at some moment we may have active pieces and pieces that do not take part to
the respective actions. But this classification of active versus non-active pieces should be
conditioned as there are situations when the non-active pieces can enter the fight – this is
often spectacular and can be even decisive.

 

- Destroying the barricades

By setting a “barricade” one of the players wants to defend his position against an attack
toward his king, on one of the flanks, block an opponent free pawn and so on.
In fact, in almost any game, the players set up various barricades against opponent’s
active actions. We will see that in adequate circumstances even a barricade that looks
impenetrable can be destroyed or nullified.

Blocked structures - Feather pawn structure Expand

A typical blocked pawn structure arises after the Old Indian Defense and some variations
of the King’s Indian and it is known as the “feather” structure.

Here, Black has 2 pawn chains: d6-e5 and d6-c5 with the same base at d6 and 2 heads at
c5 and e5. White’s pawn structure has 2 bases at c4 and e4 and one head at d5.
After some theoreticians, the “feather” structure is also when one of the black c- or e-pawns
are still on c7 or e7.
White cannot attack the d6-pawn directly, so his active plans are:
- Attack on the kingside by g2-g4.
- Attack against c5 by b2-b4, prepared by a2-a3.
- Attack against e5 by f2-f4, prepared by g2-g3.
Black has 2 targets, the 2 bases of White’s pawn chains, so his active plans are:
- Attack against e4 by f7-f5, prepared by g7-g6.
- Attack against c4 by b7-b5, prepared by a7-a6.

The principle of the second weakness Expand

The theory about the play in endgames is often divided into several parts. Theoretical endgames are fundamental for our knowledge, because we need to memorize many different positions and understand them. The number of that kind of endgames is growing day after day. Without that basic knowledge we cannot play good in endgames.
Practical endgames are the second area, where it is important to understand certain positions. There are not many positions in the middlegame, that can transpose directly into a theoretical endgame. In the beginning endgames are usually complicated, but then they can be drawn into theoretical positions. But if we want to play them well, it is necessary to know some principles: these principles are especially meant for the endgames that are not theoretical. One of these principles is the principle of the second weakness, which is mentioned in every good chess book. The principle of the second weakness is one of the most important parts of realization of advantage in the endgames (Dvoretsky). The great Russian trainer described:” When the opponent is in a passive position, you have to attack different weaknesses. If you attack only one weakness, the player will be able to defend himself. It is necessary to attack other weaknesses. In most of the case we need to create the second weakness.”

Calculate deeper Expand

There are two types of positions in chess, ones which require precise calculation, and others where you can largely rely on intuition and judgment. One of the common mistakes many players make is that they try to calculate everything, even at times when there is no need for it. By doing so, they spend a lot of time on the clock. This then cause them to end up in time trouble, which in turn results in mistakes or even blunders on the board. However, in this article, I would like to share with you some of my personal experience where actually calculation is crucial. In fact, the point is to calculate deeper and more precisely than the opponent.

Blocked structures - Spanish, 2 pawn chains Expand

In Spanish (Ruy Lopez) Opening, we have 2 pawn chains after the moves:
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Na510.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 Nc6 13.d5 Nd8 14.a4 Rb8 15.axb5 axb5 16.b4 c4

 

  1. a) White attacks with f2-f4, Black defends with f7-f6.
  2. b) White attacks with f2-f4, Black counterattacks with f7-f5.
Co-operation between pieces and pawns Expand

The co-operation between pieces (and pawns) can take many different forms, can be
evident or hidden, positional or tactical. Therefore, it is possible to make various
categorizations of the co-operation but this would be merely unpractical.

In fact, the only criterion to tell if there is a good harmony between pieces is the concrete
situation on the board.
The co-operation between pieces leads to even
paradoxical situations.

  • Cost of the camp
      • two days - $199
      • one day - $109
      • free to a parents of a student in 2nd grade or below
      • 40% discount to 2nd student from the same family, students greater than 45 minutes from Columbus, and retired students.

To signup, CLICK HERE!

Filed Under: News

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The Coaches

  • alancasden2
    National Master Alan Casden
    -- CEO --
  • International Master Atanas Kizov -- CCL Head Coach --
  • GM VLATKO BOGDANOVSKI
    Grand Master Vlatko Bogdanovski
  • Zoran
    International Master Zoran Arsovic
  • FM_Sasa_Jevtic
    FIDE Master Sasa Jevtic
  • NM Vladimir Kizov
    National Master Vladimir Kizov
    Head of Pre-CCL
  • Jelena
    Woman FIDE Master Jelena Arsovic

The Best in Chess Instruction

How can we say that?
- read our blogs, our results speak for themselves

Why are we so successful?
- we use the top chess coaches from around the world
- we develop a chess community
- we use a team approach with experts in both chess and psychology
- over 1900 free chess book library
- we always put the student first

Who are our customers?
- we started in Ohio but now reach out to all of North America, currently with students in 20 states and 8 countries
- we address the needs of students of all ages and strengths (a CCL and Pre-CCL program)

Let us help you to live up to your potential.

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Recent Posts

  • Jason Wang wins the North American Open January 3, 2023
  • 2022 National Grade Level Championships December 31, 2022
  • For real? December 6, 2022
  • 2022 Ohio Grade Level Championships November 15, 2022
  • Michael Lin becomes the 33rd CCL Graduate September 14, 2022
  • Sneha becomes a TD while she, Jack, and Joshua each win a quad. August 14, 2022
  • Rohan Padhye wins Joe Yun Memorial and becomes a Chess Master July 20, 2022
  • CCL at the National Elementary School Championship May 20, 2022
  • Jason Wang wins Ohio HS Championship while Rohan Padhye takes MS Championship May 9, 2022
  • Where are they now? February 4, 2022
  • CCL wins Ohio Grade Levels in grades 6, 8, 9, 10 November 8, 2021
  • Three New CCL Graduates September 11, 2021
  • CCL Chess Camp 9/11-12/2021 July 4, 2021
  • CCL takes top 4 spots in the Ohio High School Championship April 24, 2021
  • CCL Youth wins Ohio Championships April 3, 2021
  • The sleeping giant awakens April 3, 2021
  • Dae San Kim with the 2020 CCL Chess Championship August 22, 2020
  • 2020 CCL Chess Championship August 12, 2020
  • US vs Canada Online Youth Chess Match August 4, 2020
  • CCL USCF rated online chess tournaments June 9, 2020
  • 2020 Queen City Classic March 3, 2020
  • Some Holiday Results December 28, 2019
  • CCL wins most of the grades at the 2019 Ohio Grade Level Championships November 11, 2019
  • CCL tops the charts October 15, 2019
  • CCL Chess Camp 11/2-3/2019 September 16, 2019
  • Elton Cao is the State of Ohio Chess Champion September 3, 2019
  • Jason Wang is the Barber Co-champion August 9, 2019
  • 2019 Columbus Chess League August 8, 2019
  • Chris Shen breaks 2400, setting CCL history July 20, 2019
  • CCL old picture test July 16, 2019

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