February 25 and 27, 2010
Subject: Special Powers of Pieces
This was my 5th Annual Rodeo Week Camp in Tucson and it always turns out to be one of the most fun Camps of the year. It is amazing to me how we have to adjust the Rodeo Camp times each year to fit schedules of other chess events in or account for family work and travel schedule. This year was no exception. The 2-day Camp was nested between the popular Foothills Open held on Saturday. That gave a chance for everyone to have a full 3-day chess fest.
I was very happy to see so many new chess players in the Camp and I was even more amazed how strong some players were based on their respective group averages. Each group had a perfect number of participants: between 5 and 8 per group. The nice size of each group enabled me to teach the camp more in the format of a Group lesson. Groups also ranged between 4 years old all the way to 82 years olds!
Day 1 Camp dealt with the Minor Pieces (Bishops, Knights and Pawns), while the 2nd day was all about the heavy artillery- the Queens and Rooks. Each day we had an opportunity to look at positions from real games, analyze, answer questions and play thematic positions. During the break time (maybe that is most fun part of the Camp?) players had a chance to play blitz, talk about life and enjoy the food. Group 1 and 2 players also received prizes at the end. According to one parent “receiving prizes for doing well was more encouraging than all the chess medals he had received far”. Interesting point.
Thank you all for coming and see you soon.
Levon Altounian