BCS Winter Camp
Berkeley Chess School Holds First Ever Winter Chess Camp
Camp attendance far exceeds organizers’ expectations
51 children ranging in age from 5 to 13 gathered at Hillside School in Berkeley during the holiday season to take part in the Berkeley Chess School’s Winter Chess Camp. The camp, which ran from December 29 - 31, included beginners as well as some of the top young players in the country.
Although BCS has been hosting summer chess camps for more than 20 years, this was the first time the school had held a winter camp. The decision to expand the chess camp program was in response to the desire of many parents and their children for more chess activities during the mid school-year break.
“We had such an incredible response to this camp,” says Marc Newman, BCS instructor coordinator. “Almost half the kids who showed up hadn’t signed up ahead of time, and we ended up having to add an extra instructor to teach at the last minute. I think parents were really looking for something to bridge the gap between the chess instruction the kids get during the regular school sessions, and something fun they could do during the school break.”
While BCS has an excellent year-round program in 150 San Francisco Bay area schools, the chess camps give avid young players the opportunity to learn from highly accomplished chess instructors. Last year, U.S. Women’s Champion and International Master Irina Krush as well as International Master David Pruess taught the summer sessions. This winter, National Life Master Roger Poehlmann and Grandmaster Jesse Kraai were the lead instructors. Kraai made a special appearance on the final day of the camp to give the students some insight into how a Grandmaster approaches the game. Kraai, who recently moved to California, achieved Grandmaster status in 2007, and was the first American-born player to receive the title in a decade.
“We’ve been really fortunate that we have been able to bring in such high-caliber instructors,“ says BCS founder Elizabeth Shaughnessy, recently returned from competition at the World Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany. “It’s really an amazing opportunity for these kids to have that kind of exposure. Of course, you can’t just bring anyone in to teach. A Grandmaster’s knowledge and experience is so far beyond that of the average chess student, sometimes they just don’t know how to instruct these younger players. We’ve been very successful at finding titled players who really know how to engage the kids.”
In addition to the summer and winter chess camps, BCS also organizes regular Friday night chess tournaments in Berkeley and Walnut Creek. Other upcoming events include Saturday quad tournaments and the All Girls Tournament. For more information on these events, contact the Berkeley Chess School at 510-843-0150.