Topchess Easter Chess Camp was a fun filled week of Chess and Chocolate! The children had a blast participating in chess activities and battling it out over the chess board for rating points. Many new friendships were made and a wide variety of prizes awarded - congratulations to everyone involved!
DAY 1:
Chess Camp kicked off with 9 rounds of QLD junior rated tournament games. After our second lunch the kids went outside for a chess edition of an Easter hunt. Some pieces were hidden throughout the grass area for them to find. The pieces were valued as:
Pawn = 1 point, Bishop and Knight = 3 points, Rook = 5 points, Queen = 9 points and King = 10 points. Mic Kee took out first place in the hunt with a whopping 70 points and Ashton Leake came lucky last with 1 pawn (1 point). In between matches the kids enjoyed lessons taught by Alex Stahnke and solved puzzles on the display board.
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DAY 2:
Lightning chess! Plenty of rating points up for grabs as the kids stormed through 11 matches. This was fast-paced and nerve-racking games that went down to final seconds on the clock. We analysed a variety of famous games, which the kids then tried to apply to their own matches. Practical application is very important!
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DAY 3:
Transfer Chess! This is an absolute favourite of the kids...instead of the classical 1v1, each player has a partner to work with (2v2). There is great team aspect applied with transfer chess...teaching the kids to Stop, Think & Evaluate the ramifications of their choices.
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DAY 4:
The second last day at Topchess Easter Chess Camp consisted of 7 rounds of 10 minutes tournament games! We finished the day strong with a simultaneous exhibition, where coach Alex Stahnke played all 24 kids at the same time. The kids were each given a chess score sheet where they could annotate their moves. A nice memento for the kids to take home and look back on (compare their game) in the years to come. This was a great challenge for the rated kids to put their skills to the test against their coach! Some of the rated kids even practiced old chess moves before the match to better prepare themselves. Proud teacher moment.
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DAY 5:
No better way to round out the week than with a transfer Chess Tournament. All of the teams were fairly picked based on the competition results from earlier in the week. Everyone played in high spirits and showed great sportsmanship! We gave prizes for best team name - and boy there were some great ones!
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We are so proud of our Topchess students. They gave it their absolute best the entire week of Chess Camp. Their hard work is definitely paying off with a wide variety of prizes and rating points coming into the mix of things. I am sure we will see a lot of new rated juniors at the next June ratings list.
The children have come away with a lot of life lessons this holiday program, but in particular; humility, professionalism and resilience. Chess is scientifically proven to significantly enhance educational benefits, creative thinking & memory retention. See you next time, Happy Easter!