Congratulations to all participants and winners.
A mix of recognizable and new faces showed up at ICEA’s sixth chess workshop. Linked together by chess, the kids had a great time playing and learning with each other. Coach Esther and Austin led the intermediate-advanced level quads, A and B, inside the game room. They demonstrated real-game examples of tactics in the warmup lesson before the tournament to get their players’ minds ready to think. Coaches Felix and Alex worked with the beginner-intermediate level quads, C and D, ensuring everyone was prepared for the games to begin. The friendly kids turned into each others’ opponents, playing strong and fierce chess in a three-round quad tournament. Refreshments were provided for the kids as they experienced tournament-style play for many of their first times. The kids enjoyed playing against the coaches and each other afterwards, holding simuls, playing casual games, but most importantly, having fun with each other.
The kids played against each other in quads of 3-4 people. In Quad A, AJ Chung took first place with a score of 2/3, winning in an intense tiebreaker blitz playoff! Congratulations to Max Pestes and Arjun Kumar, who also scored 2/3 points. In Quad B, the clear winner was Abbott Shamos, with an impressive undefeated 2.5/3 points. In Quad C, the winner was Taje Trimming & Jesse Karno. In Quad D, the winner was Easton Besserman.
The lessons for the fall season have concluded, but the registration for the winter group lessons and workshops has been posted on our new website at iceachess.org for those who want to keep improving and having fun playing chess. Additionally, we now offer a competition team package for players who want to take their game to the next level. Personalized coaching and training for USCF rated competitions and tournaments marks the next step up from the advanced class, as well as game analysis with our master coaches. We hope to see you soon, and keep up the great work in the meantime!
– reported by Esther