Progress With Chess Campers Enjoy the Perfect Balance of Learning and Fun! - The 2023 Summer Camp Season August 11th, 2023
Campers form new friendships over the board in games paired by skill level
The 2023 Summer Camp Season was emblematic of the resurgence in the popularity of Chess among the youth of Northeast Ohio. This year we hosted nine week-long camps across the Greater Cleveland Area, in Aurora, Lakewood, Westlake, Fairhill-Shaker, Hudson, Kent, Beachwood, Rocky River, and Solon. Combined, our Northeast Ohio Chess Camps had 292 unique registrants, not including the additional 7 particularly avid chess learners who enrolled in more than one camp.
Our team of experienced instructors taught students of all skill levels, accommodating complete beginners and chess experts alike. While some students learned piece movement and the basic rules of chess, others studied tactics and developed their ability to recognize them over the board, and still more analyzed classic games by great players of the past and present to deepen their understanding of positional play.
Our beginner and intermediate students enjoy diverse lessons at the beautiful Elmwood Park Cabin
Students enjoyed regular brain-refreshing outdoor recess during the morning and afternoon, which in addition to supervised playground time included organized physical activities such as kickball, foursquare, jackpot, and more (and of course, coloring sheets, Jenga, Uno, and puzzle books for those less interested in those kinds of activities)!
All chess camps ended with our traditional Last-Day-Of-Chess-Camp-Pizza-Party, where students enrolled in any camp schedule: morning, afternoon, or full day, were invited with their families to join us for a free pizza lunch where students could dazzle their parents with the skills they had learned over the previous week.
Veteran Chess Instructor Mr. Andreas reminds students to always keep looking for tactics in the endgame
Ms. Stacia demonstrates Paul Morphy's brilliant "Opera House" game as part of her trademark "Chess Show" (It's a lecture)
In addition to our Greater Cleveland Chess Camps, Progress With Chess also partnered with Akron Public Schools to provide free daily chess camps for APS students in grades K-8 throughout the summer. Students enjoyed three hours of chess instruction and open play from Monday-Friday, culminating in The Akron Public Schools Chess Tournament. This event required no cost to register for APS students in grades K-12, and included a free lunch and trophy prizes.
We thank all of our families and chess students who were able to participate and learn with us this summer, and we look forward to seeing you all again in the 2024 Summer Camp Season!
