ICA Chess academy in NJ :2008 ICA Chess Camp Week Two Report (7/7

Students Attending: 29

Coaches: 6 (Sergey Grabuzov, Tanya Grabuzova, Gregory Markzon, Solomon Lerner, Genry Krichevsky, Slava Koza)

Week two is over. Thankfully. While my experiences in the camp have generally been majority good, over minority bad, there are still some weeks where a deadly combination of problem children, can combine to create a situation similar to some sort of weird, Accountant in April, nervous breakdown. Sometimes I can’t blame the kids, or anyone for that matter, because most can’t help it, but that being said, some campers really can go above and beyond in driving everyone, counselors, and peers included, crazy.

Unfortunately, since we cannot really engage in any particular form of behavior modification, all we can hope for is for you parents to get involved. Involved in asking questions, and helping your children emulate more serious camp goers who continue to benefit week, after week, year, after year, because of the way they approach both their learning, and each other, and the way their parents teach them to do it.

That being said, week two also saw the return of the ICA’s most legendary dodge ball player, Kenneth Geiller. Currently involved in writing a Latin book about the ancient poet Virgil, Kenny is an early student of the ICA, and one of the best examples of a model student. Kenny also doesn’t exaggerate absolutely everything in a high-pitched voice, as do some of the more dramatic children, which I am grateful for each and every day. Even though I have not taught Kenny for years, I still remember when he was just a beginner in my group at the old ICA location.

Each week as I work with the younger kids, who are the same age as Kenny was when I studied with him those six years ago, I try to repeat that same success. Hopefully in years to come those same six year olds, and seven year olds attending now, come back in their early teens, with perhaps students of Kenny’s age returning as counselors.

Winners, and prize getters, for each category were as follows:

3rd section (unrated) 1st - 2nd Idan Glickman & Nathaniel Piskun

Blitz Tournament (Three sections, oldest to youngest.):

1^st section - Gilad Drillich

2^ndsection - Nathaniel Piskun & Benjamin Mankowitz

3^rd section - Michael Sun-Huang

Sports Competition (Four Age Groups. Youngest to oldest):

(Year of Birth category-2000-2002) - Michael Sun-Huang

(Year of Birth category-1998-1999)- Jason Cho

(Year of Birth category-1996-1997) - Kyler McVay

(Year of Birth category-1993 -1995)- Kiernan McVay

Problem Solving Competition:

Dodge ball Competition:

Best students in each study group:

There were four team this week, captained by Slava, Tanya, Genry, and Solomon. Solomon’s team won.