Summer Chess Camp

June 2-6, 2008

The information I need is as follows:

• Name
• Grade next fall and school
• current USCF rating or "unrated" if your child does not participate in tournament chess
• particularly if your child does not have a USCF rating, some description of your child's chess experience. 

Please understand that the slots in camp are not interchangeable.  I am filling 5 or 6 separate classes.  They are organized based on age and rating.  Therefore, I may have space for a 1200 rated middle schooler, but not for an unrated 1st grader, or vice-versa.  I will let folks know as soon as possible if space becomes available...... hopefully by the week of May 5th.

Dates:    June 2-6, 2008
Times:   9am - 4:15 pm   
Where:  T. H. Rogers

                5840 San Felipe

                Houston, TX  77057

                1.5 miles west of the Galleria (see map)

 Who:    

• This camp is primarily for scholastic tournament players.  We expect all campers to know the rules and be familiar with basic notation.  Students from other schools are welcome.

• This is not a camp for children who have never played chess or who have a weak grasp of such basic concepts as en passant and castling....we will not be teaching the basic moves.  Children can learn that by coming to our Thursday night chess club.
   

• If you have a kindergarten / first grade aged child, please contact me (info@throgerschess.com) before you register them so that we are in agreement as to whether they are ready to come.  Some of our kids are, some are not.  If they are in the T. H. Rogers program, at a minimum, I would like them to have passed their pawn test prior to attendance. 

• Enrollment is limited to 60 students.
   

Format: 

• Monday - Thursday, the kids will rotate through 5 classes: openings, tactics, strategy, endings, and a variable 5th (bughouse for the more advanced players and a different tactics class for the less experienced players).  In addition, they will participate each day in team chess.

• Friday there will be a rated tournament and the opportunity to play human chess.

• The kids will be divided into 5 groups based on a combination of playing ability and age.  Typically in the summer we have 2 beginner (USCF ratings <600) groups: younger and older, 2 intermediate (600 - 1000) groups: younger and older, and one advanced (>1000) group.  While this camp's groupings will depend on who registers, I suspect they will be similar.  If your child does not have a USCF rating from tournament play, we will make every effort to place him/her appropriately.

Instructors: 

• We will be using some of Houston's top scholastic coaches including Jeff Ashton, Larry Englebretson, Justin Gardner, John Hendrick and Evan Michaelides.  Also coming is Women's International Master Alexey Root from Dallas.  Short biographies for each of the instructors are available here.

• New this year, we are adding 5 Assistants.  These are basically T. H. Rogers alums who are now playing chess in high school and are interested in working with the younger kids.  They include:

  	Name		Grade	School	USCF Rating
  1.	Michaelides	Matthew	10	Lamar	1945
  2.	Feng	Jeff	10	Bellaire	1856
  3.	Ni	Mengwei	11	Bellaire	1318
  4.	Delhommer	Scott	10	Bellaire	1133
  5.	Wang	Nathan	12	Bellaire	In charge of the gym

Fees:

• $250

• As with all of our programs, we do not want the fee to be a barrier to any child’s participation.  Financial aid is available to families as needed.  For information about financial aid, please contact:  info@throgerschess.com.
   

To Register:

• Complete the Chess Camp registration form. 

• Make checks payable to:  T. H. Rogers

• Bring it to chess club or mail it to:

Instructors

Additional Camp Information

Registration Form

Printable Flyer (.pdf)