ORLOV and ElENA SUMMER CHESS CAMPS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Below we are the most popular questions about our camps that we receive from parents:

How often student have breaks and play outside?

In the morning students have breaks every 45 minutes, 30 min with younger children. Lunch break will be for 45-60 minutes. IN the afternoon, students will have two breaks between games during the tournament. During the breaks, students can play on a playground or in the classroom, chess or other games.

Can five year-old come to the camp?

Yes, we have a group for little kids, 5-6 years old. These kids always have great time in our camp. One requirement: kids have to know the basic moves (Except Elena Villa camp where we will teach complete beginners),

What are the supervision rules in the camp?

The safety of children is our first priority. Students are checking in and out in their classrooms.

During breaks students go outside with instructors and/or assistants. We have always have several adults supervising outside and inside. We will have one dedicated person monitoring the area and classrooms for students' safety.

What are the group sizes and how we place students?

Usually 12-14 students in a group, if group is getting bigger we will have an assistant in the group to help the instructor. With very young students we have two instructors in a group. We have a floating assistant during the day that is available to help with different activities.

Our camps draw a large number of students and this allows us to place kids based on their chess-playing level and age. In a class students will be placed within one-two grades level. Our tournaments have three levels. We will place friends together in a class at your request.

Do children get tired of playing chess all day?

Usually kids enjoy playing chess the whole day. Children, even beginners, enjoy participating in various chess activities the whole day. They play with friends and on a playground during the breaks.

During class time children are involved in various chess activities such as skittles, blitz games, puzzles, bughouse, simuls, etc.

What is the teacher/student ratio?

We have low ratio of 12-14 students per instructor in the class, 8-10 in younger groups. Overall from 8 to 12 students per instructor/assistant.

Besides instructors we have assistants to supervise students outside and help in the classrooms.

What openings are taught to students?

Besides basic openings outlined below we will teach other openings, based on the review of the games and students questions.

For beginners players basic opening principles will be taught.

For Intermediate and Advanced players we will discuss most popular played openings as well as openings on students request.

We will teach the most popular openings that happen in local scholastic tournaments:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 Two Knights

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Italian

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Italian

1.e4 c5 Sicilian

1.e4 d6 Perc

1.e4 d5 Scandinavian

1.d4 d5 2.c4 Queens Gambit Declined & Slav Defense

Other openings on students request.

Are camp tournaments rated and what are the sections?

Camp tournaments are not rated, they are designed for training purposes.

There will be three levels of tournaments (these are guidelines only):

Masters: Ratings 1200 and higher; or students with lower ratings in grades 7-12.

Experts: Ratings 600-1100 in grades 3-7,

Boosters: Grades K-2

Note: We will place some students in higher/lower groups on parents/students requests. Subject to reasonable group limit. There will be total of eight rounds g/30 tournaments (G/40 for masters).Trophies and medals awarded in all tournaments.

Who are the instructors in Orlov Chess camp?

Our instructors all have many years of experience teaching students in local school chess clubs. They all worked in Orlov Chess camps for many years. If you are looking for a private teacher we can recommend a teacher from our camps.

Will be International Master Georgi Orlov teaching all groups?

1994 US Open Champion, 1999 Canadian Open Co-Champion, International Master Georgi Orlov (USCF Rating 2575) will be teaching the advanced class. His group will consist of students with rating over 1200, third grade and older (there might be exceptions for high-rated younger students on parents request). Georgi Orlov will play simuls and games with all students afternoon and will be available to answer questions.

Are blitz tournaments for all students?

Blitz tournaments will be offered to advanced and intermediate students. Blitz play is optional and we only recommend it to students from second grade and older. Students who do not wish to participate will be involved in other activities.

For Blitz rules please visit: Blitz Rules

What is the bughouse?

Bughouse is a great fun game with chess rules, with two players on a team. A player can pass on captured pieces to his team mate. Students will play bughouse games every day, and there will be a bughouse tournament on the last day of the camp. Rules will be available on our web site and will be reviews in the camp. The bughouse play is optional but we usually have 99% students participation. If you child doesn't have a partner we will assign him a partner in the camp.

For Bughouse rules please visit Bughouse Rules