St. Olaf Chess Camp Review

  I recently received an article from Garrett Anstreicher about his experiences at the St. Olaf Chess Camp last summer. Garrett's tremendous growth as a chess player this last year is plain to see. He won the Iowa Junior High School Championship this past December (tied with Daniel Johnson) and most recently won the Hawkeye Mind Challenge's Rated Beginner Open 2 weeks ago.

Want to Improve your Chess Game? Go to Camp!

  If you are looking for a fun way to improve your game, you might consider going to a summer chess camp. Last summer, my friend Patrick Tierney and I attended the OleChess camp, held on the campus of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota (south of Minneapolis, about a 3 hour drive from Des Moines or 4 ˝ hours from Iowa City). We both really enjoyed the camp and I learned many things that have helped me to play better chess. Here’s what the camp was like.

  St. Olaf has a nice campus. We lived in a dorm that was air-conditioned, so it was very comfortable. Patrick and I shared a room in a suite of 4 rooms that was supervised by a councilor. Our councilor was a Master-level college student. The building layout was slightly confusing and I got lost several times during the first few days, but after that I knew my way around pretty well. The food in the college cafeteria was good, but the selection was a bit limited, such that many people went on strict diets of bacon cheeseburgers and waffles. The camp program, however, was fantastic. The day would start off with breakfast (waffles), and then proceed to the tournament game of the day. How this works is that there is a tournament going on for four days, in which you play one round per day. After your game is finished, it is reviewed by one of the GM coaches at the camp. I found these reviews to be really helpful in understanding what I could have done better. When everyone is done, the coaches teach various chess lessons until lunchtime (bacon cheeseburger #1). After lunch, the coaches teach more chess lessons until four, at which point you are be free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day. The biggest activity besides chess is soccer, and there are also tennis courts close to the dorm. After that comes dinner (bacon cheeseburger #2). There are also various optional tournaments you can compete in. These include the bughouse tournament (four people playing at once with 5 minute time control), speed chess (5 minute time control) and blitz chess (3 minute time control - Aaaaaaahhh!). Students at the camp are at all levels, from unrated to 1800 and above.

  Overall, it is a very fun camp, with skilled instructors and great lessons in a nice place. The camp this summer will go from July 27 – August 1. For more information see the camp website www.stolaf.edu/camps/chesscamp. Patrick and I will be going again this summer, so if you go maybe we can play a few games!