Young chess players enjoy first summer camp

Forty-two students learned skills for a classic game at the first summer Chess Camp sponsored by Madison City Schools at Rainbow Elementary School.

Sessions were open to students in grades K-5.

Camp coach Caesar Lawrence owns Caesar Chess LLC. “Our chess camps are designed to have lecture, demonstration and interactive participation. Students get hands-on, real chess-playing experience,” he said.

Lawrence believes chess is a wonderful game that can help children “develop mental discipline, analytical skills, strategic thinking, decision-making skills and to do better in school.”

The curriculum included a brief history of the game, board setup and piece movements. Lawrence explained ‘check,’ ‘checkmate’ and ‘stalemate’; the pawn game; special moves like castling; and various strategies. Students played chess throughout the camp.

Students were divided into first-time players learning the game and beginner-intermediate players dealing more with strategy.

“It was an excellent turnout. I heard rave reviews from parents and kids as they were leaving each day,” volunteer and school board member Ranae Bartlett said.

“Playing chess requires higher-order thinking and using skills of problem solving, pattern recognition and evaluation,” Bartlett said. Bartlett cited studies showing that chess-playing students have higher levels in reading, math and overall learning ability.

“Do you know the three fields that have a prodigy? Math, music and chess,” Lawrence said. “Say ‘Yes’ to chess!”

Lawrence recommends that students subscribe to “Chess Life for Kids” magazine when registering for U.S. Chess Federation membership.

Campers and siblings Coleen and Alexander Corvalan will enter second and fourth grade at Mill Creek Elementary School, respectively. First-time player Coleen learned “how to move the pieces” and enjoyed “figuring out the right moves to make.”

In the intermediate group, Alexander Corvalan learned “how to checkmate a king with a queen and a king, or a rook and a king, when your opponent only has a king. I enjoyed challenging other kids to play chess against me.”

A Back-to-School Chess Camp will be held Aug. 8-10 at Rainbow for students entering grades K-8. Two sessions will be available.

For more information, visit CaesarChess.com or AlabamaChess.com.