Two Road to Mastery summer camps will be conducted by IM Nikolay Andrianov on June 17-21 and June 24-28. The chess camps, dedicated to improving high rated players and upgrading the skills of novices as well, have been known to have helped scholastic players perform well in tournaments. Two students who attended all three summer camps in 2012 have improved tremendously. One has become a state champion, and the other one, a second placer in the state championship. Also, another camper was sent to the Moscow Open, Russia and had a great performance in the Under 2300 Section.

IM Nikolay Andrianov is a world-renowned trainer, and has been the official Soviet Junior Champion in 1980 during Gary Kasparov’s junior years.
Andrianov graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Chess Training from the Moscow Central Physical Culture & Sport Institute. Here’s a bio from IM Jeremy Silman about Andrianov for your evaluation – http://wp.jeremysilman.com/chess_gst_wrtrs/n_adrianov_bio.html

Andrianov has been a trainer of our very own FM Paolo del Mundo. Here’s a quote from The Philippine Star, one of the main newspapers in the Philippines and what his training has done to help young players – “Andrianov, considered as one of the best trainers in the world, had personally trained some of the country’s top players, including GMs Wesley So, John Paul Gomez and Julio Catalino Sadorra, WIM Arianne Caoilli and US-based FM Paolo del Mundo.” Executive Director Herky del Mundo met IM Nikolay Andrianov in India in late 1990s, and invited Andrianov to train young players in the Philippines. Andrianov taught in the Checkmate program under NM Milagros Emperado, who herself got training in Russia. Andrianov had been training Ashburn players in the club’s summer camps and other training programs in the past two years.

The two summer camps will be the last of the camps under IM Andrianov in our training facility at the Ashburn Chess Center. We will be moving our venue after June, so I encourage every one to take advantage of this training. It might be long before we see him back again. To take advantage of the summer camp and be prepared for it, young novice players are also encouraged to attend the spring break chess camp from March 25-29 under Herky del Mundo. You may register by using our paypal button.

Those who will register before March 30, you will get a rebate of $20. Official members will get another $15. There is no membership fee required in these summer camps. You must register twice if you are intending to attend both chess camps. You will also get the early registration incentive for both camps.

Sessions

All Day $535.00 USD Half-Day $300.00 USD

Name of Player

Schedule

The Ashburn Chess Club will hold its Spring Break Camp from March 25-29. Ashburn’s Executive Director Herky del Mundo will conduct the camp for beginners and intermediate, rated 0-1000. The club would like to develop its new breed of chess players by starting with the right fundamentals.

The syllabus will enable young players to be competitive in tournament play. Subject areas are divided by principles and techniques that could be put to use right away:

Day 1: Understanding Chess Principles & Vocabulary

Day 2: Pattern Recognition – The Art of Seeing in Chess

Day 3: Attacking Plans in Chess

Day 4: Sacrificial Patterns

Day 5: Calculation & Planning

Through 25 years of experience in training young beginning players, Del Mundo emphasizes patterns and techniques that can be used right away against higher-rated players. With the World Open going to be held in the Washington DC area, the camp will be an eye-opener for these young players on highly competitive chess conducted by the instructor who himself is a World Open winner. The camp intends to provide fundamental skills that the players can build upon and develop towards mastery.

Classes will be from 8:00-12:00 p.m. 1:00-5:00 p.m. Arrival time can be as early as 7:00 a.m., and pick-up time can be up to 6:00 p.m. or as long as the chess club is open.

Early registration by February 28: Those who will register by March 10 shall enjoy a $12 rebate.

Choose schedule:

5 all day Non-Members $280.00 USD 5 all day Members $250.00 USD 4 all day Non-Members $230.00 USD 4 all day Members $200.00 USD 3 all day Non-Members $180.00 USD 3 all day Members $150.00 USD All morning or afternoon Non-Members $155.00 USD All morning or afternoon Members $125.00 USD

Name of Player

Time of Camp

FIDE Master Anton Paolo del Mundo, the highest-rated player in Ashburn Chess Club and U.S. Open co-champion, holds a “State Chess Championship Preparation” for beginners and beyond, rated from 0 to 1200. The unique class is a 5-week special course in the Road to Mastery program in anticipation of the state championship from March 8-10. The class objective is to enable players to play competitively in tournaments such as the state championships. The course prepares the casual chess player in tournament preparation, elevating basic skills to compete against higher-rated players. The course focuses on understanding important chess patterns which allows the player to learn great tactical skills and positional play. The class is two hours per week. The first hour is a lecture on theoretical concepts as well as practical play. The second hour is actual play with analysis from the master. The class is at 4-6 p.m. every Saturday starting on January 26 and a supervised tournament on March 2 with an analysis from the master. FM Paolo del Mundo would also conduct a 5 lecture series involving players > 1500 in rating up to 2200 at 5 p.m-6 p.m. Since this class will involve a few students, it will be limited to one hour. This will deal with participant’s development of style, appreciation of their openings, and strategical play.

Other classes in the Road to Mastery program is the ten sessions’ beginners class for players rated 0-600 which deals with fundamentals of playing chess to be conducted by Scott Knoke starting February 1, and intermediate/advanced class for players who have attended previous Road to Mastery classes up to 1600 in rating. This will be conducted by Raymond Duchesne in ten sessions every Tuesday at 7 p.m starting February 5. The course deals with advanced topics on middle game and end game, including analysis of tournament games of participants.

Schedule of classes are as follows:

FM Paolo del Mundo
Beginners/Advanced Beginners 0-1200 in rating: every Saturday 4-6 p.m. January 26, February 2, 9, 16, 23, with March 2 as tournament.

Advanced Players Lecture Series: 5-6 p.m. every Saturday, 1500-2100 in rating, January 26, February 2, 9, 16 and 23.

Scott Knoke
Beginners’ Class, every Friday 6 p.m.-8 p.m. February 1, 8, 16, 22, March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, April 5

Raymond Duchesne
Intermediate/Advanced Players, every Tuesday 7 p.m.-9 p.m. , February 5, 12, 19, 26, March 5, 12, 19, 26, April 2, 9.

Classes

State Championship Prep – FM Mundo for Members $210.00 USD Beginners/Advanced Beginners – S. Knoke for Members $300.00 USD Intermediate/Adv- R. Duchesne for Members $300.00 USD 5-Lecture Series- FM Del Mundo for Members $150.00 USD State Championship Prep under FM Del Mundo for Non-members $240.00 USD Beginners/Advanced Beginners under S. Knoke for Non-members $330.00 USD Intermediate/Advance Players under R. Duchesne for Non-members $330.00 USD 5-Lecture Series under FM Del Mundo for Non-members $180.00 USD

Name of Player

Rating, if any

We are looking forward to more activities in 2013.

1. Grand Prix tournaments. We are conducting two grand prix tournaments in the first half of 2013. If the tournaments are successful we will conduct bigger tournaments the rest of the year. One will be held during the spring break. The second one will be during summer.

2. Junior Grand Prix Tournaments for scholastic players. We will be holding junior grand prix tournaments for scholastic players. One will be in March, prior to the state championships.

3. Regular Quads/Meetups. We will still be holding First Saturday quads, and the meet-ups during Saturdays.

4. Road to Mastery programs will start anew in February and will end in May.

5. Ashburn Summer Camps under IM Nikolay Andrianov will be in May and June. Spring Break Camp for beginners will be conducted by FM Paolo del Mundo and Herky del Mundo.

6, Free activities for members, like the World Junior League, and participation in the DCCL, informal lectures, and free simuls for beginners will be conducted from time to time. We will have at least one free activity for members every month, and on January 5 we have the First Saturday Quad as a designated free activity. Non-members pay $7.00,

7. Individual lessons for beginners will also be available as well every Saturday.

To get this program running and at a lower cost, we are requesting for meetup members to apply for membership. This would enable us to keep our facilities open, and to get better rates for our tournaments. Free activities, aside from the cost-free meet-ups, will be instituted for members so they could come without have to spend anything. I recommend that you avail of this so we can come out with more activities at reasonable prices.

If this membership drive is successful, we will institute another Annual Round Robin after the summer camps, and have a trip to Budapest, Hungary in the First Saturday tournament to get a FIDE title to one of our young players. If we are sending Justin Lohr to the Moscow Open this February, the plan to send someone in Hungary to gain a title is equally attractive. And if our community continue to support the activities of our clubs through the membership, we shall come out with more programs to support our members drive to excel in the game we love. Kindly apply now for membership for 2013 over here:

Membership

Semi-Annual $35.00 USD Annual $60.00 USD Club Support $100.00 USD

2012 Summary:

We’re ending our 2012 with a positive note.

Scholastic Round-Robin

We have conducted our first scholastic round-robin in which our scholastic members continued their development and eventually made great strides in upgrading their ratings.

The top player, Justin Lohr, has achieved expert level and is now preparing his trip for Moscow. He already got accepted to participate in the C Section of the Open, or the section for FIDE players under 2300. The club has already bought his tickets, booked for his accommodations, and he is currently attending to his visa application. He will be leaving for Moscow on January 31-February 11 with his dad.

Qualification in the World Youth Festival

One of our students, Jennifer Yu, also made it to the World Youth this year in Slovenia. Though our training is just a part of her overall training, just like anybody else, we are proud of her accomplishments.

She placed 11th in the Under 10 category – that means being 11th in the world.

To those who are aware of world youth campaigns, she missed the top by approximately one game. The other implication is, she will achieve more in the coming years because now she appreciates playing in a world competition.

Like Justin, playing in another country contributes to the overall development of the player. It opens the eyes of the player on how tough the competition is, and what it would take to achieve it. I hope to open up more opportunities for our players.

DCCL Titles

The club also became champion of another two titles in the 2012 DC Chess League Winter League. The DC Chess League is a team competition among all chess clubs in the DC Chess area.

The titles we have won, a total of four, mean that Ashburn Chess Club is among the best clubs in the Washington DC-Maryland-Northern Virginia area. The competition is also our training area for young players like Justin Lohr who came out as the best player in the Amateur section among adults and young players alike. This is gratifying because Justin will only be 13 year old come December 29. Currently, we are fielding more young players, and they are doing well playing with adults.

Road to Mastery

Our training programs continued in 2012, with our regular Road to Mastery programs, including spring break and summer camps. We also just started getting individual lessons for beginners in our club. Individual training is as important as group training, especially for beginners. We get beginners up to speed at the shortest possible time.

World Junior League

Through the initiative of one of our organizers, Victor Tan, we joined the World Junior League, where our players play online in our club and during the season, we placed third. Some of the countries involved aside from clubs the United States, are Israel and Greece.

Free Activities

We had free activities during the year which includes the visit and lecture of GM Lubomir Kavalek, lecture by NM Shawn Hoshall, informal simuls, the newly introduced free blitz tourney, and of course our regular meetups.

Math Fun

One of our young members, Shivam Kollur, has been conducting a math fun activity for children. They meet on a weekly basis, and is participating in a math competition.

Scholastic Activities

Click on the following link to read the newsletter.

The Long Road to the Moscow Open

Ashburn Update on the First Annual Ashburn Scholastic Round-Robin and Details on the Road to Mastery Program

A new Road to Mastery series of classes are underway this start of the school year. The classes will be conducted by FM Paolo del Mundo, NM Shawn Hoshall, Raymond Duchesne, and Scott Knoke. The classes avoid conflicts with major tournaments such as Continental Class, Northern Virginia Open, and Ashburn Saturday Swiss.

These classes are ten sessions of two hours each, except FM Del Mundo’s schedule of five classes of two hours each. Each session is $30. In case of absence, there is no refund, however, student is entitled to review with his teacher on missed lesson 15 minutes before/after class immediately following. Those who have registered in prior classes may select convenient class schedules for themselves, notwithstanding their rating. However, they are advised to transfer to a lower level if they cannot cope with the lessons. No refunds on the registration. Those who are under 6 should contact directly smartgenes@yahoo.com for diagnostics and/or a special program.

There is no age limit on the classes. Chess as a learning instrument can be enjoyed by 3 years old as well as any age group even senior citizens. Chess provides discipline and mental skills that can easily apply to school or employment. We have many examples of players who are easily able to adopt to the new technologies because of their calculating skills. But this is not just simple chess, but chess imbued with the skills towards mastery. This is what the program is all about – to enable players to increase their rating and face up to the challenges of these next levels.

Regular class is $300 each. Non-members pay an extra $55 for the membership fee, which entitles them to $50 worth of tournaments in 2012. The first class starts on September 17. You are advised to register earlier which would help us plan the classes much better. The schedule is as follows:

FM Paolo del Mundo, 4:00 p.m. Saturday September 29, October 13, 27, November 3, 17. Five classes for both intermediate and advanced.

NM Shawn Hoshall, Monday, 7-9 p.m. September 24, October 1, 15, 22, 29, November 5, 19, 26, December 3 and 10. Ten sessions for both intermediate and advanced players.

Raymond Duchesne Thursday, 7-9 p.m. September 20, 27, October 4, 11, , 25, November 1, 8, 15, 29, December 6. Schedule adjustment to discuss with class. 10 sessions for intermediate and advanced players.

Scott Knoke, Friday 6:00-8:00 p.m., September 21, 28, October 12, 19, 26, November 2, 16, 23, 30, December 7 for beginners, advanced beginners, and intermediate under 900. 10 sessions.

Scott Knoke/Mar Deyto, Saturday 1:00-3:00 September 22, 29, October 13, 27, November 3, 17 , December 1, 8, 15, 22 for beginners and advanced beginners. 10 sessions.

You should register soon and save your spot:

Classes

Member $300.00 USD Non-member $355.00 USD Sat 4pm Member $150.00 USD Sat 4pm Non-Member $205.00 USD

Name of Player

Class Sked except Sat 4 pm

The Ashburn Chess Club has launched a unique Road to Mastery Summer Chess Camps with the best player winning the prize to go to Moscow, Russia and to be accompanied by IM Nikolay Andrianov and/or an official of the club to the Moscow Open sometime in February, 2013 with flight and boarding expenses covered.  Parents can accompany their child at their own expense.

The new format was devised by Club Director Herky del Mundo and IM Nikolay Andrianov to make the summer camps more competitive and rigorous with the round-robin of the best scholastic players.  ”We have patterned the competition to some of the tournaments abroad which allow scholastic players to go the next level much faster because of stiffer opponents,” Del Mundo said. Del Mundo and Andrianov said that the format fits perfectly well the camps’  theme of Road to Mastery.

The summer camps will be held thrice this summer. The schedule is:  June 25-29, with closed tournament on June 30;  July 16-20 with closed tournament on July 21; and August 6-10 with closed tournament on August 11.

Morrning class starts at 8 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and afternoon class starts at 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Those who will be attending whole day, they could come at the club at 7 a.m. and can be picked up past 6 p.m.

The top 3 players from each camp will qualify to participate in the First Annual Ashburn Scholastics Round Robin Tournament, which will be comprised by 11 players. Three other players will come from the Third Saturday Swiss and the Third Annual Ashburn Scholastic Open.  The top scholastic player, provided he or she is a member of Ashburn Chess Club  with the highest cumulative score in the May, June and July Third Saturday Swiss will qualify to the round-robin.  The top two winners of the Ashburn Scholastic Open shall likewise be represented in the round-robin provided they are a member of the club by June 15 or has attended any of the chess camps this summer prior to the Open.  It will be held on August 12. As such, there will be 12 players in the round robin tournament where they will play a G/90;d5 game.  In the tournaments, players have to write their moves on special tournaments score sheets without the use of electronic devices.

The round-robin tournament will be held August 13-18, with first round starting at 1:00 p.m Monday. Other days have two games each day: 9:00 am-12:00; 1:00-4:00 p.m. .  The chess center is open after office hours so pick-up time can be after 5:00 p.m.

Members of the Ashburn Chess Camps have been known to play in the Nationals, where IM Nikolay Andrianov, whenever he is present, can usually be consulted. The international master gives his time to his students for free in the Nationals. IM Andrianov  is a former Soviet junior chess champion and holds a degree in chess training in the top sports university in Russia.  He is known to have trained world ladies’ champion Maya Chiburdanidze and was second to world champion Vassily Smyslov.  He is the trainer and workshop organizer in the Ashburn Chess Camps. IM Andrianov will help the top champion to prepare for the trip. Should the player could not make it for one reason or another, and thus canceling the trip, he/she may receive $800 which covers the flight cost as an alternative.

Below allows you to register your child in the summer chess camp.  Players of all levels and rating can attend all-day, but you may also attend either morning or afternoon.  Players from 0-1000 rating may attend the morning class, but they can also attend whole day. More advanced players are expected all-day or afternoon. Players will be usually paired with players of the same rating so their training is according to their level. We reserve the right to limit the number of registrants. Once we reach 15 all-day registrants, we can close the enrollment. If you wish to reserve a spot, kindly register as early as possible. Prices to new members may increase by June 15.

Early Registration by May 15

All Day – Current Members$525.00 USD All Day – New Members$585.00 USD Half Day – Current Members$300.00 USD Half Day – New Members$355.00 USD

Name of Player

Month/Schedule

During the spring break, the Ashburn Chess Club will hold the Road to Mastery Ashburn Spring Break Chess Camp on April 2-6. The camp will conducted by no less than IM Nikolay Andrianov, a world-class trainer responsible for top players who have excelled in the national scholastics in the United States, and in other parts of the world which includes Russia, Greece, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Andrianov is a renowned trainer who worked with Vassily Smyslov as second, and former ladies world champion Maya Chirburdanidze among others.

Among his accomplishments were:
* Soviet chess champion Under 20 years old
* Graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in chess training from the Moscow Central Physical Culture & Sport Institute, which at its peak was the top chess training school in the world.
* Attained the title of international master at age 26
* Trainer of top players, and has been responsible in the training and further development of Ashburn players

Andrianov has the distinction of beating Gary Kasparov during the time they were juniors. He decided to study chess coaching, when politics intervened in the selection of players who could compete abroad. Andrianov brings to Ashburn chess training that has proven effective internationally. Our very own, FM Paolo del Mundo, was his student when he was younger, and he still consults with Andrianov on his games despite having a rating of about 2400.

The camp will be conducted during the Spring Break of Loudoun county. The camp will be divided in two groups: beginners and advanced beginners in the morning from 8 a.m.-12:00 p.m.; intermediate and advanced from 1-5 p.m. Players may attend whole day, and could stay one hour or so for pickup.

Though there are many chess camps conducted in the Washington DC area, the Ashburn chess camps have the distinction of turning out strong chess campers. It has proven time and again that these players emerged among the top. In the recent Virginia scholastics state championship, our members are among the top, with many of them attending the Road to Mastery programs, a no mean feat since the championship is represented by various chess clubs throughout Virginia. The Road to Mastery program is geared towards helping the players reach out to the next level. Thus past campers can always get back to learn more.

Reserve your space right now so you can be assured of a slot. The first button below is the long schedule. The next button are for those who wish a shorter schedule to attend during the spring break schedule.

Choose schedule:

5 all day Non-Members $550.00 USD 5 all day Members $495.00 USD 4 all day Non-Members $450.00 USD 4 all day Members $395.00 USD 5 day morning or afternoon Non-members $325.00 USD 5 morning or afternoon Members $270.00 USD 4 morning or afternoon Non-members $275.00 USD 4 morning or afternoon Members $220.00 USD

Name of Player

Time of Camp

Those signing up for the short schedule, look over here:

For those who cannot attend the 4 or 5 day schedule, we have come up with the following shorter schedule to take advantage of IM NIkolay Andrianov’s visit. You may choose 3. 2 or 1 all day, morning, or afternoon.

Choose schedule:

3 all day Non-Members $375.00 USD 3 all day Members $320.00 USD 2 all day Non-Members $275.00 USD 2 all day Members $220.00 USD 1 day Non-Members $175.00 USD 1 day Members $120.00 USD 1 morning or afternoon Non-Members $125.00 USD 1 morning or afternoon Members $70.00 USD

Name of Player

Time of Camp

Take the first steps on the Road to Mastery. The Ashburn Chess Club is embarking on the Road to Mastery Chess Program. This is a three year course that will prepare a player to become an expert, and equip the player with standards and practices that he/she can use to eventually become a master.

Not a day care.

The program is not a day-care. Obviously, there are chess programs which double as a day-care. It is only intended for players who like to take advantage of the discipline and intellectual ability that engaging in the game of chess can bring into their study habits. It does not assume anyone as a prodigy, but structure and intense practice in the game of chess will help its practitioners the tools to succeed in the game, and ultimately in other fields. Chess helps in studies, but this should be advanced training to have any effect.

Individual Training, Online Training, and Road to Mastery

We are going to be patterned after successful international programs where club or group activity contributes to individual achievements. This program has its competitors in individual training, online training, computer programs or self-study. But instead of treating them as competitors, Road to Mastery provides purposive form of training dedicated to the growth of its players, that can integrate all forms of training to the benefit of the student. The program is intended to help the students on problems that stomp them, provide solutions and help them go up to the next level. Also, the degree to which a player responds is also dependent on what level of challenge exists. This will be provided within the club, and its training of the players who will compete in local, national as well as international tournaments.

Road to Mastery as an International Program

With the assistance of IM Nikolay Andrianov, we will pattern our program after successful international programs as well as adopt our own that contributes greatly to players’ success. IM Andrianov has been a leading top trainer of our member FM Paolo del Mundo, who has made a name in the US Open and World Open, as well as in his choice of career, that of a software engineer. Paolo has been part of a program in the Philippines, where in his class alone resulted in two grandmasters and Paolo himself as a FIDE master. Though he did not aspire to be a grandmaster, he was able to excel in software engineering, while he was a student at UMBC with a chess scholarship and at College Park.

A student will be classified Levels 1 – 12, dependent on his rating. As such one class, can have one or two level students.

Student levels can be the following:

Level 1 – 0-400
Level 2- 400-700
Level 3- 700-1000
Level 4- 1000-1200
Level 5- 1200-1400
Level 6- 1400-1600
Level 7- 1600-1700
Level 8- 1700-1750
Level 9- 1750-1800
Level 10- 1800-1850
Level 11 – 1850-1900
Level 12- 1900-1950

Target: 2000

The goal is to achieve a rating close to the expert level provided the student registers for 12 levels, and accomplishes the course work. Of course, discipline, study habits, and constant tournament play will also determine the results.

Rating has to be based on at least 25 games. If a student does not have a permanent rating, current rating less 300 may serve as a guide to his level. But this will depend on the recommendation of instructors.

The classes and their instructors are as follows:

Mondays 7-9 p.m. FM Paolo del Mundo (student’s rating: 1600-2100) Feb 27, March 5, 12, 19, 26 April, 9, 16, 23, 30 May 7.

Thursdays 7-9 p.m. Raymond Duschesne (1000-1600) March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, April 5, 12, 19, 26 May 3

Fridays 7-9 p.m. Scott Knoke (student’s rating:  0-600) Feb. 24, March 9, 16, 30, April 13, 20, 27, May 4, 11, 18

Saturday 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Scott Knoke (student’s rating: 0-600) Feb 25, March 10, 31, April 14, 28 May 5, 12, 26, June 2, 9

Saturday 1 p.m.-3 p.m. Herky del Mundo (600-1200) Feb 25, March 10, 31, April 14, 28 May 5, 12, 26, June 2, 9

No conflict with any major tournaments

The schedule does not conflict with any major tournaments in Virginia. Thus, even the Saturday classes will not conflict with major tournaments. Classes won’t be held during the Third Saturday Swiss.

For each semester, registration is $250 for non-members, $200 for members. Since we want to concentrate on quality training, each class will have a limit of 10 players. If you find a class suited to your schedule and rating, try to register immediately because we will not accept more than ten in each class. First come, first serve.

Class Registration

Registered Members $200.00 USD Non-members $250.00 USD

Name of Player

Class Schedule