Chess Training with Chocolate: The 40th US Chess School

My summer was filled with chess. I attended several local strong chess camps, including the fun and educational Western Invitational Chess Camp in Arizona.   I was planning to spend the last days of summer studying chess, swimming and playing in local tournaments.  Then came a special evening: my parents told me that I received an invitation to be a part of the 40th US Chess School Camp in San Francisco, which was a big honor and surprise for me.  My chess year had been tough so far. I have been through many challenging chess tournaments and many ups and downs. The invite meant a lot to me indeed.  The camp was set for San Francisco Mechanics Institute, right in my area.  "Yay! It is the first day of camp!" I woke up excited and ready to go! When I walked into the Mechanics Institute Chess Room I saw campers playing blitz. The breaks are always fun filled blitz and bug fests at the US Chess School!  As we took our seats for the main lesson, Greg showed a position to be played out. Gellashvili,Tamaz (2600) VS Shahade,Greg (2400) In the position above, it seemed to Greg that Tamaz just missed 1...b4, after which the game continued 2.Rac1 bxc3 3.bxc3 and White will win the knight on c5, after which he'll have a dangerous initiative due to the pin on the c-file.  Greg thought his opponent just blundered but Tamaz actually sacrificed for the initiative. The lesson here: NEVER underestimate your opponent. Then he showed us a few endgames, including one he played against GM Marc Arnold:  Black to Move: Should he accept the draw offer? Greg had to decide whether to accept the draw in the position above. Think about what you would do. Greg accepted the draw, but later regretted it, when he studied a game with a similar pawn structure.

[pgn][Event "US Championship 1963/64"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1964.01.01"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Anthony Saidy"]
[Black "Robert James Fischer"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A33"]
[PlyCount "112"]
[EventDate "1963.??.??"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Ndb5 Bb4 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8.
Nxc3 d5 9. e3 O-O 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Be2 Bf5 12. Nb5 Qb6 13. O-O a6 14. Nd4 Nxd4
15. Qxd4 Qxd4 16. exd4 Rac8 17. Bd1 Bc2 18. Be3 Bxd1 19. Rfxd1 Rc2 20. Rd2 Rfc8
21. Rxc2 Rxc2 22. Rc1 Rxc1+ 23. Bxc1 Nd7 24. Kf1 Nf8 25. Ke2 Ne6 26. Kd3 h5 27.
Be3 Kh7 28. f3 Kg6 29. a4 Kf5 30. Ke2 g5 31. Kf2 Nd8 32. Bd2 Kg6 33. Ke3 Ne6
34. Kd3 Kf5 35. Be3 f6 36. Ke2 Kg6 37. Kd3 f5 38. Ke2 f4 39. Bf2 Ng7 40. h3 Nf5
41. Kd3 g4 42. hxg4 hxg4 43. fxg4 Nh6 44. Be1 Nxg4 45. Bd2 Kf5 46. Be1 Nf6 47.
Bh4 Ne4 48. Be1 Kg4 49. Ke2 Ng3+ 50. Kd3 Nf5 51. Bf2 Nh4 52. a5 Nxg2 53. Kc3
Kf3 54. Bg1 Ke2 55. Bh2 f3 56. Bg3 Ne3 0-1 [/pgn]

If Greg knew this game that time he would have never ever accepted the draw.  This shows the importance of knowing classic games and remembering structures. Later we had a intuition test, in which Greg gave us a minute on each puzzle. After the intuition test we had one hour for the lunch break. When the lunch break was finished Greg set up another position to play out. One day, totally out of  blue, Greg took us to Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory store. It was great fun for us. We came back with a big bag of chocolate. We then got a challenge: if a student gets defeated in blitz, the chocolate bag will get split among kids https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFdoJmkBOQk No one could beat Greg except Siddharth Banik who beat Greg! And we shared all great chocolate -yummy!!! Thanks Sid!  I would like to say a huge thank you to IM Greg Shahade for being a fearless leader of our diverse group of students ages 9 to 17, to Mechanics Institute Director IM John Donaldson, and Dr Jim Roberts, for supporting scholastic chess and providing a unique opportunity to us, young enthusiastic chess players to move to the next level in chess through such camps. This camp is an valuable learning experience and lots of fun!  I look forward to returning next year!   Find out more about the US Chess School on their website, instagram and facebook.