A total of 49 chess players attended the 2009 Karpov Chess camp held July 12-24 at the Anatoly Karpov International School of Chess in Lindsborg, KS. Although most campers were from Kansas, there were also campers from Oklahoma, Nebraska, Indiana, New Mexico, and Tennessee. Campers ranged in age from 7 to (Oops, I probably shouldn’t say how old the oldest camper is. Lets just say that he is a well-known Kansas chess coach and tournament director with a daughter in college and leave it at that). GM Varuzhan Akobian served as both chief chess instructor and soccer instructor for both sessions. FM Tom Brownscombe and 2008 Kansas state champion Christopher Purdy also served as instructors for both sessions, with Concordia chess coach Melissae Stiles pitching in as the beginners’ chess coach for the larger first session.
There were two separate sessions. The first session began immediately after the Kansas Open and ended on July 17th. The second session began on July 19th and ended on July 24th. Campers stayed at the Bethany College dorms and ate their meals at the cafeteria in the Student Union building, while instruction and chess activities took place at the Karpov Chess School. The chess activities for each session included a simultaneous exhibition by GM Var Akobian, a USCF rated G/30 tournament, a bughouse tournament, and two blitz tournaments, in addition to approximately 20 hours of chess instruction. Non-chess activities included soccer, swimming, and a birthday party.
In session 1, Timothy Martinson won the USCF rated tournament with 4.5 out of a possible 5 points. Jeff Serna won the first blitz tournament and finished clear second in the USCF rated tournament. Actually, GM Var Akobian won the first blitz tournament despite giving 9-1 time odds, but instructors aren’t eligible for trophies. Bailey Corry won the third place trophy in the USCF rated tournament on tiebreaks with 3.5 points. Austin Bailey won the trophy for top player rated under 1000 in the USCF rated tournament with 3.5 points, and Nick Reinert won the trophy for top player rated under 800 with 3 points. The team of Chris Anton and Jared Shelton won the first place bughouse trophy, and the team of Peter Bradshaw and Rachel Hasch took second place. Olivia Sloffer and Sam Stone also won bughouse trophies even though their partners were not eligible to win trophies (it turns out that the instructors are really good bughouse players too). Matt Woodrell won a trophy for a perfect score of 11 out of 11 in his group blitz tournament, and Malik Bauer also won a blitz trophy for his result of 8.5 out of 9 in his group blitz tournament. Kyle Burris took home the overall puzzle solving championship trophy as well as the second place trophy from the Monday night blitz tournament. Isabella Harvey and Rachel Hasch also won trophies for best puzzle solving within their groups.
In session 2, Charles Kinzel won the USCF rated tournament with 4.5 out of 5. Mason Lindsey took clear second in the USCF rated tournament with 4 points. Edward Wilson finished third in the USCF rated tournament and also won the Monday night blitz tournament. Actually, Var Akobian once again won the blitz tournament despite giving 9 to 1 time odds, but he just doesn’t count. Chris Coyle and Matt Richert also won trophies in the main tournament for being the top scoring players rated under 800. Matt Richert also won the second place trophy in the Monday night blitz tournament. Seth Duran and John Mayhew won the round robin blitz tournaments. OK, so John actually finished fifth. The instructors and counselors who finished ahead of him still don’t count for purposes of awarding trophies. The team of Kenner Sernel and Ragan Sernel won the bughouse tournament, with the team of Roy Wedge and Seth Duran finishing second and the team of Mason Lindsey and John Mayhew finishing third. So what if Var Akobian’s team and Chris Purdy’s team actually finished first and second in the bughouse tournament; they just don’t count. Roy Wedge won the trophy for overall puzzle solving, while Mike Christian and Kenner Sernel also took home trophies for their puzzle solving efforts.
A good time was had by all, and the lost backpack got returned to its rightful owner with some help from the US Postal Service. The KU hoodie that got left behind remains unclaimed in the chess school lost and found.
I would like to thank all of the people who helped to make this camp special. My fellow instructors GM Var Akobian, Chris Purdy, and Melissae Stiles were fantastic. Layton Cobb, Noah Purdy, and Emily Hasch served as counselors for both sessions. I look forward to having all of these fine people at next year’s camp. Dan Masterson volunteered his time as camp photographer, and many of Dan’s photographs can be found at http://www.anatolykarpovchessschool.org/chesscamps.html thanks to the efforts of camp webmaster Wes Fisk. A special thanks goes to all of the folks at Bethany College and the Lindsborg recreation department who supported our chess camp. And a very special thanks goes to donation coordinator Marck Cobb and all of the individuals and businesses that made a donation to the camp. Thirteen campers received either a full or partial scholarship to the camp due to these generous donations.
Next year’s chess camp will take place July 11-23. Anyone wishing to make a donation to support next year’s chess camp scholarship fund should contact Marck Cobb at info@anatolykarpovchessschool.org or call (785) 227-2224. All donations are tax deductible.
Austin Bailey recovered from this first round loss to tie for third and win the trophy for top scorer rated under 1000, while Timothy Martinson went on to win the session 1 main tournament with 4.5 out of 5 points.
