Midsummer Chess Camp Report
Dear Chess Families & Friends,
The rating gains are piling up! We've now finished week #4 of the summer, and we're heading into the midpoint this coming week, rounding out July, and there has been a lot to see, from special guests to ping pong tournaments, to record numbers at our Elite Clubhouse in Times Square -- the camp for 1200+ USCF hit well over a hundred campers for the first time!
Nearly every player in this picture is ranked in the Top 100 in the country for their age category!
This last week we had 300 campers in action across our Midtown, Upper East Side, Lower East Side, Brooklyn and Elite Clubhouse sites in the first four weeks. Our Summer Chess Camp 2026 is going down as our strongest, largest, and most competitive ever. With five weeks remaining, we encourage you to join for a day, a week, or the remainder of the summer.
This last week saw WFM Maria Manelidou join our UES Chess Camp, giving a lecture, a Q&A, followed by a 12 board simultaneous exhibition. Maria is a Woman FIDE Master (WFM), and was an 8-time Greek National Junior Champion.
All campsites have been mobile this summer, sending teams to challenge their peers around the city. The matches have been fierce, but the players at all sites have also been enjoying the art stations, the playgrounds and the popsicles, and meeting and making new friends. Don't miss our video documenting a Day in the Life of Summer Chess Camper!
Our Summer Saturdays Grand Prix Series is motoring along, providing more rated play over the summer, averaging forty players every Saturday. If rated reps is what you need, come to Elite Clubhouse on Saturdays. Between full week chess camps, and the Saturday Series, there is the opportunity to get up to 16 rated games a week!
Remaining Camp Dates:
July 27th - July 31st
August 3rd - August 7th
August 10th - August 14th
August 17th - August 21st
August 24th - August 28th
Please note, we will be running camps for the final full week of summer (August 31st-September 4th), along with the final few days before school (September 7, 8, 9). There will be TWO sites with limited capacity, so don't wait to register:
This last year proved, if there was any doubt, that players who worked on their game over the summer saw better results on the big stages of state and national championships. I'm looking forward to seeing our summer campers get back into their clubs in the fall and push them to new heights.
As with each new year, there are some exciting brand new programs joining our league. Registration is now open for all Brooklyn and Manhattan programs.
See everyone soon.
Thanks,
Ian
