Advanced Training Squad

 

 

The NSWJCL provides top quality coaching for our high level chess players, primarily those who are not already coached privately on a regular basis.  One of our main aims is to introduce quality coaching to talented newer, younger players who will gain most benefit from it. The coaching will take place on Sunday afternoons approximately monthly from March to October with seven sessions of three hours. The coaching is heavily subsidised by the NSWJCL, but there is a cost to players.

The NSWJCL is now inviting expressions of interest from juniors for the 2011 sessions. If you are passionate about improving your chess and have an NSWJCL rating above about 650, you should register your interest as soon as possible, but no later than 24 January, by sending an email to the Advanced Training Squad Coordinator, Weng Siow, email nswjcl@hotmail.com – please include the name and contact details of the player and his/her parent(s).

In 2009 we had 21 juniors participating in the ATS and we were fortunate to have GM Ian Rogers, GM Zong-Yuan Zhao , IM George Xie, IM Vladimir Feldman and IM Irina Berezina as coaches. A structured program was devised by GM Rogers with topics such as

●  "I don't know what to do!" planning in chess, and

●  "I know I should have something good here" solving problems at the board.

The last session of the year was a GM clock simul reminiscent of the Soviet training camps for juniors held at the Palaces of Pioneers in many Soviet cities. If you have read any biographies of famous Soviet chess players of the 1950s and 1960s you will know about such clock simuls. These occasions provided opportunities for the juniors to play against and possibly defeat a GM or an IM. However, as Ian Rogers remarked, those Soviet GMs faced only 7-9 juniors while he played 17 juniors. The score? Ian won 14, drew 2 and lost 1. Ian praised the play of the only winner, Kevin Tan, especially his execution of the KID game plan. GM Rogers generously provided a prize and presented it to Kevin for his sterling effort. Jack Ruan and Andrew Pan were the two juniors who drew their games. However, GM Rogers thought his best game was against Peng Yu Chen.

You can replay GM Ian Rogers's games with Kevin and Peng Yu by clicking HERE.