In addition to the weekly lectures, we will be hosting a weekly study hall to collaboratively work on exercises and a weekly office hour to ask general (or specific!) questions about chess and get more individualized feedback and advice.
We are both especially excited for these new additions to camp because anything that fosters collaboration in chess is a good thing, and we plan to design the weekly homework as to encourage working together (e.g. playing out both sides of a complicated position with another camper).
Note from JJ: In my experience as a PhD student in philosophy at Stanford, the only thing that the humanities world has gotten right that the chess world has not is the proliferation of ‘unstructured intellectual time’ such as study groups and office hours. For every interesting idea I learned from a prepared lecture, I learned several more from talking through my own ideas and critiques in a student-led reading group or from brainstorming and bouncing ideas off-the-cuff with a professor in office hours. I am especially excited to offer these parts of camp because they promise a more complete and ‘organic’ learning experience.
Note from Gopal: Perhaps one of the most enjoyable experiences of playing chess has been the continuous discovery and learning throughout my chess career. I have taken a break from chess at several points in my life but the joy of learning was really what kept me coming back. Often these discoveries were not reached solely by myself, but rather with the help of several friends and colleagues. Working as a second for a few Grandmasters, it’s incredible how many seemingly innocuous comments made by stronger players in passing stuck with me throughout the years. These eye opening insights hold such a dear place in my heart as do the lessons I have mindfully taken from my peers.