Holiday Camps
A Camp For Every Level
Five Weeks. Ten Camps.
Nov to Dec 2026. Ages 6 to 12. Katong.Camps run from 23 November to 18 December, Monday to Friday, plus a four-day camp from 28 to 31 December. Each camp is five mornings or five afternoons at our Katong centre: 10am to 1pm, or 1.15pm to 4.15pm. One camp per child per week, so pick the week and the level that fits, then come back for the next step up.
$540 per five-day camp. The four-day camps on 28 to 31 December are $450.
| Week | Morning, 10am to 1pm | Afternoon, 1.15pm to 4.15pm |
|---|---|---|
| 23 to 27 Nov | Learn to Play Chess | Stop Blundering |
| 30 Nov to 4 Dec | Sea of Tactics | Think Like a GM |
| 7 to 11 Dec | Learn to Play Chess | Positional Party |
| 14 to 18 Dec | Endgames Masterclass | Sea of Tactics |
| 28 to 31 Dec (4 days) | Stop Blundering | Think Like a GM |
Learn to Play Chess
Beginner. No Experience RequiredIf your child has never played Chess or roughly knows how the pieces move, this is the camp for you! Over five mornings we build the game up piece by piece: how each one moves and captures, which squares are safe and which are traps, how to actually deliver checkmate rather than chase the king around forever, and how to tell a good trade from a bad one. By Friday they're playing full games with a plan, not just moving things.
Piece Mechanics
Safe and Dangerous Squares
Check Defence and Checkmate
Relative Piece Valuation
Sea of Tactics
Intermediate. Comfortable Playing Full GamesIf your child can play a full game but keeps losing pieces to things they didn't see coming, this is the camp for you! Every day takes one family of tactics and drills it through puzzles and mini games until spotting them becomes automatic: we start with a simple routine for scanning every move, then work through the classic tricks that win material. It's the camp that most reliably turns "I lost but I don't know why" into "I saw it coming."
Checks, Captures and Attacks
X-Ray and Discovered Attacks
Skewers and Pins
Forks and Removing the Defender
Stop Blundering
Intermediate. Comfortable Playing Full GamesIf your child knows the tactics but still hangs pieces in real games, this is the camp for you! Most games at this level aren't won by brilliant moves, they're lost by one careless one, so we spend the week building the habit of checking before you move. They'll learn our Burger Method for slowing down at the right moments, see the common ways a move goes wrong, practise holding the board in their head without touching the pieces, and spend a day playing from the opponent's point of view. It's less about new ideas and more about actually using the ones they already have.
The Burger Method
Common Types of Blunders
Board Visualisation
Thinking From Your Opponent's Side
Positional Party
Intermediate. Comfortable Playing Full GamesIf your child can win material but drifts when there's nothing to take, this is the camp for you! We give them a simple menu for choosing a move when no tactic is on the board, a way to judge whether their pieces are safe, active and developed, and two full days on making pieces happy by putting them on the squares where they do the most work. It's the start of playing with a plan instead of waiting for the opponent to make a mistake.
The Chess Menu
Safety, Activity and Development
Happy Pieces
Colour Complex
Endgames Masterclass
Intermediate. Tactics Experience RecommendedIf your child reaches endgames and doesn't know how to finish them, this is the camp for you! Endgames decide most junior games and most junior players are weakest there, because nobody teaches them. We cover the ideas that decide king and pawn endings one day at a time. These are precise, slightly mathematical ideas, so they suit a child who enjoys working something out exactly rather than playing fast. A camper who finishes this will convert won positions that their opponents cannot.
Opposition
Triangulation
Zugzwang
Passed Pawns
Think Like a GM
Advanced. Tournament and Strong Club PlayersIf your child is ready to play competitively and wants to understand how the best players actually think, this is the camp for you! Each run has a different focus, so returning campers always get new material: one run works through the openings history's greatest masters chose and why, another studies the games and styles of famous players, from Magnus Carlsen to Singapore's own Tin Jingyao. Either way the method is the same: look at a master's decision, work out the reasoning, then try it in your own games. It's the camp for the child who has outgrown "just play more."
Historical Masters run (week of 30 Nov):
Queen's Gambit Declined and Slav
Sicilian Defence
French Defence
Grandmaster Endgames
Modern Masters run (28 to 31 Dec):
Magnus Carlsen
Levy Rozman
Hans Niemann
Tin Jingyao
Good to Know
Basic InformationA few practical things so the week runs smoothly.
Ages: all camps are for ages 6 to 12.
Where: our Katong centre, 865 Mountbatten Rd, #02-24, Katong Shopping Centre.
Price: $540 per five-day camp. The four-day camps on 28 to 31 December are $450. No sibling discounts.
What to bring: just themselves and a water bottle. There's a snack break with healthy snacks each day.
Drop-off and pick-up: doors open at the camp start time, so please arrive promptly. Please collect your child within 15 minutes of the end, as the centre closes after the camp.
One camp per child per week. Not sure which level fits? WhatsApp us and we'll help you pick.