Offerspill Level-up Training Camp in Stockholm, August 2023

While the Fide World Cup 2023 was raging on, Offerspill held a very interesting training camp in the city center of Stockholm, Sweden. The trainers were none other than the head-coach Ramesh and also the renowned Ukrainian GM Pavel Eljanov.

The camp was divided into two groups; the A-group for 2200+ and the B-group for youngsters. I had the privilege of joining the camp for two whole days, and I have to say that the level of the training was very good. When I was young, I used to be a talented player, but I never really got far (CM). If I would have had such an offer from an early age, I am sure that things would have been all so different.

Ramesh is such a devoted trainer, and it really shines through in all that he does. I had a very interesting conversation with him during one of our dinners, where he tried to explain to me the Indian (Hindu) philosophy/world view and with concepts such as dharma and brahman. I am sure that I need some more time and explaining to understand these concepts fully (if possible at all!?), but I really appreciate Ramesh taking the time to try and school me properly :)

Ramesh is also an ambitious trainer, and on the question of "how to use a computer" he simply said that until you are a GM, you have no need to use a computer at all. Just focus on the basics of chess, and when you become a GM, then you can start thinking about subtleties in chess that a computer may provide.

The Offerspill Level-up camp in Stockholm was a sure success, with activities such as escape room, visit to the Indian embassy, blitz tournament, sight-seeing through Stockholm and Ramesh paying for ice cream for the whole camp due to Pragg beating Nakamura in the World Cup!

Next camp will take place in Oslo late November. I am looking forward to this and have to thank everyone for a great camp in Sweden!

If you want more information about the Offerspill Level-up training program, visit the home page https://levelup.offerspill.com/