online chess camp | Angeleno Chess Club

Meeting Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen: April 18 th , 2026.

Apr 29, 2025

That was a truly special day! After all, how many people can boast to have met the true chess legend

Magnus Carlsen in person? And how many can say the faced Magnus over the board, or analyzed with him?

It all started from a call: Magnus will be in Santa Monica with “Team Liquid” Media company doing a chess shoot on various topics (for Youtube and beyond) and if we could be part of it and help with a specific project. Needless to say, we were in. Our students sent video recordings as requested with questions to Magnus, while I was part of the final part: Discussion and Lesson in French Defense. To
those that always ask a question: “Are Chess Champions Normal?, in this case the answer is a resolute “Yes!”. It was a pleasure meeting, conversing, sharing thoughts and generally being around likely the strongest chess player the world has ever produced. Likely the most profound moment was when he instantly recognized me and knew all the Armenian Chess Grandmasters, who played and advanced the “Frech Defense” throughout the years.

A big thank you to Aron Rivin from the Highland Chess Park and the Team Liquid amazing staff for making this possible and inviting us to be part of this unforgettable event.

International Master Levon Altounian

Holiday ONLINE Chess Camp

Jul 4, 2020

December 28-30, 2020 / Open to all up to 1800 USCF
10:00 AM-2:00 PM (Monday-Wednesday on Zoom)

How ONLINE Camp Works: Students still get blocks of lessons at set times with different instructors covering a wide range of subjects and suitable for their groups. Students can raise their hands and ask questions and they can also save all the information on their desktops or cloud. They can also leave and join back when needed and participate in discussions.

This camp will implement the same structure as our wildly successful Western Alliance Camp held in June. While the structure of the camp will stay the same, the instructors and subject matter will vary to provide greater learning diversity for our campers. Each day will consist of two lessons covering different subjects and game analysis, along with fun activities and a tournament. The tournament portion will have a different time control each day to make it even more fun and exciting.

Groups: We will aim for 4 groups as usual: No age restriction.
Group 1: Beginner (WILDCATS) (Approx 100-500 USCF) Those who know moves but not much more.
Group 2: Intermediate (COYOTES) (Approx 500-900 USCF). More advanced and experienced.
Group 3: Advanced Intermediate (HAWKS) (Approx 900-1200 USCF). Tournament players.
Group 4: Special (BEARS). (Approx 1200-1800 USCF). Very strong and highly motivated.

Schedule: 4 days: July 20-23 (Monday-Thursday).
4 Blocks per day:
Block 1. 10:00-10:45 AM (Lesson / Lecture)
Block 2. 11:00- 11:45 AM (Lesson / Lecture)
Block 3. FunTime 11:45-12:30 PM (Daily Fun Online Activities)
Block 4. Game Time 12:30- 2:00 PM

Instructors: Professional Instructors and Tournament players. We will pick the final Instructor group closer to the camp and that way we can incorporate special guest speakers too.

Payments: Price will also mirror the other camp and be set at only $200 per student with discounts for additional family members. Payments will be mostly done via online platforms of Zelle and Venmo (both are our preferred methods) but Paypal and likely Events4chess.com (or a Credit card) as well as a personal check will be acceptable too.

Questions: For all questions relating to the camp, please contact IM Levon Altounian at 520-891-3632 LALTOUNIAN@MSN.COM

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Angeleno Chess Club / Levon Altounian / Organizer

16th Annual Western Alliance Online Summer Chess Camp Recap

Jul 2, 2020

And so the 16th Annual Western Alliance Summer Chess Camp came to a close. For the first time ever, this popular chess camp was conducted entirely online via Zoom, Skype, ICC and TOTK. The camp was a smashing success, drawing dozens of participants of all rages, some of whom are rates as high as 2000 USCF. We had 7 helpers and coaches for 4 different groups. The schedule consisted of 2 lessons per day, a tournament and fun activities.