FACULTY

Ted Winick, Chess Camp Director

Born in Toronto, Ted has played chess for over fifty years. He started teaching eleven years ago, developing his teaching style by working closely with the parents and staff at Palmerston Ave. P.S. in Toronto. Having raised three accomplished children with his wife, Heidi, Ted loves and understands children.

His particular focus is working with children in under- serviced neighbourhoods, never refuses to teach in a school or community and will not put any limits on the number of students he will accept. He meets these challenges by finding creative ways to raise money and obtain the resources necessary to make chess available to every child who wants to learn.

Ted is President of Chess Institute of Canada and has been part of the TDSB Chess Association for several years helping to organize tournaments for thousands of children throughout the GTA. Though he claims he is not a particularly strong chess player, his teams continue to demonstrate otherwise.

In 1998, his first year at Palmerston, his junior team won the City Championship; they did this again just last month. He has always had a team or two in TDSB finals and for the past five years has had one or two teams qualify for the Eastern Canadian Scholastic Team Championships. This June (2009), his Huron Primary, Palmerston Junior and Deer Park senior teams will be competing in this tournament at Queen’s University in Kingston.

Ted loves the learning experience, his personal mission being to help children discover their natural curiosity and see that learning anything can be fun. Answering a question from a parent a few years ago Ted wrote, “It was fascinating and exhilarating to watch him process and study the board. People who say chess is boring to watch have never observed closely the eyes and facial expressions of a young child engaged in developing their thinking skills in the active and thirsty quest for understanding”..

Ted is excited about Chess Camp’s third year. His motto is “Consider the consequences of your moves before you make them”. Starting National Chess Camp and assembling the great faculty listed below were great moves. We can’t wait to see the consequences!

 

Goran Milicevic

Goran holds the international title of FIDE Master. Goran participated successfully in various tournaments in Canada. In 1994 he was the Metro Toronto Champion. He loves teaching chess to children and has coached many successful Canadian Junior players who are Canadian and Ontario Champions by grades and have represented Canada on the International level. Goran has taught chess at several schools: Havergal College, York, Sterling Hall, Toronto French, Bayview, Glen, Allenby, Summit Heights, Armour Heights, Bedford Park, People's Christian Academy, King George Jr, St. Demetrius Ukrainian Catholic School.

In April of 2009, Goran placed 3rd at the PWC Toronto Open Chess Championship in a tough field which included 5 Grandmasters (GM), 9 International Masters (FM), 9 FIDE Masters (IM), 2 Woman International Masters  (WIM) and 1 Woman FIDE Master (WFM). The tournament included 47 players rated over 2200, 29 over 2300, 16 over 2400, 8 over 2500, 2 over 2600 and one over 2700. His 3rd place finish was outstanding as was his special award for the best game played of over 600 in the tournament.


Natalia Khoudgarian

Originally from Moscow, Natalia started playing chess at the age of 7. In 1989 she became the under-21 Moscow women's chess champion and that same year took third place in the under-21 USSR women's championship. 1992 saw Natalia take third place in the Moscow women's championship. Natalia graduated from the Russian State Academy of Physical Education with a diploma as a Teacher of Physical Education and Coach of Chess. Natalia arrived in Canada in 1995. She represented Canada at Women's Olympiads in 1996-Armenia (2nd board) and in 2006-Italy (1st board). In 2006 she played at Women's World Championship in Yekaterinburg. In November of 2008 Natalia was again Canada’s 1st board at the Olympiad in Dresden Germany. At present, Natalia Khoudgarian is Canada's Woman Chess Champion and Canada's highest ranked Woman Chess player.

 

Tal Granite

Tal is a certified international chess instructor with the World Chess Federation (FIDE), is founder and owner of Chess World Inc. and the director of curriculum for The Chess Institute of Canada. Tal has thousands of hours of chess teaching experience, assisting many children in improving their chess skills through his enthusiasm and love for the game.