Last weekend my wife, who is a quilter, went to a weekend quilting retreat at Asilomar, a conference center/resort on the Monterey Peninsula about an hour’s drive south of Santa Cruz. It’s one of the most scenic spots you can imagine, with lots of ocean views amid Monterey cypress trees, rustic cabins, and a dining hall that serves up gourmet food. I tell Kay, “The real reason that people go to to Asilomar is the food!” It has room for big conferences (I went to an origami conference there in 2001 that drew close to 100 people) and small get-togethers alike.
When Kay got back home, she asked me, “Why don’t you get some of your chess friends together and have a weekend retreat at Asilomar?” At first I thought she meant a tournament, and I started to explain why it wouldn’t work. You’d probably miss some meal times because of the unpredictable length of chess games. You wouldn’t have much time for appreciating the scenery. And also, I thought it would be kind of an expensive proposition. If I’m going to go someplace for a weekend chess tournament, I want it to have lots of players and prizes and stuff like that. Just getting together six people whom I already know, and playing for no prizes, isn’t exciting enough.
But Kay said no, no, no, that’s not what she had in mind at all. She meant a chess retreat. A weekend devoted to chess, but not a tournament. Maybe we could play skittles or speed chess. Maybe we could discuss certain endgames or openings, or jointly work through a book. Just relax and focus on chess for a couple days, but without all the pressure and emotional ups and downs of tournaments.
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea. And the amazing thing is that I haven’t heard of anyone doing something like this before. A chess weekend that’s not a tournament! The closest thing I’ve heard of is chess cruises, which I see advertised in Chess Life once or twice a year. But those are much bigger and more expensive propositions, with guest GM’s or IM’s giving classes. This event would be just six or eight or ten people, preferably at more or less the same level of ability.
I’m not expecting any readers of this blog to say, “Sign me up!” but what would you think if someone held an event like this in your area? Would you be interested in going? How much would you be willing to spend? What other chess-related, non-tournament activities would you suggest? Should there be a planned schedule, or should the weekend just be a free-form, unplanned occasion?
Also, have any of you ever heard of a weekend chess retreat? Maybe they already exist and I just haven’t heard about them. If so, tell us about it!
