Chris Torres teaching chess in 1997 and 2017.
Archive for the ‘Chris Torres’ Category
Has it been 20 years already?
June 7, 2017San Jose Summer Chess Camp to Celebrate 20 Years of Success
June 3, 2017SAN JOSE, CA – 28 May, 2017 – Northern California chess instructor Chris Torres is celebrating his 20th anniversary teaching chess this summer. Two decades of experience have transformed Chris’s summer camps from a small beginner class held in a garage into the must attend event of the summer for many of California’s most successful youth chess players. To celebrate his 20 years of success, the Torres Chess and Music Academy is offering its San Jose summer camp at 1997 prices!
Twenty years ago, Chris Torres decided to leave a promising career at a legendary Silicon Valley company in order to combine his passions for chess and teaching. At just nineteen years of age, this change of occupation seemed unwise to many of Chris’s closest friends and family. Though after just one year of teaching chess professionally, Chris Torres’ teaching services were in high demand based on the outstanding results of his first crop of students.
The Torres Chess and Music Academy was established in 2005 in order to meet the growing demand for quality chess and music lessons in the Bay Area. That year, the TCAMA established several popular after school programs, weekend chess clubs, tournaments and summer camps. As word spread, these scholastic chess clubs and events quickly grew in size and number. During these periods of growth, Chris Torres regularly collaborated with other top instructors from around the United States in order to keep raising the bar for quality chess instruction in Northern California.
Today the Torres Chess and Music Academy’s successful approach is internationally recognized by FIDE (the world chess organization) which listed the TCAMA as an official FIDE Academy. Even with the rise in popularity of scholastic chess all throughout the Golden State, The Torres Chess and Music Academy remains the only California based chess organization to hold this important distinction.
“This summer I will be celebrating 20 years of service as a professional chess instructor. I am thankful to the thousands of families who chose to place their children in my after school programs, tournaments and camps for making this anniversary possible. In recognition of this professional achievement, I have rolled back the prices on our summer camps back to 1997 levels. I look forward to teaching your children this summer and continuing to serve in my current capacity for another 20 years.”
The Torres Chess and Music Academy’s summer chess camp will meet July 17 to July 27 at St. Timothy’s Christian Academy, 5100 Camden Ave, San Jose. The tuition for this camp is only $160/week. For more information on the Torres Chess and Music Academy’s summer chess camp in San Jose, California, please visit: www.ChessAndMusic.com
Media Contact
Company Name: Torres Chess and Music Academy
Contact Person: Chris Torres
Email: chesslessons@aol.com
Phone: (209)323-0197
Country: United States
Website: www.ChessAndMusic.com
Important Announcement Regarding the 2017 SPFNO
April 2, 2017
Dear Chess Community,
As a chess coach, there are times when I have had to make the difficult choice to pass one of my favorite students to another instructor in order to better serve his/her best interests. It is never a decision that is taken lightly, not least because of the close bond a student and teacher create when working for years together. But as a coach, our first priority has to be the best interest and growth of the child even if that means stepping down as their coach.
Recently, I used the same rationale in regards to the future of the Susan Polgar Foundation’s National Open for Girls and Boys. Over the past three years, I have worked closely with Susan to plot a good course for the SPFNO. Now facing many new distractions unrelated to this event, I do not think it would be in the best interests of the SPFNO for me to steer it to its next destination. For this reason, I am stepping down as chief organizer and handing the helm over to my good friend Judit Sztaray of Bay Area Chess. I look forward to seeing the mission of the SPFNO continue under Judit Sztaray’s direction.
Sincerely,
Chris Torres
More Fighting Chess from the 2016 Chess Olympiad
September 6, 2016Today’s featured game from the 2016 Chess Olympiad includes an attack straight out of a chess hustler’s playbook which leads to a victory in just 27 moves. Hats off to Bader Al-Hajiri (Kuwait) and Rodwell Makoto (Zimbabwe) for playing such an entertaining game. Enjoy…
[Event “Chess Olympiad”]
[Site “Baku, Azerbaijan”]
[Date “2016.9.5”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Al-Hajiri, Bader”]
[Black “Makoto, Rodwell”]
[Result “0-1”]
[Eco “C48”]
[Annotator “Chris Torres”]
{[ FOUR KNIGHTS’ GAME,C48]}
1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Nc3 Nf6
4.Bb5 Bc5
5.Nxe5
Position after 5. Nxe5
5… O-O {!?}
( 5…Nxe5 6.d4 {The Fork Trick} Bd6 7.f4 (7.dxe5 Bxe5 8.Be3 c6 9.Be2 O-O) 8. Nc6 8.e5 {The Fork Trick: Part Two} O-O 9.exd6 Re8+
{And oddly enough, black is fine.} )
( 5…Bxf2+ {?!} 6.Kxf2 Nxe5 7.d4 Ng6 ( 7…Nfg4+ 8.Ke1 c6 9.dxe5 d6 10.Be2 Nxe5 11.Bf4
{and white is winning.} ) ( 7…Neg4+ 8.Kg1 c6 9.Be2 d5 10.exd5
O-O 11.dxc6 bxc6 12.h3 Nh6 13.g4 {I’d be happy to play as white from here.}) 8.e5 c6 9.exf6 {!} Qxf6+ 10.Qf3 Qxf3+ 11.gxf3 cxb5 12.Re1+
Kd8 13.Nxb5 {and white is better.} )
6.Nf3
( 6.O-O Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6 8.f4 Nc6 9.e5 Bb4 10.exf6 Qxf6 11.Nd5 Qxd4+ 12.Be3 Qxd1 13.Raxd1
Bd6 14.f5 f6 15.Bf4 Ne5 16.Bxe5 fxe5 17.f6 c6 18.Ne7+ Bxe7 19.fxe7
Re8 20.Bc4+ d5 21.Rxd5 cxd5 22.Bxd5+ Be6 23.Bxe6+ Kh8 24.Rf7
h5 25.Kf2 Kh7 {…1-0, Kulaots Kaido (EST) 2581 – Roiz Michael (ISR) 2652 , Plovdiv 3/22/2012 Ch Europe})
( 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Nf3 Nxe4 8.Nxe4 Re8 9.d3 f5 10.O-O fxe4 11.dxe4
Bg4 12.Qe2 )
6… Nd4
7.Nxd4 ( 7.Be2 Nxe2 8.Qxe2 d5 9.d3 Bb4 10.e5
Re8 11.O-O Bg4 {Looks like a fun position for both colors.} )
7… Bxd4
8.Ne2 {?} {Bader Ali-Hajiri is asking for trouble with this move. Better was:}
( 8.O-O Re8 9.Be2 Bxc3 10.dxc3 Nxe4 )
Position after 8. Ne2
8… Bxf2+ {!} {Rodwell Makoto responds with fire.}
9.Kxf2 Nxe4+
10.Ke1 Qf6 {Attacks like these are usually reserved for the street chess hustlers. I’m taking notes.}
11.Rf1 Qh4+
12.Ng3 Re8 {Threatening a discovered check with Nc3 which wins the queen.}
Position after 12… Re8
13.Be2 Nxg3 {Not sure I agree with voluntarily trading pieces here. Black is attacking and
therefor should be looking to bring in more force not remove it.}
14.hxg3 Qxg3+
15.Rf2 {Bader Al-Hajiri has done a fine job weathering Rodwell Makoto’s creative attack.}
15… d5
16.Kf1 {?} {Unpinning the rook and bishop by stepping aside is tempting but now when
black’s queen moves to h2 white will be in serious trouble. Much better was:}
( 16.d4 Qh2 17.Bf4 Qg1+ 18.Rf1 Qxg2 19.Rf2 Qg1+ 20.Rf1 Qg2 {draw by repetition.})
Position after 16. Kf1
16… Qh2 {!}
17.Rf3 Bg4 ( 17…d4 18.d3 Bg4 19.c3
Re6 20.Bf4 Qh1+ 21.Kf2 Rxe2+ 22.Qxe2 Qxa1 {is another way to go about the attack.})
18.a4 {?} {Trying to make up for his earlier mistakes, Beder Al-Hajiri will try to get
both of his rooks unified in the third rank. This is a very unusual plan and unfortunately, for Al-Hajiri, not very effective.}
( 18.Re3 {Exchanging the queens and freeing the pieces was a much better plan for white.}
Qh1+ 19.Kf2 Qxd1 20.Bxd1 Bxd1 21.d4 c6 22.c3 f6 23.Bd2 )
18… Re6
19.Raa3 {Bader Al-Hajiri has accomplished his goal behind playing 18. a4.}
Position after 19. Raa3
19… d4 {!} {With one pawn push, Rodwell Makoto takes away his opponent’s chances of placing
a rook into the open e-file. This is a crushing blow to white.}
20.Rh3 {Bader Al-Hajiri tries to resurrect some purpose for his rooks being in the third rank.}
20… Rf6+
21.Rhf3 ( 21.Raf3 Bxh3 22.gxh3 Rg6 23.Ke1 Re8 {is even worse for black.})
21… Re8 {Rodwell Makoto has four pieces left and they are all involved in the attack on Bader Al-Hajiri’s king.}
22.Kf2 Qh4+
23.Kg1 Rfe6
24.g3 Qh5
25.Bf1 {?} {Its impossible to defend against such force with such a disorganized position. However, Rfe3 was the more accurate choice.} ( 25.Rfe3 Bxe2 26.Qxe2 Qxe2 27.Rxe2 Rxe2 28.Rf3 )
Position after 25. Bf1
25… Re1{!} {Just crushing.}
26.Rae3 R8xe3
27.Rxe3 Rxe3 {and Bader Al-Hajiri resigns as his queen is trapped.}
0-1
Final Position
Hidden Gems Abound at the 2016 Chess Olympiads
September 4, 2016One of my favorite hobbies is treasure hunting for beautifully instructive chess games during the annual Chess Olympiads. With more than 180 countries each sending their best male and female teams to compete in one event, the Chess Olympiads is a veritable mother load of chess gems. For hunting these chess treasures, I follow along at:
The official site for the 2016 FIDE Chess Olympiads
http://www1.bakuchessolympiad.com//
Chess Daily News
ChessGames.com
http://www.chessgames.com/index.html
FM Qiyu Zhou of Canada
And to illustrate just the kind of hidden gems I am talking about, I present Sindira Joshi (Nepal) vs. Qiyu Zhou (Canada) from round 1 of the 2016 FIDE Chess Olympiads. Enjoy…
[Event “Chess Olympiad”]
[Site “Baku, Azerbaijan”]
[Date “2016.9.2”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Joshi, Sindira”]
[Black “Zhou, Qiyu”]
[Result “0-1”]
[Eco “C54”]
[Annotator “Chris Torres”]
{[ ITALIAN GAME & HUNGARIAN def.,C54]}
1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.d4 {The start to the Scotch.}
3… exd4
4.Bc4 Bc5
5.c3 {Transposing to a Giuoco Piano.}
5… Nf6
6.cxd4 Bb4+
7.Bd2 {White could have also chosen the equally popular Moeller Attack by playing Nc3 and gambitting the e-pawn.}
( 7.Nc3 Nxe4 8.O-O Bxc3 9.d5 Bf6 10.Re1 O-O 11.Rxe4 Ne7 12.d6
cxd6 13.Qxd6 Nf5 14.Qd5 d6 15.Bg5 Bxg5 16.Nxg5 Qxg5 17.Qxf7+
{1-0, Euwe Max (NED) – Van Mindeno A, Netherlands 1927 It “AVRO”} )
Position after 7. Bd2
7… Nxe4
8.Bxb4 Nxb4
9.Bxf7+ Kxf7
10.Qb3+ d5 {Discovered by Gioachino Greco, this line is a mere 400 years old.}
Position after 10… d5
11.Qxb4 {Greco preffered Ne5+ here.}
11… Rf8
12.Nc3 {So far so good for the much lower rated Sindira Joshi. Her chances are about equal here.}
( 12.O-O Ng5 13.Ne5+ Kg8 14.Nc3 c6 15.f4 Nf7 16.Ne2 Nd6 17.Ng3
a5 18.Qa3 a4 19.Qb4 a3 20.bxa3 Nb5 21.a4 Qd6 22.Rab1 Qxb4 23.Rxb4
Nc3 24.Rb3 Nxa4 25.Ne2 Ra6 26.g3 Nb6 27.Nc3 Na4 28.Ne2 Nb6 29.Nc3
Nc4 30.Nxc4 dxc4 31.Rb4 b5 {…1/2-1/2, Schaefer Markus (GER) 2390 – Postny Evgeny (ISR) 2595 , Plovdiv 10/19/2010 Cup European Club})
12… Nxc3 13.bxc3 {?} {A slight innacuracy. Better was Qxc3 as seen in this game:}
( 13.Qxc3 Kg8 14.O-O Qd6 15.Ne5 Bf5 16.Rae1 Rae8 17.Re3 Re6 18.Rfe1
Ref6 19.b4 {1/2-1/2, Danilenko Dmitriy (UKR) 1992 – Pavlov Maxim (UKR) 2327 , Alushta 5/18/2006 Ch Ukraine (1/2 final)})
13… Kg8
14.Ne5 {?} {Another harmless looking mistake. Much better was h4 to prevent Qg5.}
Position after 14. Ne5
14… Qg5 {Here comes trouble.}
15.g3 {?} {As dangerous as it looks, castling is to be preferred here.}
15… Rxf2 {!} {Qiyu Zhou starts her combination with a beautiful rook sacrifice.}
Position after 15…. Rxf2
16.Kxf2 Qd2+
17.Kf3 Bh3 {Qiyu Zhou is putting on a tactical clinic.}
Position after 15… Bh3
18.Rad1 {Sindira Joshi seems to be playing the most accurate responses but Qiyu Zhou continues to press her advantage.}
18… Bg2+
19.Kg4 Qe2+
20.Kh4 Bxh1 {Not just to win the exchange but also to set up a vicious fork.}
Position after 20… Bxh1
21.Rxh1 Qe4+ {and now Sindira Joshi’s only chance is to hope for a rare blunder from Qiyu Zhou.}
22.Kh3 Qxh1 {Qiyu Zhou concludes the prefectly executed 8 move combination.}
23.Qe7 {Sindira Joshi finally has a choice but it is to pick her own poison.}
( 23.Qxb7 Rf8 24.Qxc7 Qf1+ 25.Kh4 Qf6+ 26.Kh3 Qf5+ 27.g4 Qf1+
28.Kg3 Qf4+ 29.Kg2 g5 {seems very unpleasant for white.} ) {%09DB}
23… Qf1+ {Qiyu Zhou grabs the initiative again.}
Position after 23… Qf1+
24.Kh4 Qf6+ {Qiyu Zhou wisely choses to force an exchange of queens and head into a rook vs. knight endgame.}
25.Qxf6 gxf6
26.Nd7 Kf7
27.Nc5 b6
28.Nd3 Re8
29.Nf4 {Hats off to Sindira Joshi for continueing to play on and give us a chance to study good endgame technique.}
Position after 29. Nf4
29… c6
30.Kg4 Re3
31.Kf5 {Nothing can be done to save white’s queenside pawns from a Qiyu Zhou’s rampaging rook.}
31… Rxc3
32.Nh5 Rc2
33.h4 Rxa2
34.Kf4 a5
35.Ke3 b5
36.Nf4 a4
37.Nd3 a3
38.Nb4 Rb2 {Sindira Joshi resigns as there is no hope left for white.} 0-1
Final Position
Puzzle Worthy Position 29
August 15, 2016Black to move.
Correspondence Chess Opportunities
July 30, 2016A lot has changed since the last time I did a post on correspondence chess. Now my level of play generates a constant stream of invitations to very prestigious events. I have accepted most of these invitations in order to further challenge myself and continue to grow in chess. Below is a list of my current correspondence chess events minus a couple of friendly matches.
The 2016 USCF Absolute Correspondence Chess Championship
The 2016 Germany Masters
The North Atlantic Team Tournament VII
13th North American Invitational Correspondence Chess Championship
“Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.” – Ann Landers
High Honors for the Torres Chess and Music Academy
May 19, 2016
FIDE, the official world chess organization, has only endorsed 48 academies world wide for their commitment to educational excellence in chess. The Torres Chess and Music Academy is honored to now be a part of this select group of chess schools. In addition to this international distinction, the Torres Chess and Music Academy has also been granted some notable privilidges including access to special FIDE training resources. I am confident that these privilidges will result in our organization becoming even better equipped to help California’s young chess players succeed at every level of competition.
Sincerely,
Chris Torres
President of the Torres Chess and Music Academy
Puzzle Worthy Position 18
May 4, 2016Easy puzzle tonight from a fun victory. What is white’s best move?
What is white’s best move?
Complete game:
[Event “SocialChess”]
[Site “Internet”]
[Date “2016.05.03”]
[Round “-“]
[White “Chris Torres”]
[Black “okun’ok (1574)”]
[Result “1-0”]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 O-O 5. d3 Nc6 6. Bg5 h6 7. h4 hxg5 8. hxg5 Nh7 9. Nd5 Nxg5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Qh5 f6 12. Nxf6# 1-0
