FremontChess.com held it’s annual Scholastic Chess Championship on March 16th and 17th at the Learning Bee Learning Center in Fremont, California. Nearly fifty children participated in the event to share their passion for chess while competing for the title of Fremont Chess Champion.
The tournament which was a combined effort between US Chess Mates and the Torres Chess and Music Academy had an entry fee of only $20 thanks to the generous sponsorship of Grace Wong (Director of the Learning Bee Learning Center) and Joe Lonsdale (The Head Coach for Mission San Jose Elementary School Chess Team).
The K-1 section provided Fremont’s newest chess players a stage to show off their impressive skills on. And impress they did! Pranavi Pramod and Suhas Indukuri led the way with 3.5/4. Other players who performed admirably are Karanveer Singh Saran, Davin Lazar Vinod, Eayon Hsu and Emmett Zhao.
The largest and most competitive was grades 2-4. Joshua Huang won first place with 4.5/5 followed closely Dhruv Sheth with 4/5. From a tournament director’s standpoint, this group was a pleasure to watch. There was at least one interesting game to watch every round. It was wonderful to see so much up and coming talent.
The 5-8’th grade featured many excellent players but none played as well as eighth-grader Arjun Ganesan who achieved the only perfect score in the entire tournament. Second place went to Hemanth Kumar Merugu whose only loss was to Arjun. I have no doubt that all of the competitors in this section are destined for great things in Middle School, High School and beyond.
As the organizer for the Fremont Scholastic Chess Championship, I want to take one more moment to thank all the players, chess parents and sponsors for making this tournament possible. As a Fremont native, it was a special privilege for me to serve Fremont’s up and coming chess stars.
On November 2, 2013, the Torres Chess and Music Academy will be having its annual Open House in Fremont, California. The TCAMA Open House allows children the opportunity to take part in an afternoon of classes with the Torres Chess and Music Academy. The festivities will begin at 1:00 pm at Achiever Institute in Fremont with an exciting hour long chess lesson. Directly following the lesson, children will be treated to a brief classical guitar concert by Doug Torres. After the concert, the children will be paired up to play a rated game of chess against one other opponent. Once the game concludes, Torres Chess and Music Academy teachers will explain to the players where they could have made better chess moves and how to avoid making the same mistakes again. Chris Torres will then advise all interested parents on the best course of action for improving the chess skills of their children.
A growing mountain of evidence is now available proving that chess and music are beneficial activities for children. Hundreds of university studies and even brain scans demonstrate the effectiveness of the Torres Chess and Music Academy approach at making children smarter. Chris Torres believes that: “It is beyond coincidence that chess and music produce child prodigies with a much greater frequency than that of other intellectual pursuits. While there is no theoretical necessity to explain why this should be so, I am quite comfortable in stating that chess and music ameliorate the rapidly maturing frontal lobe of the child’s brain by providing the adequate challenge that it requires to achieve its fullest potential.”
The TCAMA Open House at Achiever Institute in Fremont is an ideal opportunity for Bay Area residents to enjoy both chess and classical music with their families. There is no charge for admission and snacks will be provided for all attendees. Those interested in attending should RSVP by sending an email to hello(at)achieverinstitute(dot)org or by calling the Achiever Institute at 510-226-6161.
Chris Torres has been successfully managing and creating school chess programs for his entire adult life. His most recognized accomplishments include the co-founding of Success Chess Schools, the creation of the Torres Chess and Music Academy and consistently coaching the best young chess players in California for 15 years.
Chris found himself drawn into chess education in 1998 when
Chris Torres is California’s chess coach.
Dr. Alan Kirshner needed a replacement teacher for his famous Weibel Chess Club. Chris was an obvious choice beause he had been teaching Alan’s son classical guitar and often played chess with the Kirshners. Soon after joining a group of chess instructors at Weibel, Chris coached his first state champion student. Copying from the success of the Weibel Chess Club, Chris went on to establish State Champion chess programs at Argonaut Elementary School in Saratoga and the Harker School in San Jose. Shortly later, Alan Kirshner promoted Chris to Vice President of Success Chess and Chris turned all of his independently run programs over to the newly formed nonprofit.
As vice president of Success Chess, Chris Torres established chess programs and taught chess at schools all around the Bay Area. Many of the schools still have chess programs to this day. Some of these chess programs are at: Warm Springs Elementary School(Fremont), Leitch Elementary School(Fremont), Mission Valley Elementary School(Fremont), Ardenwood Elementary School(Fremont), Gomes Elementary School(Fremont), Blue Hills Elementary School(Cupertino), Collins Elementary School(Cupertino), Dilworth Elementary School(Cupertino), Muir Elementary School(Cupertino), Regnart Elementary School(Cupertino) Matsumoto Elementary School(San Jose), Meyerholz Elementary School(San Jose), Silver Oak Elementary School(San Jose), Covington Elementary School(Los Altos), Duveneck Elementary School(Palo Alto), Palo Verde Elementary School(Palo Alto), International School of the Peninsula(Palo Alto), Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School(Palo Alto), Laurel Elementary School(Atherton), Las Lomitas Elementary School(Atherton), John Muir Elementary School(San Bruno), Crestmoor Elementary School(San Bruno), Dougherty Elementary School(Dublin) and quite a few other schools. During his time at Success Chess, Chris Torres also became a notable tournament director and a board member for Calchess. Through Success Chess, Chris Torres was able to achieve his goals of bringing scholastic chess to children all over the Bay Area.
After leaving Success Chess Schools in 2004, Chris Torres spent several months working for Richard Peterson of the Chess Education Association. After the school year concluded, Richard suggested to Chris that he set up his own organization and offered to sell all of the chess equipment from the CEA at a discount price. A couple months later, the Torres Chess and Music Academy was born.
Through the Torres Chess and Music Academy, Chris Torres has brought world class instruction to California’s most talented young chess minds. Some of his accomplishments included running a “Chess Study” with the Kern County Superintendent of the Schools and U.C. Berkeley from 2006-2008. In addition to the study, Chris was able to educate the children in Kern County’s migrant farm worker community in chess and even coach them to prestigious Southern California regional chess titles. In the Bay Area, Chris was able to instruct several individual National Chess Champions as well as coach for the Mission San Jose Elementary School chess team alongside Joe Lonsdale, which in 2009 and 2013 took first place at the USCF Super Nationals Chess Championship. To date, no other elementary school from California has ever placed first in the Elementary Championship division of the USCF Super Nationals.
Acknowledged today as a pioneer in the field of chess and education, Chris Torres has been invited to speak at numerous educational forums and events. Aside from his reputation as a successful chess teacher, Chris is also known throughout the Silicon Valley as a top notch classical guitarist who still finds time to teach groups of youngsters the enjoyment of playing classical music.
All Star Chess Coaches Gear Up for Fremont Chess Camp
The TCAMA President releases the details of the 2013 Fremont Summer Chess Camp at Mission San Jose Elementary School.
Joe Lonsdale with MSJE kids at the National Chess Championships.
Joe Lonsdale’s goal in chess is to make MSJE the strongest scholastic chess program in the nation and the recent evidence of their success would suggest that he is succeeding.
If ever there was an official Hall of Fame for California chess coaches, Joe Lonsdale would be a first ballot inductee. Joe Lonsdale started the MSJE (Mission San Jose Elementary School, Fremont) chess team in 1990 when his oldest son was a third grader at MSJE. It didn’t take long for Joe’s chess team to rise to the top. In 1992, Coach Joe led MSJE to win its first grade level National Championship. They won the overall National Elementary School Championship in both 2009 and in 2013. At the 2012 Elementary School Nationals, MSJE was the only team in the country to finish in the top four in every Elementary school championship section (K-1, K-3, K-5, & K-6). Joe Lonsdale’s goal in chess is to make MSJE the strongest scholastic chess program in the nation and the recent evidence of their success would suggest that he is succeeding.
The Torres Chess and Music Academy is pleased to have Eric Schiller as a coach for the 2013 Fremont Summer Chess Camp at Mission San Jose Elementary School. Eric Schiller, Ph.D. is the author of over 100 chess books and the personal chess coach to many talented young players. When he is not playing in major chess tournaments, Eric is a sought after International Arbiter who has organized and directed an impressive list of chess tournaments and matches. Eric Schiller has stated that he looks forward to making the “best chess camp even better in 2013.”
Francisco Anchondo returns for his third year of teaching at the Fremont Summer Chess Camp at Mission San Jose Elementary School. Francisco regularly competes in chess tournaments in several western states as well as in Mexico. Francisco Anchondo is feared for his tactical bravado at the chess board while loved for his generosity in providing chess lessons to economically disadvantaged children and schools. Outside of chess, Francisco is an advocate for veterans of war and a role model for other Gulf War Vets.
Tans Hylkema has been a TCAMA chess coach for nearly a decade. His abilities allow him to be a fantastic coach for any level of student but his specialty is working with young beginners. Several of the best students to ever come out of the Torres Chess and Music Academy programs had their start in one of Tans’ classes. In addition to teaching chess for the TCAMA, Tans also teaches acoustic guitar in the traditional Spanish tradition.
Chris Torres is the founder and President of the Torres Chess and Music Academy. A professional chess instructor since 1998, Chris has taught several team and individual national chess champions. Every year several of Chris’s top students are chosen to represent the United States in the World Youth Chess Championship. Chris believes that every child can benefit from learning chess and that his method of teaching prepares children to reach their greatest potential.
This summer, TCAMA teachers will use their decades of chess experience to create a summer camp that is fun, competitive and educational. Children will receive the best training available and take part in USCF rated tournaments with awards given at the end of the week. Each student’s last day of chess camp will include a custom study plan designed for his/her individual needs. For More information on the Torres Chess and Music Academy’s Fremont Summer Chess Camp at Mission San Jose Elementary, please visit http://www.ChessAndMusic.com or email your questions to chesslessons(at)aol(dot)com.
When I think of talented chess coaches, Tans Hylkema is one of the first names that come to mind. However, because you rarely hear Tans bragging about his fantastic chess students, he remains one of the best kept secret in the Bay Area chess scene.
The Mission San Jose Chess Camp in Fremont, California is lucky to have Tans returning to teach a fourth straight year. All students who sign up for our chess camp will benefit from Tans’ approach to teaching chess as well as get to watch one of the Bay Area’s premier flamenco guitarists perform.
Below is a recent article describing Tans as well as a video of Tans playing beautiful flamenco guitar music:
Tans Hylkema has been a TCAMA chess coach for nearly a decade. His abilities
allow him to be a fantastic coach for any level of student but his specialty is
working with young beginners. Several of the best students to ever come out of
the Torres Chess and Music Academy programs had their start in one of Tans’
classes. In addition to teaching chess for the TCAMA, Tans also teaches acoustic
guitar in the traditional Spanish tradition.
It was not an easy path for Weibel Elementary School at the 2012 National Elementary Chess Championships. In order to clinch the k-6 national championship, Weibel had to make a stunning comeback after being in fifth place with just one round to go. Head Coach Alan Kirshner informed his team that the only chance they had to win the national title was if all four members won their final round games. Team members Kevin Moy(National Chess Champion), Michael Wang, Anthony Zhou and Steven Li answered his call and did just that. In doing so, Weibel became the second school from California ever to win the National Elementary k-6 chess championship. The first school to do this, in 2009, was their rival Mission San Jose Elementary School.
Winning first place team chess trophies is a regular occurrence at Mission San Jose Elementary School. Having taken all the Team State Championship trophies possible at the Calchess State Championships, Mission San Jose Elementary headed out to Nashville Tennessee with another National Championship in mind. Head coach Joe Lonsdale knew his kids’ chances were good of bringing home another national championship but also was acutely aware of the many other strong teams present at the National Elementary Chess Championships. At the end of the weekend, his youngest players in the k-1 championship section proved themselves to be the big heroes of the chess club. Rishith Susarla won six of seven games and tied for third place. Rishith took home the fourth place trophy. Edwin Thomas won scored 5.5 points (five wins and a draw) and tied for 15th place. Amulya Harish, Annapoorni Meiyappan, and Kevin Pan each scored four points. By winning the k-1 national chess championship for the school, these young MSJE players have signaled to the other scholastic chess teams in California that Mission San Jose Elementary School’s supreme dynasty is likely to continue for years to come.
It is worth noting that players from both schools regularly attend camps and classes put on by the Torres Chess and Music Academy. For more information on our summer chess camps please visit www.FremontChess.com
The second day of the Fremont Summer Chess Camp was equally as successful as day one. Our beginner class, coached by Tans Hylkema, has already learned the most important opening, middle game and end game concepts. Tomorrow they will continue to work on spotting check mates and improving their tactics.
Below is an exciting chess game that Tans showed to his class:
Today was the opening day for the 2011 Fremont Summer Chess Camp. Our summer chess camp features instruction by the Bay Area’s most successful chess coaches and is hosted at the home of the 2009 National Elementary Chess Champions from Mission San Jose Elementary School. Today’s chess lessons were conducted by such esteemed chess instructors as Francisco Anchondo, Tans Hylkema, Joe Lonsdale and Chris Torres. From 9:00am until 3:00 pm our camp attendees had an opportunity to study chess in the Mission San Jose style as well as take part in United States Chess Federation rated chess tournaments.
Below is a sample study game which was examined by coach Francisco Anchondo with the advanced chess group:
The 2011 Fremont Summer Chess Camp at Mission San Jose Elementary School is run under the auspices of the Torres Chess and Music Academy. For more information send an inquiry to chesslessons@aol.com.
Joe Lonsdale’s goal in chess is to make MSJE the strongest scholastic chess program in the nation and the recent evidence of their success would suggest that he is succeeding.
Chess Musings 