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.
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.
Congratulations to Luke Zhao on defeating his coach, Chris Torres, during our class at Achiever Institute in Fremont California. Luke has been playing extremely good chess lately and will definitely be a leader in Mission San Jose Elementary School’s charge to win another National Chess Championship. For his win, Luke received a trophy as well as the praise of all his classmates.
Luke Zhao won a trophy for beating Coach Torres.
Congratulations are also in order for Milind Maiti. Milind, who will be entering the third grade this fall, just completed a fantastic tournament performance in which he won over one thousand dollars and raised his rating to 1885! It’s hard to believe, but I still think he is a little underrated. Way to go Milind!
Francisco Anchondo once brought his beloved service dog to meet World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov.
Every year Francisco Anchondo returns to Mission San Jose Elementary School to put on another exciting show full of opening traps and tactical brilliances for our students at the Fremont Summer Chess Camp. Francisco Anchondo has been teaching chess for decades and regularly coaches many of the top players from around Northern California. A recent article on our chess camp included a nice description of Mr. Anchondo’s contributions to chess and society:
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.
<11/5/2012> – The Fremont Achiever Chess Team has a very special chess program designed and taught by America’s top chess instructor, Chris Torres. This class will provide experienced tournament players with instruction that will quickly increase their ability and understanding of chess. Scholastic chess players will begin their afternoon by participating in an hour-long chess class taught by Chris Torres. Students will then play 1 USCF rated chess game as part of the ongoing tournament and receive analysis of their play.
Chris Torres has been a professional chess coach since 1998 and has taught 6 individual national champions as well as lead multiple school teams to win national championship titles. In addition, Chris Torres has directed and taught at 10 different schools which have been California State Champions at chess. In 2011 and 2012, several former and current students of Chris Torres have been selected to represent the United States at the World Youth Chess Championships.
The Fremont Achiever Chess Team is the perfect choice for Northern California scholastic chess players who wish to improve their skill and love for the game. Currently, the Fremont Achiever Chess Team is the only class that Chris Torres teaches which has open enrollment. Class begins on Saturday, November, 10 at 1:00 pm. Tuition for ten classes is just $180. For more information please contact Mrs. Feliza Hsu at hello@achieverinstitute.org
Our coaches will use their decades of chess teaching experience to create a summer camp that is fun, competitive and educational. Attendees will receive the best training available and take part in USCF rated tournaments with awards given at the end of each week.
This class will meet from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Mondays through Thursdays, June 27 to July 28 at Mission San Jose ES, 43545 Bryant St. Fremont, CA 94539.
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
Mission San Jose Elementary School Summer Chess Camp
Home of the 2009 NATIONAL ELEMENTARY CHESS CHAMPIONS!
This camp will feature chess instruction by:
Joe Lonsdale (Head Coach of Mission San Jose Elementary School)
Francisco Anchondo (Team Coach for Weibel Elementary School)
Tans Hylkema (Team Coach for Collins Elementary School)
Chris Torres (President of the Torres Chess and Music Academy)
Our coaches will use their decades of chess teaching experience to create a summer camp that is fun, competitive and educational. Attendees will receive the best training available and take part in USCF rated tournaments with awards given at the end of each week.
This class will meet from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Mondays through Thursdays,
June 27 to July 28 at Mission San Jose ES, 43545 Bryant St. Fremont, CA 94539.
Name of child: _______________________________________ Grade: ____
USCF ID: ______________ Rating: _______ Date of Birth: ___/___/______
CHESS SKILL LEVEL—PLEASE CHECK APPROPRIATE BOX
1 Absolute Beginner-doesn’t even know thepieces
1 Beginner-knows the names of the pieces and that is about all
1 Intermediate Beg-knows how to play and how to castle
1 Advanced Beginner-knows how to play & even knows en passant
1 Experienced-has taken chess lessons
1 Tournament-has played more than 25 games in US Chess Federation tournaments
I AM PAYING
WEEK/S ATTENDING
MULTI WEEK DISCOUNT
SUBTRACT AMOUNT BELOW FROM THE
FOR ONE WEEK
$185
JUNE 27 – JUNE 30
TOTAL WEEKS
FOR TWO WEEKS
$139
JULY 5 – JULY 7
-$20
FOR TWO WEEKS
FOR THREE WEEKS
$185
JULY 11 – JULY 14
-$40
FOR THREE WEEKS
FOR FOUR WEEKS
$185
JULY 18 – JULY 21
-$80
FOR FOUR WEEKS
FOR ALL FIVE WEEKS
$185
JULY 25 – JULY 28
-$160
FOR FIVE WEEKS
$16 FOR A USCF MEMBERSHIP
$
SUBTOTAL
$
TOTAL PAID
To apply online, or for more information on the TCAMA, please visit CHESSANDMUSIC.COM, or contact Chris Torres at (209)234-2862, or chesslessons@aol.com.
The checks should be made payable to The TCAMA Inc. The fees for the chess program are nonrefundable after the class has begun. No refunds will be given for unscheduled student absences.
Please make the checks out to TCAMA Inc. and Mail them to:
The Torres Chess and Music Academy, 16691 Colonial Trail, Lathrop, CA 95330
Tonight was the final night of the school year for the chess team at Mission San Jose Elementary School in Fremont. The team members, parents and coaches all celebrated each others company one last time and reflected on the many success stories of the previous season. During this school year, Mission San Jose Elementary won the most sections at the 2009 Calchess Grade Level Championships, won the most sections at the 2010 Calchess State Championships, and placed in the top ten of all four sections at the 2010 National Elementary Chess Championships. As much as I am saddened to see the year end, I am equally optimistic that the next school year will add new talent and provide many more notable accomplishments.
Chess Musings 