Eight Year Old Wins Big in Las Vegas

Torres Chess & Music Academy, Inc.

16691 Colonial TrailLathrop, CAPhone (661) 699-8348 Chesslessons@aol.com

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 31, 2012

Eight Year Old Wins Big in Las Vegas

(Las Vegas, Nevada, December 26-30, 2012)When Ben Rood walks through a casino in Las Vegas it isn’t to win money on the Craps Tables but instead at the chess board.  Ben Rood is still too young at age eight to play the games the casino offers but not too young , as it turns out, to win $2000 playing chess in the North American Open at Bally’s.

Ben Rood faces off against his friend Kevin Chor in round 4.

The 22nd Annual North American Open was held at Bally’s Casino Resort, Las Vegas. Competition was fierce with nearly 100 people in the under 1700 section. Of those were several recognizable names including former Scholastic National Championship tournament director Richard Peterson, professional chess coach Nephtali Diaz and seven year-old Kevin Chor. Kevin, who was the only player younger than Ben in the section, ended up finishing in eleventh place which, oddly enough, was the same place he finished at the World Youth Chess Championships a month earlier. In round 4, it was Ben Rood and Kevin Chor who sat on the top board ahead of all the other adult challengers. In a hard fought battle, Ben Rood was able to conduct a winning assault on Kevin’s king and thus vanquished his impressive rival. Later in the tournament, Nephtali Diaz and Richard Peterson were just able to hang on to a draw against the impressively aggressive Ben Rood. The tournament finished with Ben Rood scoring 6/7 and tying for first with Richard Peterson and Edgardo Miranda.

Ben Rood’s chess coach Chris Torres was impressed but not surprised by Ben’s performance:

“I figured Ben was going to win this tournament. He is a once in a lifetime talent and has wonderful support from his mothers Robin Hultgren and Lisa Rood. When you see first hand his talent level, passion and work ethic it is hard to be surprised when he wins. Having said this, I am very impressed by his effort and I believe he is the youngest player ever to win the under 1700 section at the North American Open. “

As with most things in his life, Ben Rood already had a plan for what he would buy when he won. Using a small portion of his winnings, Ben  purchased a large radio-control helicopter which will be making its maiden flight in Ben’s home town of Walnut Creek, California within days.

Richard Peterson, Ben Rood and Edgardo Miranda tied for first place.

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Ben Rood Becomes National Chess Champion

Torres Chess & Music Academy, Inc.

16691 Colonial Trail Lathrop, CA  95330 Phone (661) 699-8348 Chesslessons@aol.com

Press Release

Contact: Chris Torres Phone: (661) 699-8348

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 13, 2011

FIRST GRADER BEN ROOD BECOMES NATIONAL CHESS CHAMPION

WALNUT CREEK, CA, May 6-8, 2011: Walnut Creek seven year old Ben Rood was awarded the title of K-1 National Chess Champion at the 2011 United States Chess Federation National Elementary Chess Championships held in Dallas, Texas on May 6-8. Ben’s presence attracted interest in the section for kindergarten to first graders because he had the highest chess rating of all 294 contestants. Despite the tough competition, Ben won all seven of his games against the very best chess players his age in the country. The most challenging game for Ben came in round 5 when he was paired against last year’s K-1 champion, Praveer Sharan. It took Ben Rood 3 hours and 81 moves to finally defeat Praveer. He then had to continue his perfect record for two more rounds in order to be crowned a National Chess Champion.

   Ben Rood’s path to becoming a National Chess Champion began at the age of three when he decided that 300 piece jigsaw puzzles were too easy and his mother decided to introduce him to the game of chess. When he entered school, Ben started attending chess classes run by the Berkeley Chess School. For one so young,  Ben’s desire to improve was immense. His parents began signing him up for tournaments very regularly and taking him to the Friday Night Chess program run by the Berkeley Chess School. In spite of winning first place in the Kindergarten section at the 2010 Calchess Scholastic State Championships, Ben had reached the point of needing personal attention to draw out his natural talent. During the summer of 2010 Ben met chess coach Chris Torres, president of the Torres Chess & Music Academy, at a chess tournament. The two started training together a short while later. Chris has taught several other national chess champions. He immediately recognized Ben Rood’s remarkable talent. Chris then devised a plan to get Ben calculating more accurately while playing more aggressive openings that would better suit his personality and amazing tactical vision.

In December of 2010, Ben Rood traveled to Stockton for the Calchess Grade-level Chess Championships and used his newly found chess style very effectively. Ben won all his games easily and became the Grade One State Chess Champion. Over the next several months, Ben’s chess improved at a rate never before seen from a six year old chess player. By February of 2011, Ben was beating very strong chess players of all ages while taking care to record his games accurately for later review with his coach. In the first week of April, Ben Rood competed in the Calchess Scholastic State Championships K-3 division, held in Santa Clara. During this tournament, Ben once again achieved a perfect score and even defeated the reining second grade National Chess Champion, Josiah Stearman. For his remarkable performance, Ben Rood became a State Chess Champion for a third time.

   According to his coach Chris Torres, Ben Rood is the only first grader in California history to win the State Grade Level Chess Championship, the State K-3 Chess Championship and the National Chess Championship in the same school year. Chris attributes Ben’s successes to his remarkable talent, love for the game, incredible work ethic and to the support that his parents Robin Hultgren and Lisa Rood provide.           

Chris Torres had other Torres Chess & Music Academy students to make him proud in the K-1 section. Chris’ other students included Milind Maiti, from Cupertino, who placed third in the individual competition. Five members of the Mission San Jose Elementary School team, Rishith Susarla, Chenyi Zhao, Soorya Kuppam, Jeffrey Liu, and Amulya Harish also placed third in the school competition.

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