Biggest No-Brainer in Scholastic Chess

This Monday will start the final week of the Fremont Chess Camp at Mission San Jose Elementary School. For only $185, your child can spend the week studying chess at the most successful school chess program in the United States. Our coaches for the final week include Francisco Anchondo, James Paquette, Joe Lonsdale and Chris Torres. The camp will consist of players from the Mission San Jose National Championship Chess Team, several students who are Calchess State Champions and a large contingent of young players who are very serious about improving their chess. This is the last best chance for your child to receive the kind of chess training guaranteed to make a difference this summer. Don’t hesitate to sign up at the Torres Chess and Music Academy website or email questions to chesslessons@aol.com.

The Fremont Chess Camp at Mission San Jose Elementary School is where champions are made!

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National K-12 Chess Championship 2011, Day 1

The first day of the National K-12 Chess Championship is in the books and more than half the field of players can no longer contend for a National Championship. Two California six-year-olds are still in contention to bring home the ultimate prize. Both Rishith Susarla and Milind Maiti scored a perfect two wins out of two rounds. Tomorrow they will play three games and need three wins to keep their dreams alive. If they can manage to stay undefeated through day two, Milind and Rishith will need to win two more games on Sunday. Based on my experiences with Milind Maiti and Rishith Susarla, I feel it is very likely that one or both of them will remain undefeated through the three grueling days.

Ben is the Best at Chess

On 10/30/2011 Ben Rood again proved that he is the best chess player under the age of eight by producing a perfect score at the 2011 U.S.  National Junior Chess Congress in Santa Clara, California. Ben was the overwhelming favorite in the 2011 U.S. Junior Chess Congress and he did not disappoint his fans. In five rounds Ben Rood racked up five wins and thus became a National Chess Champion for the second time in 2011. Next up for Ben Rood is the World Youth Chess Championships in Brazil which takes place in mid-November.

More articles on Ben Rood:

https://chessmusings.wordpress.com/tag/ben-rood-chess-tournament/

https://chessmusings.wordpress.com/2011/04/09/2011-calchess-scholastic-state-championships-ben-rood/

https://chessmusings.wordpress.com/2011/08/10/ben-roods-chess-accomplishments-are-the-talk-of-the-town-in-walnut-creek/

https://chessmusings.wordpress.com/tag/ben-rood-chess-champion/

https://chessmusings.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/king-of-the-rood/

https://chessmusings.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/on-the-eve-of-greatness-three-california-chess-prodigies-competing-in-their-first-national-chess-championship-2/

Maiti is Magnificent at Chess

Milind Maiti achieved another perfect score in a chess tournament at the 2011 U.S. National Junior Chess Congress. Milind, who is only 6, bested a field comprised of 8 and 9 year olds. The victory was extra sweet for Milind Maiti do to the fact that he won his first national chess title in Santa Clara just minutes away from his home in Cupertino, California.

Other articles on Milind Maiti:

https://chessmusings.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/on-the-eve-of-greatness-three-california-chess-prodigies-competing-in-their-first-national-chess-championship/

https://chessmusings.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/check-maiti/

https://chessmusings.wordpress.com/2011/05/08/milind-maiti-is-unbearable-at-the-nationals/

https://chessmusings.wordpress.com/2011/05/14/milind-maiti-was-undefeated-at-the-national-chess-championship/

Joseph Wan is a National Chess Champion

Joseph Wan of Nebraska won the k-3 Championship section at the 2011 National Elementary Chess Championships in Dallas, Texas. Joseph scored 6.5/7 and finished a half point ahead of his former California rival Rayan Taghizadeh. Joseph Wan’s championship is a rare win for the state of Nebraska at a United States Chess Federation national tournament.
   In 2009, Joseph Wan was a first grader at Mission San Jose Elementary School in Fremont, California. It was here that Joseph met chess coach Chris Torres and quickly became one of the top chess players his age in the state. Joseph Wan went on to become a State Chess Champion but narrowly missed winning the National Elementary k-1 Championship by committing a rare blunder in the endgame of his final round. With his championship run in 2011, Joseph has finally achieved the level of success coach Chris Torres always knew he was capable of.

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.

-End-

Mission San Jose Elementary Takes Chess to a New Level

Mission San Jose Elementary School in Fremont, California has, for decades, fielded the most successful chess teams the Golden State has ever produced. Year after year, the relatively small public school’s chess club trains hundreds of students in the art of aggressive chess play. Those who excel at the club are invited to participate in the more exclusive Monday night team meetings. There, as he has done since the 1980’s, Head Coach Joe Lonsdale uses his demo board to show practical examples of masterful chess games played by the great masters of the 19’th century as well as recent gems played by the young Mission San Jose Elementary chess players.  After the lesson, students are paired into a stepladder tournament and compete using clocks while notating their moves. Every week, almost every game played gets analysed by Joe Lonsdale, Richard Shorman, Chris Torres or a graduate of the chess team. Joe’s labor of love has created a chess team that has an unrivaled success rate at major chess tournaments and a team jersey that can barely fit all the state chess titles the school has won.

    Mission San Jose Elementary School has also fares well at the national level despite the fact that the USCF National Elementary Chess Championships are rarely held on the west coast. In 2009, Mission San Jose Elementary School became the first school from California to ever win the National Elementary Chess Champion Title. The following year, the Mission San Jose Elementary School team placed second in the K-1 Championship Section, tied for fourth place in the K-3 Championship Section, finished third in the K-5 Championship Section and placed 9^th in the K-6 Championship section.  In 2011, we even did better! Mission San Jose Elementary School placed second in the k-6 Championship Section, fourth in the k-5 Championship Section, fourth in the k-3 Championship Section  and third in the k-1 Championship section. According to a long bearded USCF representative I road back to the airport with, this is the best overall achievement of any school in the history of the USCF National Elementary Chess Championships.

   Of course, as hard as us coaches work, it is the players who deserve the credit and recognition. Sixth grader Arman Kalyanpur was our team leader scoring an impressive 5.5/7. Fifth Grader Alvin Kong achieved a score of 4.5/7. Sixth Grader Erik Wong also scored well with 4/7. Our fourth member of the k-6 Championship Section was Alex Yin who completed the tournament with 3.5/7.

   Our k-5 team was led by fourth grader Amit Sant with a score of 5/7. Fifth graders Steven Li and Shalin Shah who both finished with an impressive 4.5/7. Another fifth grader, Eric Zhu, managed to score 4/7.  Fifth Grader Sayan Das scored 3.5/7.   

   Our k-3 team was led by second grader John Andrew Chan who finished with 5/7. Next came second grader Mihir Bhuptani and third grader Ojas Arun who both scored 4/7.  Second grader Alvin Zhang  had a strong showing with 3.5/7. Second Grader Luke Zhao, who had the flu, finished with 3/7.  Edward Liu, who attended his first Nationals,  finished with 2.5/7.

   The MSJE k-1 team’s top scorer was kindergartener Rishith Susarla with and impressive 5/7. Next came first graders Chenyi Zhao and Soorya Kuppam with a score of 4.5/7. First Grader Jeffrey Liu managed to score 4/7. The quickly improving Kindergartener Amulya Harish finished with 2.5/7.

  And to the MSJE Chess Team…

 It was a real pleasure to watch all of you achieve such great success in the most prestigious tournament of the year. As your chess coach, I am very grateful to have shared so many memorable moments with you during the 2010-2011 school years. Congratulations!

On the Eve of Greatness: Three California Chess Prodigies Competing in their First National Chess Championship

Tomorrow three of my favorite chess students will begin play at the 2010 National K-12 Chess Championship in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. As the President of the Torres Chess and Music Academy, I have had the distinct pleasure of coaching many of the top ranking scholastic chess players in the United States and can comfortably state that the three players described below are among the finest young chess players I have ever coached.
   In 2009, then Chinese citizen Chenyi Zhao impressed her Country by placing very highly at a prestigious chess tournament in Beijing. Although only 5, it seemed Chenyi was destined to be placed in a state run chess school for the extremely gifted. Within a few short months, Chenyi Zhao had immigrated to the United States and found herself in Fremont, California attending chess classes run by the Torres Chess and Music Academy. Chenyi is now considered one of the top chess players for her age in California and a serious contender for a top place finish at the 2010 National Scholastic Chess Championship.
   Milind Maiti appeared in the Collins Elementary School Chess Team in September of 2010. Because the Collins Chess Team is run by the Torres Chess and Music Academy, it was no small accomplishment that Milind progressed to the “Advanced” class by week two. Milind posseses natural tactical abilities that are beyond anything one would expect from a Kindergartener. He is truly a chess prodiogy of the highest level and will be a contender in the 2010 National Scholastic k-12 chess championship.
   For months before I received the fateful email, I had been eyeing Ben Rood’s chess games with the opinion that Ben was destined to be a national chess champion. (Having worked with several national chess champions and one world chess champion, I tend to gauge talent very accurately.) Aproximately eight months after I first noticed Ben Rood, his mother emailed me inquiring about private chess lessons for Ben. It turned out that Ben was only willing to accept private chess lessons from Chris Torres. I immediately accepted and now train with Ben Rood weekly in Walnut Creek. Observing Ben Rood’s growth under my tutoring for the past few months is exceptionally rewarding and I feel blessed to be a part of his learning process. In fact, chess comes so easily for Ben Rood that it is my professional opinion that Magnus Carlsen should start preparing for him immediately!
   In conclusion, should any child be unfortunate enough to sit across from Chenyi Zhao, Milind Maiti or Ben Rood at the 2010 National K-12 Chess Championship…they should be verrrry afraid!

Don’t hesitate  to sign your child up for chess classes run by the Torres Chess and Music Academy. For more information be sure to visit www.ChessAndMusic.com

On the Eve of Greatness: Three California Chess Prodigies Competing in their First National Chess Championship

Tomorrow three of my favorite chess students will begin play at the 2010 National K-12 Chess Championship in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. As the President of the Torres Chess and Music Academy, I have had the distinct pleasure of coaching many of the top ranking scholastic chess players in the United States and can comfortably state that the three players described below are among the finest young chess players I have ever coached.
   In 2009, then Chinese citizen Chenyi Zhao impressed her Country by placing very highly at a prestigious chess tournament in Beijing. Although only 5, it seemed Chenyi was destined to be placed in a state run chess school for the extremely gifted. Within a few short months, Chenyi Zhao had immigrated to the United States and found herself in Fremont, California attending chess classes run by the Torres Chess and Music Academy. Chenyi is now considered one of the top chess players for her age in California and a serious contender for a top place finish at the 2010 National Scholastic Chess Championship.
   Milind Maiti appeared in the Collins Elementary School Chess Team in September of 2010. Because the Collins Chess Team is run by the Torres Chess and Music Academy, it was no small accomplishment that Milind progressed to the “Advanced” class by week two. Milind posseses natural tactical abilities that are beyond anything one would expect from a Kindergartener. He is truly a chess prodiogy of the highest level and will be a contender in the 2010 National Scholastic k-12 chess championship.
   For months before I received the fateful email, I had been eyeing Ben Rood’s chess games with the opinion that Ben was destined to be a national chess champion. (Having worked with several national chess champions and one world chess champion, I tend to gauge talent very accurately.) Aproximately eight months after I first noticed Ben Rood, his mother emailed me inquiring about private chess lessons for Ben. It turned out that Ben was only willing to accept private chess lessons from Chris Torres. I immediately accepted and now train with Ben Rood weekly in Walnut Creek. Observing Ben Rood growth under my tutoring for the past few months is exceptionally rewarding and I feel blessed to be a part of his learning process. In fact, chess comes so easily for Ben Rood that it is my professional opinion that Magnus Carlsen should start preparing for him immediately!
   In conclusion, should any child be unfortunate enough to sit across from Chenyi Zhao, Milind Maiti or Ben Rood at the 2010 National K-12 Chess Championship…they should be verrrry afraid!

Don’t hesitate  to sign your child up for chess classes run by the Torres Chess and Music Academy. For more information be sure to visit www.ChessAndMusic.com

Fremont Chess Schools Set New Standard for Success

Have you ever heard of Fremont, California? Chances are, if you follow scholastic chess in the United States, you have. Schools from Fremont have historically used schools from other California cities as punching bags in the local scholastic chess arena. Recently, there has been a major effort made in exposing the rest of the United States to California’s best kept chess secret.

In 2010, Weibel Elementary School tied for first in the K-3 Championship section at the USCF National Elementary Chess Championship in Atlanta, Georgia. Weibel Elementary School also finished third in the K-6 Championship section.  Weibel Elementary School was the only school to place in the top three of two different championship sections.

Not to be outdone by Weibel, The Mission San Jose Elementary School team placed second in the K-1 Championship Section, tied for fourth place in the K-3 Championship Section, finished third in the K-5 Championship Section and placed 9^th in the K-6 Championship section.  Mission San Jose Elementary School was the only school at the 2010 National Elementary Chess Championship to place in the top ten of all four championship sections. All this just one year after winning the National Elementary (k-6) Chess Championship in 2009.

   With all this recent success it is natural that children from other areas are very interested in becoming a part of the Fremont chess scene. The summer is the perfect time for this to occur. Young chess players can find out about upcoming tournaments and ongoing chess clubs by visiting www.FremontChess.com.  Chess players can sign up for the Mission San Jose Elementary School Summer Chess Camp by visiting www.ChessAndMusic.com.