Below are photographs of my favorite moments from week four of the Fremont Summer Chess Camp. I wish to thank all of our students, coaches, Steve and Kate’s Camps, the Wild Cat Education and Conservation Fund and Grandmaster Susan Polgar. It takes a lot of great people to make the Fremont Summer Chess Camp as successful as it is and without these great groups and individuals many kids from Northern California would have missed out on an experience of a lifetime.
Thanks to Coach Tans for doing a great job teaching our youngest campers.
For four straight years, Coach Francisco has been teaching our campers confidence through attacking chess.
Everyone in attendance will never forget the day Susan Polgar (The World’s Top Chess Trainer) challenged every mind in the room with an extremely thought provoking chess lesson.
Most of all, it was all the awesome young chess players that made the 2014 Fremont Summer Chess Camp so fantastic.
The first week of the Torres Chess and Music Academy’s Fremont Summer Camp was a smashing success. One parent even asked me why our camp was so much better than the other chess classes in the Bay Area. I answered, “The real secret is in enthusiasm. It is the magic we use to transform challenges into accomplishments.”
Students learn more when they are having fun.
TCAMA Director of Instruction, James Paquette, teaches his students the secrets to Paul Morphy’s success.
Tans Hylkema taught our youngest campers how to play chess and notate their moves.
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.
In the K-1 Section Stephen He and Rishith Susarla scored 2/2.
In the K-3 Section Mihir Bhuptani, Tommy Koh, and Ben Rood also have perfect scores.
In the K-5 Section Amit Sant is victorious.
Finally in the K-6 section Alvin Kong is undefeated with 1.5/2.
Mission San Jose Elementary School ranks in the top 10 in 4 sections and is currently ranking second in the K-3 section.
This summer there is open enrollment to any children who would like to train with the Mission San Jose Elementary School players and coaches. The MSJE Summer Chess Camp will take place from June 25th through July 19th, 2012 in Fremont CA. For more information please visit www.chessandmusic.com. You can also contact Chris Torres by emailing chesslessons@aol.com
Mission San Jose Elementary School 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)
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 25 to July 19 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 25 – JUNE 28
TOTAL WEEKS
FOR TWO WEEKS
$139
JULY 2,3, & 5
-$20
FOR TWO WEEKS
FOR THREE WEEKS
$185
JULY 9 – JULY 12
-$40
FOR THREE WEEKS
FOR FOUR WEEKS
$185
JULY 16 – JULY 19
-$80
FOR FOUR 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 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
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.
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
Chess teacher Tans Hylkema can be regularly heard playing complicated Tangos on his flamenco guitar throughout Northern California. Maestro Hylkema’s style is a cross between Melchor de Marchena and Paco de Lucia and is featured on a new album titled “Steps of Granada.” The releases five tracks are original compositions that features compelling melodies with magnificently complicated rhythms. With all the ‘Neuvo Flamenco’ albums redefining the genera, it is nice to hear the flamenco guitar in its purist form. Tans Hylkema’s “Steps of Granada” is authentic and inspiring.
A children’s chess camp run by the Torres Chess and Music Academy is the ideal way for chess players to improve during school breaks. Children are separated into groups based on rating and age so that each class represents the closest chess experience grouping possible. All Torres Chess and Music Academy camps have a group of outstanding master chess teachers on hand to review the child’s game as soon as he/she finishes it. At the Torres Chess and Music Academy, a loss is never just a loss. Instead a loss is a unique opportunity to grow as a chess player under the supervision of the very best chess coaches.
This past summer, the Torres Chess and Music Academy ran chess camps in Fremont, San Jose and Albany
Children playing chess over the summer.
. On hand were scores of enthusiastic young chess players as well as TCAMA coaches Chris Torres, Tans Hylkema, and Joe Lonsdale. Plenty of children left with trophies while even more left with consolation prize medals. All children who attended our chess camps left with a better understanding of chess than they arrived with.
Chris Torres is pleased to be running a very special chess camp designed to maximize learning and fun. This chess camp will feature instruction from Joe Lonsdale, Tans Hylkema and Chris Torres. These instructors possess decades of chess teaching experience. Attendees will receive the best training available with the coaches of the 2009 National Elementary Chess Champions and take part in USCF rated tournaments with awards given at the end of each week. This chess camp will meet from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Mondays through Thursdays, June 28 to July 15 at Mission San Jose Elementary School, 43545 Bryant St. Fremont, CA 94539. The fee for this class is $360 for all three weeks. Prorated options are available for students who can only attend certain weeks. For more information please visit http://chessandmusic.com/onlineregistration/?c=7
The 2010 Mission San Jose Elementary School Chess Camp is brought to you by the Torres Chess and Music Academy, a non-profit corporation.
Chess Musings 