Come train with the 2015 and 2016 National Elementary Chess Champions at MSJE!
This camp will feature chess instruction by:
- GM Susan Polgar (Former World Champion and Current Head Coach for the National Collegiate Chess Champions at Webster University)
- NM Eric Schiller (The world’s most prolific chess author)
- Jay Stallings (Acclaimed author, chess coach and developer of Coach Jay’s Chess Academy)
- Chris Torres (President of the Torres Chess and Music Academy)
- Joe Lonsdale (Head Coach of the National Champions at Mission San Jose Elementary School)
- James Paquette (Director of Instruction for the Torres Chess and Music Academy)

Don’t miss out on the best chess opportunity of the summer! 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. All students who complete four weeks of camp will receive a commemorative camp T-shirt, a special 1 on 1 follow up lesson by TCAMA instructors, and hand signed diploma awarded to be awarded by Susan Polgar!
Camp will meet from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM,
Mondays through Thursdays,
July 5 to July 28
At Mission San Jose Elementary School (43545 Bryant St. Fremont, CA 94539.)
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
Name of child: ___________________________________________
Parents (Guardian) name(s): ________________________________
Date of birth: ___/___/_____ Grade: ____ School: _________________
Address: _______________________________________________
City: ___________________________ California Zip: __________
Telephone: (___)_________ E-mail: __________________________
I AM PAYING | My Child Will Go | ||||
$222.00 | FOR ONE WEEK | 7/5-7/7 | |||
$414.00 | FOR TWO WEEKS | 7/11-7/14 | |||
$606.00 | FOR THREE WEEKS | 7/18-7/21 | |||
$750.00 | FOR FOUR WEEKS | 7/25-7/28 |
There will be a $50 refund the week of 7/5 because there is only 3 days due to the 4th of July holiday
Susan Polgar, GM
Guest Lecturer 7/25-7/28
To summarize Susan Polgar‘s chess accomplishments is nearly an impossible task. Susan was the winner of four Women’s World Chess Championships, is a five time Olympic champion with over 10 medals earned, became the number one ranked woman in the world at the age of fifteen, became the first chess player ever to be a World Champion at Blitz, Rapid and Classical time controls. In addition, Susan Polgar was the first woman to be awarded a men’s Grandmaster title in chess, win the U.S. Open Blitz Championship, be awarded the Grandmaster of the year honor, serve as the head coach of a men’s division 1 NCAA team that won a National Collegiate Championship, serve as the head coach of a number one ranked men’s division one collegiate team, serve as the Head Coach of Men’s Division 1 Teams from two different schools to win the Final Four National Collegiate Championship, serve as Head Coach of a Men’s Division I Team to win the National Collegiate Championship 3 straight years and be named coach of the year for a men’s collegiate team. Further accomplishments of Susan Polgar are too numerous to list but even this small sample of work as both a world champion of chess and a world class chess teacher easily rank her as the best chess teacher in the United States.
Eric Schiller Ph.D.
Guest Lecturer
The Torres Chess and Music Academy is pleased to have Eric Schiller as a coach for the 2014 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 2014.”
Jay Stallings
Guest Lecturer/Coach Jay’s Chess Academy
Coach Jay Stallings is ranked as an Expert with the United States Chess Federation. He founded the California Youth Chess League in 1996. With programs including after school and evening classes, tournaments, camps, free chess play, and special events year round, the CYCL makes chess incredibly accessible in the Santa Clarita Valley. Through the years, under Coach Jay’s leadership, CYCL has taught chess to over 20,000 young players in and around Santa Clarita.
Chris Torres
President
Chris Torres is a nationally renowned scholastic chess coach working in the San Francisco Bay Area. His classes have attracted players of strengths ranging from rank beginners to world champions. Working as a professional chess instructor since 1998, Chris is widely recognized as one of the main driving forces behind the explosion in popularity and sudden rise in quality of scholastic chess in California. Currently, Chris Torres has the ranking of candidate master and serves as the President of the Torres Chess and Music Academy. Mr. Torres’ hobbies include playing classical guitar and getting his students to appear on the national top 100 chess rating lists.
Joe Lonsdale
Head Coach MSJE
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 2009, in 2013, 2015 and 2016. 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.
James Paquette
Director of Instruction
James Paquette has everything we look for in a great chess teacher and more. A former chess student of Chris Torres, James now teaches chess professionally while attending a prestigious local university to study law. James Paquette has several years of experience managing small children which he gained while achieving his black belt in Taekwondo. While an undergrad honor roll student, James was a star football player at the college level and uses his experience from the field to teach children the level of commitment necessary to become a champion. James Paquette relates to children of all backgrounds extremely well and is now one of the most popular coaches at the Torres Chess and Music Academy.