Over the weekend(August 12-13,) I had the pleasure of attending the 3rd Annual Greater California Scholastic Chess Championship held by the American Chess Academy at the beautiful Maple Park Community Center in Glendale, California. The event was sponsored by the Kasparov Chess Foundation and Beyond Chess assisted the ACA with event management. It was a special treat to attend such a well run scholastic chess tournament organized by such amazing and professional people. I would like to extend my gratitude to Armen Ambartsoumian for convincing me to attend this fine event.
Armen Ambartsoumian diligently performing his duties as a tournament director. Some of the younger competitors at the beginning of their fourth round. The park directly outside of the tournament site was a popular hangout spot.
Click here for more information on the American Chess Academy.
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. A chess professional 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. Chris Torres served as the President of the Torres Chess and Music Academy from 2005-2020 and currently is recognized as a correspondence chess master with the United States Chess Federation. Since 1998 Chris Torres has taught 6 individual national champions as well as led 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. Mr. Torres’ hobbies include playing classical guitar and getting his students to appear on the national top 100 chess rating lists.
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