I have plenty fond memories from teaching chess at the now shuttered Achiever Institute in Fremont, California. Some of my fondest memories there occurred during Winter Break. I would organize special chess camps over Christmas vacation where the most talented young chess players in Fremont could learn, train and play chess together. Several of these Fremont Winter Chess Camp attendees went on to achieve great success including winning national championships, becoming chess masters, attending the most prestigious universities, and now hold positions of influence in Silicon Valley. Some have reached out to me over the years to thank me and express how the skills learned in our chess camps and classes helped pave the road toward success.
Along with Forks and Skewers, Pins are one of the big three chess tactics. A pin is a direct threat on a lesser valued piece which cannot move out of the attacking piece’s line of attack without exposing a more valuable piece. When teaching young chess players how to utilize pins, I begin with the most simple examples and progressively present more difficult puzzles. In this way, I build my students confidence and understanding while making sure that my lessons are of value for a wide range of skill levels.
On December 23, 2010, I had just delivered an hour lecture on the Art of the Pin to my class and it was time to play a training game. The odd number of students was no problem as it gave me an opportunity to play against a pupil. In the game below, I spotted Jonathan a Rook and rather fortuitously, given the theme of the day’s lesson, took advantage of his pinned pieces. Enjoy…
[Event “Fremont Winter Chess Camp”]
[Site “Fremont, California”]
[Date “2010.12.23”]
[Round “Rook Odds”]
[White “Chris Torres”]
[Black “Johnathan Chen”]
[Result “1-0”]
[FEN “rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/1NBQKBNR w Kkq -“]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.O-O Bc5 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.Re1+ Be6
9.Ng5 Qd5 10.Nc3 dxc3 11.Qxd5 gxf6 12.Nxf7 O-O 13.Nh6+ Kh8 14.Qxc5 Rae8 15.Rxe6
cxb2 16.Bxb2 Ne7 17.Rxf6 c3 18.Bxc3 Kg7 19.Qg5+ Ng6 20.Rf7#
1-0
I will be holding a Free Online Winter Chess Camp featuring the games of Gukesh Dommaraju. Because it is online, you don’t need to live near Fremont to take part in this exciting event. However, I suspect that many of those who sign up will be hailing from my hometown of Fremont, California.