If you love scholastic chess as much as I do, few experiences compare to attending the CalChess All Girls and Boys Championships. This year’s event was held at the Sonesta Silicon Valley, a venue that’s especially convenient for the many chess families from Fremont, as the Milpitas location is just a few minutes south of Fremont. More than that, it’s an excellent venue for scholastic players throughout Silicon Valley, thanks to its spacious layout and prime location adjacent to Interstate 880 and near the 237 freeway.
I took plenty of photos, which you can view in the gallery on this page. I also had the pleasure of meeting an enthusiastic seventh-grader, Sanav Sukumar, who kindly agreed to share his game on camera. As you’ll see in the video, Sanav is an emerging talent with a remarkable aptitude for chess analysis.
A big thank you to Bay Area Chess, Salman Azhar, Tom Langland, Jordan Langland, WFM Bada Norovsambuu, and everyone else who made this fantastic event possible.
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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