Free Thanksgiving Break Chess Camp!
November 27th, 28th and 29th
10:00 am until 4:00 pm PT
Sign up at DailyChessMusings.com
For over 20 years, Chris Torres has brought together the best scholastic chess players from around the country to train, compete and learn together with the best coaches and elite chess players as their guides. Combining the fun of chess with professional training, Chris’ chess camps offer the highest quality chess experiences for youth chess players of all experience levels. His commitment to excellence is easily demonstrated by the thousands of young chess players who choose to learn in his camps each year and the team of esteemed guest coaches he has brought together for the 2020 Thanksgiving Chess Camp.
Meet The Team
IM Elect Josiah Stearman
Josiah is a 17-year-old International Master Elect (Has completed all of the FIDE requirements for the title of IM) He is a multiple CalChess State Champion and All-American designee. Currently, Josiah is a student at the University of California at Berkeley majoring in Applied Mathematics.
FM James Eade
James Eade is a FIDE Master, chess tournament organizer, and famous chess author. His best-selling books Chess for Dummies (1996) and The Chess Player’s Bible (2004) have been through several editions and even have been translated into 8 different languages.
In 1995, Mr. Eade organized the Pan Pacific International Chess Tournament, the strongest chess tournament ever held in San Francisco, won by Viktor Korchnoi. He also founded Hypermodern Press, a chess publishing company which produced a handful of well-received titles before ceasing operations in 1999.
He was a member of the Policy Board of the United States Chess Federation (1996 to 1999), served as the American Zone President of FIDE (2000 to 2002), was a Trustee of the U. S. Chess Trust from 2000 to 2019, as well as a past President. He was also President of CalChess (the Northern California Chess Association), The Kolty Chess for Youth Foundation (a 501(c)-3 charity), and the Chess Journalists of America, as well as a former chairman of the chess advisory board for UT-Dallas. He is a former editor and publisher of both the CalChess Journal and the Golden Gate Chess News. Additionally, he was awarded chess educator of the year for 2016 by UT-Dallas. In 2018, the USCF recognized Mr. Eade with the award for Outstanding Career Achievement. In 2019, he started the Eade Foundation (a 501(c)-3 foundation), where he is Chairman and CEO.
He lives in Menlo Park, California, where he continues to teach and write about chess.
NM Derek Wu
Derek Wu started playing chess at the age of 7 and has since played in over 1,600 USCF rated games. Derek has scored against many Grandmasters in over-the-board chess and has crushed hundreds more online. Some of his chess achievements include becoming the 2016 Alabama Junior High Chess Champion, representing the state of Alabama for the 2017 Barber Tournament of K-8 Champions, winning the 2017 Northern California Championship (Expert Section), achieving his National Master Title (2200 USCF rating) in January of 2018, shortly after his 15th birthday, becoming the co-champion of the 2019 Best of the West Championship, and becoming a member of the Pro Chess League ÒSan Diego SurferÕs TeamÓ. One of the top players in the nation for his age, at just 17 years old
Derek has attracted a dedicated fan base on twitch and his chess stream is definitely worth checking out.
USCF Chess Expert Jay Stallings
Coach Jay, an Expert-level chess player, is a certified FIDE Trainer (one of only 19 in the U.S.) with 25 years coaching experience. In 1996 he founded the California Youth Chess League (CYCL) (a non-profit 501c3) organization which has taught chess to over 40,000 students. In addition, Coach Jay created the popular chess app Coach JayÕs Chess Academy and has authored several chess books which have sold tens of thousands of copies. He and his wife, Michel, have two sons, both of whom played chess in tournaments from coast to coast.
USCF Correspondence Chess Master Chris Torres
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 Northern California.
Chris Torres served as the President of the Torres Chess and Music Academy from 2005-2020 and has been awarded the title of correspondence chess master from the United States Chess Federation. Since 1998, Chris Torres has taught 6 individual national champions as well as coached for multiple school teams who have won national championship titles. In addition, Chris Torres has directed and taught at 10 different schools which have been California State Champions at chess. Several former and current students of Chris Torres have been selected to represent the United States at the World Youth Chess Championships.
Acknowledged today as a pioneer in the field of chess and education, Chris Torres regularly speaks at numerous educational forums and events. However, an unplanned illness in early 2019 forced Chris Torres to make some major lifestyle changes. While recovering, Chris made the decision to freely share all of his lesson material on DailyChessMusings.com as well as donate his time to organize free chess events of the highest quality open to any young chess players who wish to learn.
About the Camp
The Free Thanksgiving Break Chess Camp will take place online on November 27th, 28th and 29th. All participants will earn points by taking part in skill appropriate lessons, completing training assignments and playing in exciting camp chess tournaments. Prizes will be awarded to the top point earners during camp and all students who participate for three days will receive a camp certificate. Players over 21 are welcome but will not be eligible for prizes. Class time will be from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm Pacific Time. (However, we are still scheduling esteemed guests so some event times may occur outside of our official camp hours.) As a special gift from Chris Torres during stressful times, there is no cost to participate in this camp. Signing up is easy at DailyChessMusings.com