Sometimes I can almost hear C-3PO telling me that the odds of winning a chess game against a second year player when starting down ten points in material is approximately 3,720 to 1.
Winning against all odds is a common theme in Star Wars and my chess classes. Playing against students with a handicap makes for interesting battles and is a good learning opportunity. I teach my students that strength against adversity is the key to winning against all odds.
The chessboard is a safe way to demonstrate how to conduct oneself against seemingly insurmountable odds. It’s an important topic in chess classes as many times in life the odds are heavily stacked against us. In this case, chess teaches us not over react but respond with strength and give a good fight regardless.
[Event “Training Game”]
[Site “Foster City, California “]
[Date “2024.03.15”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Chris Torres”]
[WhiteElo “”]
[Black “Evan”]
[BlackElo “”]
[Result “1-0”]
[FEN “rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/2PPPPPP/2BQKBNR w Kkq -“]
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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