Below are my students who have won National and State Championships.

• "Joe,
  
  Joaquin and I wanted to say thank you for all you taught him from 2009 to 2012, not only regarding chess moves, but also something about fighting spirit. That definitely played a role in his last round game, where he had a much worse endgame, but came back to win against the national U8 champion from India.
  
  He had a couple of early losses at the World Youth, and was in 103rd place after 5 rounds. But he won his last six games to finish tied for 4th (10th on tiebreaks) today.
  
  http://www.chess-results.com/tnr84653.aspx?art=1&rd=11&lan=1&flag=30
  
  Thanks again for all the work you did with him.
  
  

  Kele" (November 2012)




• "Hi Joe:
  
  I want to thank you for the fantastic tournament you organized this past weekend. My son immensely enjoyed the tournament and the park. This was our second experience with your tournaments and both times we were pleased with your accommodations. This past weekend you along with Mr Barber and your colleagues made us feel very comfortable with my 6 year old playing in the open section and handled all of my questions and concerns in the best possible way.
  
  Look forward to attending your tournaments in the future!
  
  

  Rich Gazarian (father of Kirk Gazarian)" (November 2012)




• "Hello Mr. Hanley, this is Liceu Pereira, Royce's father. First of all thank you for the great hospitality during the tournament. We were happy with the how you conducted the tournament, and how you made us feel welcome."
  
  

  Liceu Pereira; (February 2012)

• "Joe Hanley,
  
  Thank you for hosting a wonderful tournament for my child and the extras you added for the parents and guardians is a super bonus. Even though my child didn't win and it was a long drive for us, we all had a great time. I'm pretty sure it took a lot organizing that event, so i want to make sure that you and your assisstants know that your work is very much appreciated. Please keep it up, looking forward to the next one."
  
  

  Thanks again,
  Mat
  (November, 2010)

• "Dear Joe,
  
  That was a fine game by Solomon G. (referring to the game where he beat a 1700 at the 2010 US Open; Joe H.) He probably played at Class A strength, or higher. I've taught hundreds of beginners, and very few ever get to the level where they develop rapidly, control the center and see basic tactics.
  
  Your teaching has started him out very well! Keep up the good work!"
  
  

  Best wishes,
  Jack Peters
  International Master & LA Times Chess Columnist
  (August 2010)

• "Hi Joe:
  
  Hope you're doing great! We are successfully settled in here in London, Canada and so far we are really liking it! I just wanted to let you know that Niko just received his report card from his 6th grade teacher and his scores for the CA state testing that he does every year...the fantastic news to report is that he improved his scores over last year by 200 points in both english and math and scored in the 96th and 94th percentile for english and math across all kids in the nation. That is a huge improvement over his scores in the past where he was in the the 70-80th percentile! We believe that the big game changer has been his participation in chess and your coaching over the past year!!
  
  So as we plan out the next school year, I want to figure our a way that we can continue to keep him playing chess on a regular basis. There is no chess school here in London so please let me know what you think might work for having Niko in some sort of chess instruction once a week and then maybe participation in the HCA National Team where we can work tournaments into my travel schedule or something like that!"
  
  Hope you all are doing great!
  

  Thanks,
  Dante M. Pirouz
  Assistant Professor
  The Richard Ivey School of Business
  University of Western Ontario
  London, Ontario, CANADA

• "I love HCA...Mr. Hanley is a lot of fun! Plus, I get a chance to learn."

  Aaron G.(12 Yrs. Old; 1336 USCF Rating)
  San Jose, CA. USA
  (7/2010)

• "My son Joaquin started taking private lessons from Joe Hanley in July 2009. Joe was able to quickly identify and address the main flaws in Joaquin's chess thinking. Under Joe's private coaching, Joaquin became a National Champion with a perfect 7-0 score in the Kindergarten section at the K-12 Grade Level Championships in December 2009."

  Kele P.
  West Covina, CA. USA
  (12/2009)

• "My son started working with Joe Hanley 2 1/2 years ago when he was 11 years old. I would say that the money we've spent in that time on lessons and events at Hanley Chess Academy has been one of the best investments we've ever made. Joe has such a talent and passion for teaching chess and he really knows how to meet the individual needs of each child.
  
  Matthew, our son, has benefited in so many ways. Through chess and working with Joe, he has learned the value of goal setting, planning, and self-discipline. His concentration and focus have improved tremendously as well as his ability to control his emotions when things aren't going well. We've also seen significant improvements in his logic and reasoning skills and we believe that has been a major factor in bringing his math grades up to straight A's in the eighth grade.
  
  Recently, we moved to North Carolina and what we miss most about California is Hanley Chess Academy! Matt is still taking private lessons online with Joe and travels to the national tournaments with the group but we sure miss that Saturday Night Chess Club at the academy. Every Saturday night, my husband and I would go down the street for dinner and a movie while Matt had a blast playing chess! It was great!"

  Ruth H.
  North Carolina, USA
  (12/2009)

• "Hi Joe,
  Thanks, again, for taking on Drew while we were in town. He really enjoyed the time with you and your chess club members and talked about it as a highlight of our vacation. He played a scholastic event yesterday in the "Elite 8" section, which is the top 8 players who register. He won all four games and commented afterward that in several situations, "Before I had that time with Joe, I would have resigned myself to being behind and figuring out how to pull out a draw or a win just on the basis of my experience and stronger skills. Instead, I was able to step back, shift gears, and find the upper hand, again." Apparently, your point about how he often sticks with a good-turned-mediocre-plan -- instead of remaining flexible -- was a key concept he absorbed from your lessons. Getting such a nugget of knowledge, as well as having the pleasure of meeting some genuinely nice people, made the experience at your academy well worth it."

  Amy C.
  Oregon, USA
  (11/2009)

• "Trophies, tournaments, classes!...one stop shopping...who could ask for anything more?"

  Coach Kevin Bulone
  Coach of All Star Youth Chess
  (9/2009)

• "My son greatly enjoys the fun and excitement of coach Hanley's chess tournaments!"

  Gabriel Liao
  Father of Matthew
  (9/2009)