{"id":1152,"date":"2020-07-11T15:28:01","date_gmt":"2020-07-11T15:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/?p=1152"},"modified":"2020-07-15T21:03:11","modified_gmt":"2020-07-15T21:03:11","slug":"young-stars-zooms-to-the-future-for-chessbase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/?p=1152","title":{"rendered":"Young Stars Zooms to the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

2020 has come with many challenges, but chess players must always be ready to rise up to them! Despite the health crisis created by COVID-19, and the lack of in person chess, this cannot, and does not, stop the talented hopefuls in their search for higher chess titles.<\/p>\n

The Young Stars Team USA session planned for June 2020 in St. Louis, Missouri – in the same room where the Sinquefield Cup and the U.S. Championships are played, had to be moved. With travel being an impossibility, online was the logical place to stage the session. The camp was spearheaded by Garry Kasparov himself and the students were:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Starting with the top row:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. GM Brandon Jacobson, New Jersey, 16 (photo courtesy of David Hater)<\/li>\n
  2. IM Carissa Yip, Massachusetts, 16 (photo by Lennart Ootes)<\/li>\n
  3. IM Christopher Yoo, California, 13<\/li>\n
  4. IM Abhi Mishra, New Jersey, 11<\/li>\n
  5. WIM Rochelle Wu, California, 14 (photo by Eric Rosen)<\/li>\n
  6. WCM Alice Lee, Minnesota, 11 (photo by John Hartmann)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These players, despite their young age, have already represented America in top tiered competitions. Rochelle and Carissa, for example, were part of the U.S. Women’s World Team squad last year, while Christopher Yoo became the youngest player to defeat a 2700 in tournament play with his victory against Le Quang Liem early last year.<\/p>\n

    Grandmaster Gurevich<\/strong> has been one of the most prolific coaches in the USA and he was able to observe the camp in progress:<\/p>\n

    “My first time attending the Kasparov Chess Foundation\u2019s camp for talented kids in New York was with my student, Sam Schmakel of Chicago, in 2005.\u00a0 This was the first time that Garry Kasparov and FIDE Senior Trainer Michael Khodarkovsky hosted a training camp to discover American talent.\u00a0 While Kasparov had already retired from professional chess, and was no longer the World Chess Champion, he was very much still the best in the world.”<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Young Sam Schmakel (middle) in 2005, during the inaugural session of the KCF talent program!<\/em><\/p>\n

    “My impressions at the time were that Kasparov was like an avatar stepping from Olympus to teach these youngsters.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

    For many years after 2006, while I did not attend the camp, I followed the success of the Young Stars program through the years.\u00a0 I was impressed when in 2011, the Young Stars program became a joint project between KCF and the Saint Louis Chess Club.\u00a0 The program continued to grow and the caliber of students grew exponentially, developing a new wave of U.S. Grandmasters, including Sam Sevian, Kayden Troff, Jeffery Xiong, and others.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

    At this training, I had my student, Alice Lee, of Minneapolis, who won the World Cadet Championship Under 10 with a score of 10 out of 11, but she was also the lowest rated player in the group at this training session. \u00a0It seemed to me that the other players were already stars, and it was fantastic to have her learn and be exposed to such a high caliber of players.”<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Alice Lee hard at work on the black side of a Rossolimo in the 2019 US Open (Photo by John Hartmann)<\/em><\/p>\n

    A player like Dmitry Gurevich isn’t easily impressed with “just titles”: What is most important is what can be seen beyond these titles \u2013 these are talented, hard working, tenacious chess players, who are showing great promise to become even more successful in the chess world.\u00a0 The level of their discussions during the Zoom training were beyond their years.\u00a0 No matter how complex or nuanced the variations Kasparov presented to them, these students were not phased or star struck.\u00a0 They engaged fully, thoughtfully, and accurately in their responses and answers.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Not all great players make for great teachers, and not all great teachers make for great players.\u00a0 Kasparov is certainly an exceptional World Chess Champion, and he is an exceptional teacher.\u00a0 Perhaps the secret to his success is that he does not have to come down from Mt. Olympus, he lifts his students up to the pinnacle instead.”\u00a0<\/em>We thank grandmaster Gurevich for his words and the efforts to help chess talent around the World.<\/p>\n

    At the end of the session, Michael Khodarkovsky prepared a nifty puzzle. Garry presented it the following way:\u00a0“Michael prepared for you a fun study, which was actually given to some Grandmasters to solve during the 1972 Olympiad in Skopje, and it took time until they found a solution. Can you solve it?”<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    White to play and draw. D. Djaja, 1972<\/em><\/p>\n

    Following the great success of Young Stars Team USA’s zoom session, the Kasparov Chess Foundation resumed the training of the talented Young Stars from Europe. This year’s program was scheduled to coincide with the 2020 Grand Chess Tour leg in Zagreb, as it did last year:<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    The 2019 Young Stars Summer Training session being held in Zagreb<\/em><\/p>\n

    Due to the global pandemic, it was impossible to hold the session in person. Distance, however, has never kept chess players from working with each other, and the training session was moved to zoom, similar to how the Young Stars – Team USA Camp was held. Garry Kasparov again led the camp, which was not only divided by distance, but also by language:<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Garry is currently in sunny Croatia at the seaside, and he chose an appropriately\u00a0warm background!<\/em><\/p>\n

    The first session was held in English. The participants were:<\/p>\n