The Master Among Us
Joshua (Josh) Waitzkin was born on December 4, 1976. and at the age of 12 had an ELO rating of 2100.
Richard Wang of Edmonton was born in 1999 and at the age of 8 or 9 he will likely have a ELO rating of 1900- 2100 certain to stand among the greats like
Bobby Fisher, Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov. If Canadians were ever “Searching for Bobby Fischer” they would not have to look hard.
Richard Wang at the moment is leading in the in the Edmonton Chess Club Reserves with 3.5 out of 4 games in an 8 round Swiss system tournament. He beat the last player I drew against, Tom Asquith rated at 1750. Speculation among his peers is that he will achieve a rating of 2100 by the end of the year. His last performance rating was just over 1900.
When I sat down to play Mr. Wang he quickly flung out his right hand and said “have a good game!” with a smile that can only make you smile. I shook his hand and said “yes.. thanks you too”. I played e4, the strongest 1st move on the chess board.
[Event " ECC Reserves"]
[Site "ECC"]
[Date "2007.1.19"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Mr. M. Sekuloff 1669"]
[Black "Mr. R. Wang 1450"]
[TimeControl "150/30+f"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C60"]
Ruy Lopez, Berlin
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O Bd6 6.Re1 Bg4 7.d4 Qe7
8.Bg5 O-O-O 9.Qd3 exd4 10.e5 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 h6 12.Bxf6 gxf6
13.Nd2 fxe5 14.Nc4 f6 15.Kf1 Qe6 16.Qb3 Qd5 17.Rad1 Rhg8 18.Qh3+ Kb8
19.Ne3 Qb5+ 20.c4 dxc3ep+ 21.Kg1 Qxb2 22.Rb1 Qxa2 23.Ra1
Qf7 24.Nf5 Qe6 25.Qe3 Qxf5 26.Qxa7+ Kc8 27.Qa8+ Kd7 28.Qxb7 Qg4
29.g3 Rb8 30.Qa6 Ra8 31.Qd3 Rxa1 32.Rxa1 Qd4 33.Qh7+ Be7 34.Qxg8
c2 35.Qb3 Qxa1+ 0-1
After the game we took a quick look at the game, but what is astounding is that Mr. Wang is a delight; he has a great sense of humour, speaks his mind, and is quick on the chess board. He is never rude, always a gentlemen. As he matures he will no doubt be one of the great chess players of our time. How great of a chess player he will be up to him of course. His other pastime game that he loves is Speed Chess.
