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New England chess champ at age 10 |
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Friday, 05 December 2008 |
By SARAH TRAVER
SOUTH KINGSTOWN- At 10-years old and in fifth grade, Christopher Gu
recently won the Fifth Annual New England Scholastic Chess Tournament
in the High School Championship level.
The tournament took place Nov. 8 and 9 at Mt. Snow, Vermont. Gu, who
attends Kingston Hill Academy, has been playing chess for over four
years and won the title at the high school level.
“The computer taught me how to play. I like it a lot. It’s fun and
challenging,” said Gu laughing.
The tournament was open to kids in K-12 grades with four levels of play.
Kenneth Gu, Christopher’s father, explained that the tournament allows
the lower level kids to play on higher levels but not vice versa. Chris
chose to play on the highest level and came out the champion. Along with
his trophy, Gu also won a year’s worth of paid registration to any
tournaments he chooses to attend.
Chess is scored by ratings, the highest being 2,500, a score worthy of
the title of Grandmaster. Gu’s rating is 1,610 and he is one of only
two or three kids in the state on that level. In March, Gu attended the
2008 Foxwoods Open where he tied for fourth place in the under 1,500
level and won $600.
So when asked who he plays with, Gu laughed and said the computer or
himself.
He plays online daily as often as he can. Gu also plays with
his dad, but his father said he only wins about one of every ten games.
“The internet really helps. You get to play with people from all over
the
world and they don’t even have to speak the same language,” said Kenneth Gu.
“Everyone at my school doesn’t really know how to play,” said Gu but
he plays
there for fun sometimes.
Gu has really had no formal training or coaching explained his
parents. Once
he got interested on the computer he started to attend some chess camps which
further peaked his interest. He has also attended events and had some
group lessons organized by Jorge
Sammour, the 2007-2008 Internet World Blitz Champion.
Blitz chess is a typical chess match but you are given a tight time
limit, such
as five minutes, in which to complete the game. A basic game involves over 60
moves in about three minutes. Talk about split second decisions. Gu said he
likes playing blitz chess a lot.
He plays online at the Internet Chess Club. He also plays in a lot of
Burger King sponsored scholastic tournaments and in the Pawn Eater state
tournaments on a monthly basis. His parents said that on Friday evenings
Peter Bannon has
organized a get together for kids of all ages to come and play chess, and Gu
loves it.
“I play a lot of bughouse there. It’s a fun kind of chess,” said Gu.
His dad
explained that bughouse is a team playing version of chess. He said it is a
team game that you really have to work together on to win.
The next tournament up for Gu is the National Scholastic K-12
Championship in
Lake Buena Vista, Fla. It will be on Dec. 12-14 and Gu said he is excited.
He said they would be going to Disney and he hadn’t been there since he was
very young and couldn’t remember.
Gu’s father said chess is a lot like tennis, and come to find out,
that is Gu’s
other favorite thing to do. Last week Gu received two trophies for tennis
tournaments he was in over Labor Day. Gu said he plays whenever he can and
doesn’t care how cold it is outside. He still likes to play.
At ten, playing chess and tennis all the time ,Gu seems to have quite
a busy
life. He said he also watches television when he has the chance and plays the
piano. “I don’t really have time to do a lot else. I play chess online
whenever I can,” said Gu. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 30 December 2008 )
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