Thirteen-year-old
Isaiah Gadson has to take his twice-a-week chess lessons
by computer over the Internet. That's because his teacher
lives in Europe.
Isaiah recently won his third Missouri state chess championship.
He was first in the 8-and-under division in competition
in Jefferson City. Previously, he had won in the 6th and
7th grade divisions.
The 8th grader at Pattonville Heights Middle School began
with chess in kindergarten. That's when his father introduced
him to a game he had been playing since he was in 2nd grade.
Isaiah
Gadson |
Isaiah said he played in his first chess tournament when
he was in 2nd grade. He remembered it was the Bollinger
Memorial meet at Wydown Middle School in Clayton.
Recently, he's been going farther afield to get good competitors
with whom to play.
This month, he's scheduled to play May 22-25 in the Chicago
Open Chess Tournament. That's an all-comers tourney with
a total of $100,000 in prizes at stake.
He'll be entered in the division for players with ratings
up to 2100 in the national rating scale. Currently, Isaiah
has a rating of 1893 according to the U.S. Chess Federation
rating schedule.
At this stage of his development, Isaiah is interested
in competing with players who rank ahead of him. He said
he needs to do that in order to improve his game.
Isaiah
with his trophies |
Isaiah said his best chess experience so far wasn't his
three state championships. Rather, he said, "It was at the
National Youth Action tournament when I beat my first Class
A opponent (with a rating of over 1800)."
At that time, Isaiah's rating was in the 1300s.
In his early chess years, Isaiah got most of his instruction
at home. Pattonville Heights Middle School doesn't have
a chess team.
But, recently, he has been getting his instruction with
Sasa Jevtic, a chess champion who lives in Serbia.
The family met Jevtic when he was in St. Louis on a chess
tour. The Gadsons housed Jevtic while he was in St. Louis.
Isaiah said he now takes lessons from Jevtic via the Internet.
One lesson is solo instruction and the other is one where
he shares the lesson with his sister.
Keturah
Gadson |
Ten-year-old Keturah is a student at Central Christian
School and is also a state champion. She has won both 3rd
and 4th grade championships.
Asked if she'd every beaten Isaiah in a chess game, Keturah
said, "No. But, I came close once."
The trans-continental chess lessons use a special software
which allows the teacher and students to move chess pieces
to simulate actual game conditions. They can move pieces
across the board in real-time as the lesson continues.
Isaiah said he considers himself to be a pretty competitive
chess player. "But," he added, "I'm not like 'everything-competitive.'"
While he considers chess "fun," he said he doesn't talk
while playing a match. He's too busy studying the board
and planning his future moves.
He said he likes the "analytical nature" of chess and feels
it helps him with his schoolwork. He said he thinks chess
is most helpful in math and science because they also involve
analysis of problems.
But, he said chess also strengthens his mind for his other
classes.
He said his favorite classes in school are communication
arts and social studies.
Asked about communication arts this semester, he said the
students were working on poetry. About his poetry skills,
Isaiah said, "It's not my favorite. But, if I get down to
it, I can do some pretty good poems."
Isaiah is hoping his success in chess might lead to another
benefit--a college scholarship.
Recently, he played in a chess tournament hosted by the
University of Texas-Dallas. That school and the University
of Maryland-Baltimore are considered to be chess powerhouses
and both offer chess scholarships.
But, Isaiah said he doesn't plan to try to make chess a
career.
He said he'd like to go to college and study electrical
engineering. Then, he'd like to work in that field and eventually
own his own electrical business.
So far, Isaiah's record in state competition involves all
winning matches.
He won all six matches at this year's tournament. He was
5-0 in 7th grade and 6-0 in 6th.
Isaiah said he enjoys playing in tournaments, especially
"if I'm good enough at it I can earn a scholarship."
Another advantage is that in open tournaments the winners
get cash prizes. And, unlike in high school or college sports,
winning money doesn't have any effect on his eligibility.
So, in his trip to Chicago, Isaiah can hope for a win over
a higher-rated player and maybe even earn a little extra
cash.
