|
By Nalea J. Ko, Reporter
Published September 18, 2009
Grand master Hikaru Nakamura has realized through playing professional chess for over a decade that some of life’s greatest lessons can be learned from one’s failures.
“If you lose enough times and have the mindset to get better, then the fear of losing leaves,” explained U.S. Chess Champion Nakamura over the phone from his home in Seattle, Wash. “Once you have the fear leave, you can get better.”
And he did.
Nakamura, 21, started playing professional chess when he was seven. At 10 he was named chess “master,” the youngest American to ever hold the title. Then at 15 years, one month and 27 days, he beat Bobby Fischer’s record as the youngest American grand master. Nakamura earned the title after winning the Bermuda International Chess Festival.
Grand master, or GM, is the highest title awarded to a chess player. The designation is given to chess players who have international ratings of 2,500, among other requirements. Nakamura’s FIDE, or Federation Internationale des Echecs, rating is 2,735 to date. But Nakamura did not always win.
“My very first tournament I lost all four games.” Nakamura explained about playing chess as a child. “It made me angry.” Nakamura’s parents removed him from the sport for about a year when he became increasingly frustrated with losing. After a respite, Nakamura hit the chess circuit again with greater success.
The Hapa chess player, who is half Japanese, proved his prowess in chess again this year when he won the U.S. Chess Championship for the second time. The first time he won was in 2005. And he is not slowing down any time soon.
It is perhaps no wonder that Nakamura has been called the “best blitz player,” or fast-speed chess player. His chess schedule recently has been hectic and hurried, with trips to Germany and Japan. Nakamura said he is feeling the impact of his on-the-go itinerary.
“Yeah, I did get sick,” Nakamura said, his voice noticeably hoarse during a phone call to the Pacific Citizen after returning home from traveling abroad. “It’s bound to happen. Sooner or later it’s bound to catch up with you.”
“Usually it’s not that busy. From about the first week of May, I was more or less playing something with the exception of about a week. This one was definitely different from past summers.”
American Chess Prodigy
Nakamura was born in Japan in 1987 to a Japanese father and a Caucasian mother. When he was two, Nakamura’s mother moved with her two sons back to the United States, eventually settling in New York.
It is perhaps not surprising that Nakamura excelled at chess, the game has been a family affair.
“My brother started playing in kindergarten. He was very talented,” Nakamura explained. “And through chess my mom met my stepfather.”
His brother, Asuka, was once the best chess player in his age group.
Sunil Weeramantry, Nakamura’s stepfather, is also well known as one of the best scholastic chess coaches in the U.S. It was Nakamura’s experience going to chess tournaments with his stepfather and brother that first piqued his interest in the game.
At the 1994 U.S. Open in Concord, Calif. Nakamura played chess in the Skittles Room, an area with a series of chess tables. Soon Nakamura honed his talent and excelled past his stepfather and brother. But Nakamura’s focus on chess has had limitations.
“Having a girlfriend is kind of difficult,” Nakamura said in response to a question about his love life. “The few times I’ve tried, my chess went down quickly. At some point, sooner or later I’ll probably get married.”
Nakamura’s style of chess has been called, “aggressive and relentless.” They are terms he does not refute. His chess personality is the exact opposite of how he tries to be outside of chess tournaments, said Nakamura.
“Playing chess, I’m very intense. I tend to be very anti-social,” Nakamura explained. “I want to win and have no distraction. I remember there was a time when Roger Clemens said, ‘On the field these players are my enemies and off they’re my friends.’ That’s the sort of attitude I have.”
It is an attitude that has paid off. Nakamura pocketed $40,000 for his win at the U.S. Chess Championship this year. Despite his recent success, Nakamura said there are pluses and minuses to chess.
“I would say on the plus side you get to travel so much. I’ve already seen more of the world than most people will see in their lifetime. It kind of opens your eyes to what the world is like,” Nakamura said.
There are also drawbacks to traveling frequently. “When you travel so much you don’t have the opportunities to make friends who live in the same areas as you do,” Nakamura told the P.C.
He is playing in the U.S. Chess League now, but will not compete “seriously” until October.
For now, the New York transplant is getting settled in his new home in Seattle. He drove four days across country from New York with his mother.
One day he hopes to go into finance like some of his other chess mates, taking the lessons he has learned from about 14 years of chess play.
“Getting to be a master at the age of 10, it sort of proves to yourself that you can do something if you want it bad enough.”
|