Chess Child: The Story of Ray Robson, America's Youngest Grandmaster - Softcover

Gary Robson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0982668201 ISBN 13: 9780982668207

Publisher: Nipa Hut Press, 2010

Synopsis

Ray Robson is the youngest grandmaster to ever represent the United States. In addition to beating Bobby Fischer's record as youngest grandmaster, Ray Robson is also the youngest recipient of the prestigious Samford Chess Fellowship, the youngest member of a US team in world team competition, and the youngest player to ever qualify for the US Chess Championship. Chess Child describes the development of Ray Robson from three-year-old chess player to 14-year-old grandmaster. More than just a biography, the book tells the story of a father and his struggle to adapt to meet the changing needs of his child.

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Gary Robson started his career in education as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines. Between 1987 and 1996, he taught K-12 students and trained teachers in Asia and Micronesia. Since 1996, Dr. Robson has worked in various educational settings within the United States. Although his area of expertise is ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), he has worked with a variety of students and has taught multiple subjects in a number of settings. Chess Child is his first book.

Review

Above all else, and its greatest, transcendent, strength, Chess Child is the story about a father's love for his son, and the lengths that he will go to help, guide, support and buffer the growing boy in his quest to be as good as he can be in something that he shows great promise for.

Perhaps chess parents will page through this book looking for Gary's secrets for raising a chess genius. (There is very little concrete chess content as it applies to, say, playing the Najdorf Sicilian or finessing the Catalan Opening.) Let me be a spoiler: kind, loving words; walks and talks; throwing the football around, wrestling and having fun. Most of all: sharing a sense of perspective.

Sure, Ray has the occasional Grandmaster tutor (including some group study sessions with Gary Kasparov), and he has computer chess programs to work with but you could have guessed that, right?

It is impressive how little of Chess Child is negative, and how little of that is personal. The author is not out to settle scores, right wrongs, dish dirt. He is too busy for that.

"I once thought that by having a child, I would give up any chance of interesting travel and an interesting life outside of the family. It is, however, because of Ray that we have explored Brazilian beaches, visited the museums of Paris, trekked over Swiss Alps, bathe outdoors in steaming water in Iceland, swum with penguins around the Galapagos Islands, and enjoyed the scenery of the most beautiful place on earth in Tromsø. And that is just the travel part.

The other, more important, part involved having another human being in my life who I could so closely connect with, admire, teach, and support. If every action and decision that I made brought me to where I am now, then I must have a charmed life. Regrets? Not a single one."

Chess Child is a well-written, well laid out, self-published tale that turns out to be an intriguing grabber of a book. It should appeal to anyone interested in a story about raising a chessplayer, raising this particular Grandmaster, or just raising a really neat child. As the dad to three Kennedy Kids (none of whom will get anywhere near master level), I loved all of those perspectives. --Rick Kennedy, Chessville

Dr. Gary Robson has written a compelling account of the development of America's youngest ever grand master in chess, his son, Ray. Dr. Robson's book, Chess Child, tells the story of Ray s growth, from a 3-year-old who spurned the dull checkers tokens in favor of the more interesting chess pieces, to a 14-year-old grand master of the game.

Chess Child, Dr. Robson's first book, is as much about education, schooling, parenting, and a philosophy of life, as it is about Ray's development. And it's a fascinating read. Inspired initially to be a wanderer by the powerful words of Henry David Thoreau, Gary's journey included wandering through Central America, teaching in Asia with the Peace Corps, teaching school in Florida, a two-year stop at NAU to earn his doctorate, and globe-trotting with Ray to participate in the full array of chess opportunities that are required to earn the status of a grand master.

There is no doubt that Ray is a special child, talented and dedicated, willing to work for what he wants. Gary's book makes this clear. Ray demonstrates that work ethic that has been highlighted in such books as Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: The Story of Success or Matthew Syed's Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success . . . .

I was skeptical that an account of chess playing would be of interest beyond the world of chess aficionados. I was wrong. Chess Child is the sort of book that has broad relevance and appeal and reminds us all of the importance of family and hard work, of embracing one s values, and ultimately of the importance of living a better life. As Robson puts it,

Chess is a game. You play games, and you have fun. If you reach the end of it all and it s no longer a game and you find that you didn t have fun all along the way, why then you ve missed the point entirely. The goal is to live a better life, which, to me, is synonymous with living more wisely.

Chess Child provides both the fun of the journey and the wisdom we need. It's well worth the read. --Daniel Kain, Northern Arizona University

Chess Child may initially remind many of Fred Waitzkin's Searching for Bobby Fischer. Both are great father-son stories and each traces the development of a young boy from a chess novice to strong player. Along the way each family is forced to make sacrifices and find their own way with no guarantees as to how things will end. Both fathers start out with no knowledge of the chess world and have to figure things out along the way with no maps or books to guide them.

While there are similarities between the two stories there are also important differences. One major one is that the Robson family lives near Tampa, a semi-desert for chess compared to the Waitzkins who were based in Manhattan. While Josh had the advantage of living in the center of American chess near both the Marshall and Manhattan Chess clubs, Ray's club was the Internet. Despite all his hard work and gift for the game it is unlikely that a player the strength of Ray would have emerged from Central Florida 20 years.

Not only were all the opportunities that the Internet allows not available then, nor were ChessBase and Rybka/Fritz not to mention strong coaches. The latter was a key in Ray s development. Gary Robson writes movingly of the difficulties of finding the right person to help his son at the right time . . . .

A reoccurring theme throughout Chess Child is the sacrifices the Robson family make. There can't be too many families in Florida that have spent several summers without air-conditioning! Giving a young talent a chance to thrive is not cheap. At one point the Robson's are spending $25,000 a year out of pocket and they are not materially wealthy people . . . .

Ray is a strong Grandmaster nearing 2600 FIDE as the book ends at the end of 2009. He has accomplished a great deal in chess, more than his parents could have ever expected, but what will the future hold? Ray clearly loves chess and has parents who realize that material success doesn't mean everything but few players below the elite (2750 on up) are able to support themselves by tournament winnings alone . . . .

One might think that Gary Robson would be bitter should his son choose to follow a different path than chess down the road. Think of all the sacrifices the family has made from sleeping on kind strangers' couches, taking flights with multi-layovers to get the cheapest ticket to driving clunkers and more. But he wouldn't be. He writes at the end of Chess Child that it has all been worth it. The family has traveled all over the world from the Galapagos Islands to the far north of Norway from Brazilian beaches to bathing in thermal pools in Iceland and their son has been able to follow his dream. That doesn't sound bad.

Chess Child will be an interesting read for a wide audience, particularly parents of young chess talents looking for guidance --John Donaldson, Chess Today

Edition details

• Publisher: Nipa Hut Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0982668201
• ISBN 13: 9780982668207
• Binding: Perfect Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 281