South Africa gets its first chess grandmaster
 

This is a really "good feel" story on so many levels. Not only to climb out of a bad social environment but to achieve at such a high level is amazing.

As a fellow chess player I stand in awe of him and his achievements.

“Kenny was exposed to gang culture from an early age,” his website states. “Kenny realised that if he didn’t create his own future, he would merely become a pawn in this scene, trapped in the violent, oppressive cycle of gangsterism. Strong family values and his early interest in chess kept him away from these influences and compelled him to make choices about his fate.

“After getting into chess at the age of 13, he would play blitz games with his older brother and a friend in the Solomons’ backyard, amidst lines of dripping washing.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...itchells-plain

That is a great story! Thanks for sharing it. :rock:

Nice one.

Shame we loose so many talents in slums and gangs and get stuck with priviliged retards just because it does matter where you're born.

True that :yep:

By choosing the path he did this young man no doubt dodged a bullet. Over here after someone joins, a gangbanger gets a tat of three dots to remind them of their options 'cemetery, hospital or jail'.

Hope this kid sticks with it.

Agree with you - no matter the country - any kid born into a community where gangs rule is under huge pressure to either comply, join, or turn a blind eye.

For this kid not only to buck the gangs and rise above them but to become a chess grand master to boot is simply bloody amazing.

I have been playing competitive chess in SA since my school years - have beaten a grand master once (Karl Robatsch) albeit him playing 12 players simultaneously on his visit to SA.

But as Betonov implies, who on earth would have put money on the first chess grand master coming out of the gangster slums of Cape Town South Africa as opposed to the upper middle class of South African society with its leafy suburbs of manicured lawns where time, tuition, wants, lifestyle, goals etc are so far removed from this guy it boggles the mind as to what he has had to endure to get where he is.

Chapeau! The speed at which he raised to ranks, is impressive, considering the late age at which he found chess:

" Solomon started playing chess as a 13-year-old (...) He read a book about former world champion Anatoly Karpov, taught himself to play and won the under-16 national championship two years later. "

Will check some matches later.

If you hear gangbangers today they'll tell you they seek what their natural family could not or did not provide loyalty, family, love, protection. The key to Kenny's success was I believe as the article stated "Strong family values" it kept him from having to find a substitution.

Heh, gangs, no matter what the era, they stay the same. You could have said this for some of the Mafia once. Probably not so much for the London gangs, although loyalty and protection came into it, and some of the top boys rated family pretty highly. :hmmm: