Not every chess player gets a chance to work with Garry Kasparov. But then, not everyone can win the World junior chess championship at 15.
Jeffery Xiong is not your average teenaged Grandmaster. He is one for the future.
The world got a glimpse into that future over the last fortnight, when he dominated the World junior championship at the KIITS University campus here.
In 13 gruelling rounds, he did not lose a single game. The American had won the tournament with a round to spare, so the result of the final round hardly mattered and he could have settled for a comfortable draw.
But he tried hard for a win against Iran’s Masoud Mosadeghpour. He was disappointed when he was forced to split the point.
Delighted
He was delighted, however, that he could win what was an under-20 tournament and that he was the only player besides Joel Lautier of France to have done so at 15.
“I was very much aware of Lautier’s feat and emulating it means a lot to me,” Xiong told The Hindu . “I am also happy that I have won such a prestigious and strong tournament. There were several fine players here.”
He said he knew that as the second seed he would face the stiffest challenge from top seed Vladislav Artemiev of Russia (he drew that game in the 11th round and more or less confirmed the title), but he was quick to point out that he had to overcome several quality players.
“I am pretty impressed with the Indian players here; Aravindh Chithambaram, Murali Karthikeyan, the little R. Pragnananda... they are all very good,” he said. “I think most of the Indian players are better than their ratings.”
Xiong has a rating that belies his age. He has 2641 Elo points, making him the world’s strongest player in the under-16 category.
He considers himself lucky that he gets to work with one of the strongest players in history, Kasparov.
He is one of the few young players who are part of the Russian legend’s Young Stars programme.
“Working with him has helped my chess tremendously,” he said. “He evaluates my game periodically and gives advice.”
Kasparov thinks anything is possible with Xiong. “He has a very solid style, very mature chess,” Kasparov has said. “You can’t put a ceiling on such a young player who has had a recent big leap like Jeffery has. Anything is possible for him, as long as he continues to work as hard as he does, and I expect that he will,” Kasparov said.
