It was the 1. of November in 2012, when my son has got a kind of chess-illnes. He became totally, I mean complete totaly crazy about chess from that very day.
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| Julian Lohmar at a team tournament (U18) in Lohmar, near Bonn, taken at May, 4 2013 |
And that is the story:
Knowing to move the chessman since he was about 48 months old (christmas 2009), he seems not to be very interestet or specially talented in the Bobby Fischer Game for about two and a half years. He just plays arount with the macbook pro from time to time after he was five years old and switched the apple chess programm all the time to level zero. I was shure, that he would learn nothing with that method. Playing with me: no interest, because I did not let him win (I am afraid I was not a gread educator I ;-) )
With his first schoolday in the end of August, that changes: Pappa, lets work out the Bobby Fischer Book (Bobby Fischer teaches chess), please, please, please...., so I asked myself, what happened ?
At the beginning of November 2012. He was around the chessman, and watching youtube chess videos and playing with me and playing on the computer etc. for about 9 hours.... (E. g. After I have slept two and a half hours in the afternoon I find Julian hanging arount with the chessman and playing still with himself (didn´t really count the hours after that)
At that day he asked me for the first time: Is it possible to learn chess as a profession? Are there any professional chess players?
I answerered, that there are some Grand masters who can live from chess and they earn about 1000 bugs a month or so. The top 100 players more.....
So he speaks the original Bobby Fischer words (he couldn´t know them before): "Papa, ich möchte nur noch Schach spielen" (Papa, everything I want to do is playing chess).
From the 2. of November 2012 I was not able to beat him in chess!!!
I told him: ok, live your dreams, all I can do is to try to help you....
We found a chess club some 10 kilometers from us. They told us, that there is a santa claus turnament. It was open for all kids, even those, who are not in a club.
So I was afraid, that his first contact was not the normal training, but a turnament. Could be frustraiting.
I remember the words of a small Boy from the Godesberg chess club. I sat Julian on his chair, said "Hallo, this is Julian, he is still not in a club, he is 6 years old and wants to play chess"
His opponent answered: "I am 11 years old and I am playing for Bad Godesberg (which is a Bundesliga Club!), there he has no chance to win this round of the match."
2 min and 37 sekonds later (it was Blitz) the same Boy was Queen and a rook behind Julian (and tears stood in his eyes) and he resigns.
Of course Julian has won the turnament in his class of age (U 8).
At that time I didn´t even know what a chess club is. Never seen any of them from inside.
The youth trainer from Bad Godesberg told me, that there is a much nearer club for us (I did not even know his existence). So we went there a week later (and it was also not normal training but a tournament there - guess who wins the U 10 class?).
Since these days Julian is a succer for rapid and blitz chess youth tournaments and in March / April he reaches a ratio of unbelievable 22 out of 22 in 3 Tournaments (and the beginning of a fourth which will end in July)
In March, 28 he beat the worlds Nr. 38 in the U 7 range (who was indeed extremely tired) at one of that little meetings......The father of that boy is an extremely handsome man, we share the same "problems" with our wonderboys so they will visit us next week (they ae from Münster, we are from Bonn).
So within just 5 months or so I became a kind of a chess papa, whose rule is just to be a perfect servant and Internet researcher for Julian and a good chauffeur, for I have not the slightest idea how to move the chessman in a way the best 7 or 8 year old childs do it. So i can´t critisize my son for any of his moves or decisions (for he is looking like a 20 year old man when he plays, not a like a child). There are so many asshole chessparents at the turnaments. Discussing moves with crying children, critisize the childs for not winning the game. Is it them who play or is it the kids who play. So I leave Julian do his own thing.
I can only be amazed how a child can develope himself from one day to another (or was it some extra terrestrial who turned at November 1. 2012 a switch in Julians head)?
