The boy who beat a chess grandmaster, but didn’t tell him about it at school

Frederick Waldhausen Gordon, only 10 years old, has already defeated a chess grandmaster. But this young Scottish talent didn’t want to share his enthusiasm for victory with his classmates as he thought it would show off.

Fredd started playing chess at the age of 6 and in less than a week he had won over his parents, both with doctorates in mathematics.

He joined the Edinburgh Chess Club and started practicing two hours a day after school four times a week.

He also watched YouTube videos of top players’ games and listened intently to advice from his family friend, his chess teacher.

And in March of this year defeated Grand Master Bogdan Lalic en route to victory in an English Chess Federation fast-paced tournament.

He faced adult opponents in 6 games, but said the most exciting was the one against Croatian Lalic, 57.

Freddy, a pupil at George Heriot School in Edinburgh, said: “I was very nervous, but I thought that whatever happened I was going to learn from it, so I didn’t put too much effort into it. pressure. “

“He made moves that I would call a little inappropriate and I took advantage of that. His little inaccuracies got bigger the further I went, ”he recalls.

“We both removed the same number of coins, but the ones he lost were more valuable,” he continues.

“He was close to winning back then, so he gave up.”

The championship was played online due to covid restrictions, so Freddy played the game from his father’s studio.

‘I was jumping up and down’

Freddy recalls, “I can’t have any distractions and I need complete silence, so my family waited outside in the garden while I played with the door closed.”

“I don’t play very passively, so I keep my opponents on their toes,” he said.

“As soon as he was done he would jump up and down, because it’s not nice to spend all that time sitting in a chair.

Then he gave the news to his parents by shouting out the window. This is how Dr Maja Waldhausen, Professor Iain Gordon and their other daughter, Josephine, 12, discovered it.

However, he didn’t tell anyone else about his achievement during the competition, where he also managed a draw with England grandmaster Keith Arkell.

“I didn’t tell anyone at school because I thought it would show up,” Freddy said.

Freddy will be one of the contenders for the Scottish Junior Tournament on June 12.

The event is open to players aged 6-18 and offers prizes of up to £ 10,000, around $ 14,150.

Its co-founder Andrew Green, owner of the Edinburgh Chess Academy, called it “remarkable” for a 10-year-old to defeat a grandmaster.

“There are some extremely talented young Scottish players like Freddy emerging,” notes Green.

“My dream is for Scotland to be known for its failures.”

Green believes the covid-19 pandemic has led to “an increase in the popularity” of chess around the world.

He said the more time people spend at home; the success of Netflix series such as “Lady’s Gambit”; and the work of players like Magus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and the Botez sisters have helped bring the game more visibility in recent years.

Among the other participants in the Scottish junior tournament is Maggie Wang, 9, resident of Edinburgh.

This Davidson Mains Elementary School student only learned to play chess two years ago and says she is still learning.

“I prepared for the tournament by doing puzzles, watching chess tutorial videos online, and playing games,” he says.

“Eric Roscen is my favorite player so I watched him a lot and learned from his plays.”

Maggie has also seen a few episodes of “Lady’s Gambit” and tried to emulate the trick of one of her characters, who uses her imagination to visualize the tiles moving across the ceiling of the room.

Maggie’s dad, Shuo Wang, said he loves me playing chess because it has taught him things for life.

This developer of Software A 41-year-old man is happy that “he can focus and think before you act“.

“Chess is very useful for everyday life. He teaches him a lot of things that go beyond failures, ”he says.

“Now he knows that no matter if he wins or loses, it’s all about focusing on getting better. Then you can share your knowledge with others. “

By Angie Brown

BBC Scotland News

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