- Jeff Sarwer
Infobox chess player
playername = Jeff Sarwer
caption= Jeff Sarwer 1.07.1988 Canada Day
birthname = Jeffrey William Sarwer
country =Canada ,
datebirth = birth date and age|1978|5|14
placebirth = Kingston,Canada
worldchampion = 1986, Boys under 10, Puerto RicoJeff Sarwer (born
May 14 1978 ,Kingston, Canada ) is a former childchess prodigy whose charismatic personality and chess talent made him a well known media figure. His chess career and his family's unconventional lifestyle was the subject of many articles and TV shows.Jeff's attacking playing style was often compared to
Bobby Fischer , and a match drawn against him by another young chess player,Joshua Waitzkin , was the inspiration for the climax in the film "Searching for Bobby Fischer ".Jeff Sarwer won the under 10
World Youth Chess Championship inPuerto Rico in 1986 representing Canada.When Jeff was eight, he was believed by many to be one of the strongest prodigies in thehistory of the game.
Allen Kaufman , head of theAmerican Chess Foundation , said, "Jeff at nine is stronger than Bobby was at 11."Bruce Pandolfini said, "Of the several thousand kids I've taught, Jeff is certainly the most amazing young player I've ever seen."Early career
Jeff learned the rules of
chess at the age of 4 from his 2-year-older sister Julia and at age of 6 started to play at the Manhattan Chess Club, which was one of the most prestigious chess clubs in the world at the time.Bruce Pandolfini was the manager of the club, and being impressed with them gave him and his sister free life memberships which were usually reserved for grandmasters.Jeff used to entertain large crowds by playing 40 people at the same time known as simultaneous chess, every
Canada Day from the age of 7 onParliament Hill inOttawa . He also used to show up and play speed chess at Washington Square Park in New York City, where large amounts of people gathered to watch his games.Media life
At the age of 7 Jeff's enthusiasm for the game caught the attention of Grandmaster
Edmar Mednis and he invited him to analyze the 1986 World Championship Match between Kasparov-Karpov on PBS. Jeff and his sister Julia (who was also a world champion for girls under 10) continued to do this for the rematch in 1987 as well. After this Jeff and Julia became well known in media circles and appeared on various talk shows and were the subject of a documentary.Magazines such as "
GQ " and "Sports Illustrated " wrote articles about Jeff and his family, often highlighting their bizarre lifestyle and questioning his safety and chess career under his father's care."Vanity Fair" Article
Jeff's father didn't allow Jeff to continue his chess career when it became apparent that he wouldn't be able to keep full control over Jeff's life. He moved the family away from New York City and ran into trouble with The Children's Aid Society of Ontario. A featured article in
Vanity Fair magazine byJohn Colapinto detailed child abuse of Jeff and Julia and prompted The C.A.S. to take him and his sister into protective custody.Jeff and Julia ran away from the C.A.S. back to their father and hid out from authorities in order to not be taken away into custody again. The Sarwers lived in various countries and got used to living an anonymous lifestyle.
"Searching For Bobby Fischer"
In 1993 the film
Searching for Bobby Fischer was released and Jeff Sarwer's character was portrayed as "Jonathan Poe". In the film's final game Jonathan Poe was offered a draw and lost, but in reality Jeff Sarwer and Josh Waitzkin drew the match and shared the championship title. At the time that the game was played, Jeff was 7 and Josh 9 years old. The only other tournament game played between them was in December 1985 and won by Jeff.Sarwer-Waitzkin 1986 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f4 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. e5 Ne8 8. Bd3c5 9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. Bc2 a5 11. O-O b6 12. Be3 Bb7 13. Qd4 dxe5 14. Nxe5 Qxd415. Bxd4 Rd8 16. Bxc5 bxc5 17. Na4 Bxe5 18. fxe5 Rd2 19. Rf2 Rxf2 20. Kxf2 f621. e6 Nd6 22. Nxc5 Rc8 23. Nxb7 Nxb7 24. b3 Nc5 25. Re1 Rc6 26. Be4 Ra6 27.Bc2 Rxe6 28. Rxe6 Nxe6 29. Ke3 Kf8 30. Ke4 Ke8 31. g3 Kd7 32. Kd5 f5 33. a3 h634. b4 axb4 35. axb4 Nc7+ 36. Kc5 e5 37. Ba4+ Kc8 38. Bc6 e4 39. b5 e3 40. Bf3Ne6+ 41. Kd5 Ng5 42. Be2 Kc7 43. Ke5 Ne4 44. Kd4 Kd6 45. Kxe3 Kc5 46. g4 Nd647. Kf4 g5+ 48. Ke5 fxg4 49. Kf6 g3 50. hxg3 Ne4+ 51. Kg6 Nxg3 52. Bd3 Nh1 53.Kxh6 g4 54. Kg5 g3 55. Be4 Nf2 56. Bd5 Nd1 57. Kf4 Nc3 58. Bc6 Ne2+ 59. Kf3Nd4+ 60. Kxg3 Nxc6 61. bxc6 Kxc6 62. Kf3 Kc5 63. Ke3 Kxc4 1/2-1/2
Resurfacing
After he disappeared at a very young age, many people thought Jeff wouldn't be seen playing chess again. In September 2007 Jeff resurfaced to the chess scene apparently without training and entered a 30 minute semi-rapid tournament at Malbork castle in
Poland . He finished in third place with a score of 7/9 in a group of 86 players including four Grandmasters. Since he had no active chess rating, he was given a provisional Elo rating of 2300FIDE but seemed to perform above that level.Jeff has traveled extensively to many countries and currently is a businessman and real estate professional in Poland and Eastern Europe. He speaks five languages and has various hobbies.
External links
* [http://www.jeffsarwer.com Sarwer's website]
* [http://skoraf.republika.pl/2007/tabela_turniejowa_zawodnikow_fide.html Malbork Castle Tournament]
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=81835 chessgames.com profile]
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