A 14-year-old Hungarian, Peter Leko, became the youngest grandmaster in chess history on Jan. 30 by finishing third in a tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, the Netherlands.
Leko, born Sept. 8, 1979, broke the record set in 1991 by another Hungarian, Judit Polgar, by more than a year. Only Polgar and former world champion Bobby Fischer of the United States have become grandmasters at the age of 15.Leko's performance was the third world-class result he needed to be awarded the grandmaster title by the International Chess Federation (FIDE). His earlier grandmaster-level results had been in Budapest and Leon, Spain, in 1993.
The modest youngster, who lives in the town of Szeged on the Hungarian-Yugoslav border with his mother, grandmother and brother, acknowledged that he was extremely nervous before his final-round draw against the tournament winner, Predrag Nikolic of Bosnia-Herzgovina.
Leko has played and studied chess full time for more than three years, competing in tournaments around Europe and in Australia.
His trainers have included the grandmaster Andras Adorjan of Hungary and Genna Sosoko of the Netherlands. He has managers in Hungary and Germany to organize tournament invitations, Reuters reported.
- TAX EXEMPTION - If you want to give our youths a financial lift in their chess pursuits (a highly worthy cause) as well as a tax exemption for yourself, you might well consider a gift to the National Collins Kids Inc.
This is a nonprofit organization started by Jack Collins, Bobby Fischer's former coach and the "Chess Coach of the Century." Collins fosters young people in chess. Former Collins kids include names of many top U.S. and world chess players: Bobby Fischer, Ilya Gurevich, Robert Byrne, Maxim De Lugy, Stuart Rachels, Vivek Rao, all of whom went on to become senior masters, international masters, grandmasters and world junior and senior champions.
Businesses or individuals can help the cause of youths in chess by gifts and donations.
This year, Collins Kids Inc. anticipates entering 10 teams in the U.S. Amateur Team Championships that will be held in Parsippany, N.J., at the end of February.
There are four players per team in various sections: scholastic, college, girls, women and adults. Each team's rating must be under 2,200. The scholastic varsity team has captured first place 15 out of 16 times.
Collins Kids Inc. pays the entry fees of the scholastic and college teams. If financially feasible, it will also contribute a moderate amount toward the expenses of scholastic players who request some assistance.
Collins Kids Inc. has taken teams to Iceland in the past and in turn has had young players from Iceland come to the United States to compete.
This year, Utah's top young player, Brian Harrow, will play again. He was a member of the winning Collins Kids team in 1992. If interested in participating, secure the tax ID number by telephoning 943-0755.
- CHESS WORLD - The top-class players are divided over the issue of which organization is the proper custodian of the world championship.
Some argue that the International Chess Federation (FIDE), which has administered title play since 1948, is amateurish and unable to obtain sponsors that can afford the million-dollars-plus the champions want.
Others contend that the rival Professional Chess Association (PCA), instituted by the title holder, Gary Kasparov, is too interested in money and cannot be relied upon to supervise objectively the process of selecting challengers for the championship.
There is a third group, the pragmatists, who won't choose sides. They are typified by the brilliant and easygoing 24-year-old Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand.
He played in and won the qualification tournament of the Professional Chess Association at the end of December. And in late January he won the first of the elimination matches run by FIDE. If he continues his success, he will be qualified for two title matches, one with the FIDE titleholder and the other with the PCA titleholder.