A woman in a man’s (chess) world 

By Ralph Fajardo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
4:23 am | Saturday, August 24th, 2013

At first glance, one would think that a petite and demure first year college student like Jean Karen Enriquez would not be capable of standing up to a man. Yet this is what this 16-year-old lady has been doing all along—on the chess board, that is.

“The first time I saw her play chess and beat every guy in the AAP, I knew right then and there that I had to have her on my team,” says National University (NU) chess coach Jose “Jojo” Aquino Jr. “She is a strong tactical player and tries to win every game by attacking early. As a woman chess player, her style of play is simply commendable.”

Back then, Karen was still playing for the high school team of Adamson University, a perennial rival of NU in the UAAP chess wars. Her impressive style of play—which Jojo says can easily beat any FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs)-rated male chess player today—did not go unnoticed.

Offers

As soon as Karen finished high school, various college coaches started offering her a slot in their respective chess teams. Aside from NU, other schools like the University of the Philippines and Adamson, her high school alma mater, tried to recruit her. She had a hard time deciding because her parents had wanted her to take up dentistry in another school.

But coach Jojo and her love for the game prevailed. “I chose NU because I wanted to continue playing chess. I want to become a strong chess player like Jerad Docena. I’m sure, with coach Jojo’s training, I’d still be able to learn more,” beams Karen. Jerad is one the most famous young Filipino grandmasters today.

Together with male members of the NU varsity chess team—Ryan Magtapuc, Vince Medina, John Rey Batucan and Antonio Almidal—Karen trains under coach Jojo at the NU chess room every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They meet up at 3 p.m.—covering a lot of topics, from improving her chess-playing skills to becoming more patient and focused during games.

“She’s already got the talent,” says Jojo. “My job is to ensure that she keeps playing and develop more confidence without being too overconfident during actual games. That way, she’d be able to fulfill her dream of becoming a highly rated chess player, or even become our very first woman grandmaster.”

Karen reveals that playing chess was not really her first sport. She had been playing basketball with her friends, but they’d often tease her playing style to the point of bullying her, so she stopped.

At the same time, she got intrigued when she saw one of her male cousins wearing a chess varsity uniform. She somehow envied him since he didn’t have to attend school regularly, yet he still manages to get good grades. 

Read more: http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/121569/a-woman-in-a-mans-chess-world#ixzz2cpiRnnxA

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