Many moons ago on May 30th, 1998, a young 5 year old boy walked into my Chess Club in Queens, New York, with his father for his first ever rated tournament. He lost his 1st rated game and scored only 1/4. His 1st rating was 473.
One of the players he lost to was Elina Kats, a young girl whom I taught how the pieces move. She was raised by her Mom, and her grandfather helped me opened my first ever Chess Center. She later on became the 1st girl to win the NY State High School Championship (ahead of all the boys). Elina is now a successful lawyer (Harvard Law School Grad).
Back to this young boy. He did not get discourage. He went home determined to get better, and he did.
About two months later, he came back with his father for his 2nd ever rated tournament. This time, he doubled his score to 2 points out of 4, while gaining 107 points, raising it to 580. One of his 2 losses this time was also against Elina Kats.
Again about two months later, he came back again. Although he still only scored 2 out 4, his rating jumped again to a whopping 631. Incidentally, the player who won this event, another young boy who was slightly older, scored 4 out of 4. His name is Lev Milman, who later became a GM.
This young boy’s name is Fabiano Caruana. He is one of the highest rated players in chess history and he challenged Magnus Carlsen for the world title. He still works very hard on his chess, and once again will lead the US team in Budapest aiming for Olympiad Gold.
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