Poise and confidence define Jupiter 7-year-old chess master
By DIANNA SMITH
Palm Beach Post Staff Reports
Thursday, March 12, 2009
JUPITER — He’s cool and calm and oh, so confident.
He’s also 7 years old.
His name is Noam Rothman – a 4-foot-7-inch baby-face boy missing tiny teeth. And though he might be in a first-grade classroom learning how to spell, on Sunday this talented child will compete against high-school students in a chess tournament. And Noam intends to win.
“I have a chance of beating some of them,” he said after a recent chess practice at Meyer Jewish Academy.
Wondering if he’s stressed?
“I’m not the kind of guy that gets all stressed,” Noam said of the game. “It’s never been pressuring.”
This kid just goes with the flow.
That’s something he’s learned from his dad, Jeffrey Rothman of Jupiter. He taught Noam how to play at the age of 3 and one year later, Noam beat his dad at a friendly game for the first time.
His dad teaches him to have fun with the game and to learn from his opponents if he loses.
Noam recently placed first in the K-1 category of the 2009 Florida State Scholastic Chess Championship. He’s won ribbons and trophies that are almost as tall as he is. And now he’s planning a trip to Nashville next month to compete in the United States Chess Federation SuperNationals Chess Tournament. Meyer Academy is funding the trip.
“This shows him if he loves something and studies it, he can do it,” Rothman said.
Noam’s knack for the game even landed him a role in the television show Burn Notice. Filmed in Miami last summer, Noam and his dad were extras and both played chess players.
Here is the full story.
Good job!
It’s great to see such good publicity of the game, and such talented young-people, but why in the world is he being called a chess master? Such ignorance in the press is disturbing.
their are chess masters that are called chess masters and do play like chess masters. That is ignorance as well. Calling this child a chess master is like caliing him a “champion” and that in itself improves self-esteem.
How is it ignorance for a chess master to be called a chess master when he/she plays like a chess master??
The online title of the article is indeed mistaken (Noam has not attained master status). In the print edition, the title does not call him a master. Overall, we are very happy about the enthusiastic nature of the article.
-Jeffrey Rothman
(Noam’s Dad)
Its fun looking back at this article.
Noam, age 13