Special thanks to Janak’s Mom Patricia for sending me this article
Checkmated on Vancouver’s streets
Samar Halarnkar – Monday, May 19, 2008 10:53 AM
There’s a chess champion in this photo.
The portly man on the right is David Strauss, known and feared on Vancouver’s vibrant street chess scene. He plays upto 100 opponents at the same time. This is his modus operandi: David sets up his table and his chess boards and distributes leaflets titled, “Go ahead, make your move.” He plays on “a donation-only basis”, meaning, if you want to play, you play. Don’t know how to play? Daved will teach you: Basics, intermediate and advanced chess techniques. Half-hour lessons are $10. Suggested donations: zero for people in wheelchairs, $5 or less for students, seniors or “underemployed folks (there are lots of homeless in Vancouver and many appear to play chess)”. Everyone else, “please contribute $5 and up”, says David.
The boy to David’s left, the one struggling to keep his balance, is Janak Joshua Awatramani, our 9-year-old nephew. Janak is an avid chess fan. While other Vancouver kids play video games and watch television, he plays the ancient game of kings on computer and on Vancouver’s streets. His father, and our host, Gyan Awatramani (that’s him on the extreme left of the photo), brings him here to the street-chess centre at the corner of Hornby and Robson streets (outside the art museum, a reallly cool place to watch or play the game) to hone his skills against the chess afficionados. Janak’s father is from Bombay, his mother, Patricia (that’s her to Janak’s left, smiling, in the blue tee and black tracks) from Zurich, Switzerland. He’s been born and brought up in Vancouver, listens to the Jodhaa Akbar soundtrack at home and just created an artificial volcano for his science project at school the day before yesterday.
Until yesterday, David thought he was the Vancouver street-chess champion.
Then, he met Janak.
“I can give him lessons,” said David as he eyed Janak imperiously. It was a perfect Friday — warm, sunny (an unbelievable 27 degrees C) and bustling with people.
“No, he can play.” That’s all Gyan said as Janak, often taciturn, clambered onto the cement platform and struggled to keep his balance.
After some swift opening moves, in which Janak moved with lightning speed, barely pausing when his turn came, David looked up.
“He does seem to know how to play,” he said to Gyan, who gave a half smile and only nodded. All around us, a crowd slowly gathered. An old man whom Janak had beaten 30 minutes ago (you can see him too in the top photo, between David and Janak) sidled up to Patricia, scratched his stubble and grinned: “You must be the proud Mama eh?” Patricia said nothing. She gets very tense when Janak plays.
David quickly grabbed a knight and a rook. He soon realised it was an intentional sacrifice made by Janak for positional advantage. Janak struck back quickly.
“I think he does know how to play,” David said, not looking up this time. Smiles began to show on the faces of the spectators.
Within 15 minutes, David faced endgame. He frowned, stunned, but refusing to show it. “He definitely knows how to play.”
Then, checkmate. You can see David pondering over the board in the photo below (left), his chin in his hand. He knew the game was up. He wordlessly leaned across and shook hands with Janak (below, right). The spectators dropped all pretence of being neutral. They smiled, grinned and congratulated Janak.
David Strauss had been conquered. When we left, he was rearranging the board, trying to recreate the game and wondering how he’d been crushed by a silent 9-year-old.
Janak does this often with many an opponent, disarms them with his youth and innocence, then sweeps them off the board. We are all very proud of him. Of course, no one in the family can best him at chess. His love for chess is a lesson in good parenting: Janak’s dad and mum never force him to play the game, despite his obvious talent. He doesn’t take chess lessons and only practices, as I said, on the street and at home when he’s in the mood. “If he gets bored, he can just stop,” said Gyan. That’s a far cry from the stories we’ve heard of manic chess parents, one of whom makes his daughter clean the house every time she loses a game. Others employ two or more coaches for their child.
As I write this, Janak’s flown to Edmonton — a 60-minute flight — with his father to participate in national finals of the Canandian Chess Challenge 2008. He’s won the championships in his age group the last two years. The house is full of his trophies. Today, he won all six games, including knocking off the Bejing champion, who immigrated to Canada with his family just a couple of months ago. It was a really tense day for Patricia: She has never been to any of his games. “I can’t bear the tension,” she said. So, she and Janak’s sisters hung out with us today while he kept the family — and Indo-Swiss — flags flying.
She’s just gone to sleep, a happy, content mother. It’s nearing midnight, I’ve had three rum-and-cokes in celebration. Good night.
P.S. (below): The ladies take a chess break on the steps of the art museum (from left): Sufiya, the wife, Gitanjali and Patricia (with the chariot, the mother of all strollers)
Source: blogs.livemint.com (Wall Street Journal)
Impressive feat Janak. Congrats lad.
Susan there are some other pictures mentioned in the article…would love to see them. Way to go Janak!!
That is sooo coooool!!!
It’ll be interesting to see him try his luck with Nakamura.
David Strauss’s rating is 1792 and Janak Awatraman’s rating is 1513. When an adult plays with a 9-year-old boy, negligence is the cause of the older man’s blunder.
A 9-year-old player with 1513 local rating in current chess world is not strong. The parents will see it if they bring Janak to play the WYCC.
It’s no way let Nakamura play with him if Nakamura doesn’t want to donate his time.
I was getting tense just reading the article. Congrats to Janak!
Janak’s official rating is only 1513, but he has beaten adults/kids rated 1800-2300 in active tournaments. Unfortunately not received rating points, because they were “active” not rated turnaments.
And FYI he has played in the WYCC where he ranked joint 7 in the world.
Also FYI GM Nakamura was kind enough to play Janak in a friendly.
http://wcjc.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html
That is very impressive for a kid who doesn’t take lessons or coaching. Keep up the good work!!
If you understand Swiss System, there is no the title called “ranked joint 7 in the world”. Janak was ranked 16th in the U8 group with 7.5 in 2007 WYCC.
Janak’s best performance rating in active tournament is 1437 on April 15,2006.
If he can beat 2300 players in unrated active game, how I can believe it’s not the adult player want to let the boy happy?
The friend game can’t be counted.
I saw too much story in Canada, such kind of parents’ narcissism.
And how can you explain that he hasn’t dropped a game in the Nationals for 3 years in a row? And this time he beat a prodigy from China, (who has been on National TV) rated 1860.
While few adult players may drop a game to make a kid happy, but the majority have far too big egos.
Also his parents have had many offers to be on TV and national newspapers, but they have refused. So much for narcisism.
It was Janak’s uncle who wrote the article in jest rather than to flaunt his chess prowess.
Janak recently won the Canadian Chess Challenge for Grade 3. Our own Manitoba Champion for the same grade, Dezheng Kong, lost to him and had to settle for second place.
http://chess-math.org/ccc2008/
Dezheng has an 1862 CFC rating himself, which is not an active rating, and scored 2.5/4 going into the final round of the Manitoba Championship this past weekend. These kids are for real.
I would expect Janak’s regular CFC rating to jump precipitously if he plays in more regularly-rated CFC events. The Chess and Math organization, which sponsored the Chess Challenge event, has a separate rating system entirely.
The funny thing is Kong’s age is same as Janak. Comparing Kong’s rating 1862, Janak’s rating only 1500+. Even in 30mins game Janak wins once against Kong.
Please understand, the Elo’s rating system is the statistical system, whereas one 30mins’ game can’t say Janak is stronger than Kong.
I agree it’s the narcissism story.
Bieng witness to the game here are my recollections. Kong was outplayed from the very begininig.
Does that make Janak a stronger player- in this game for sure he demonstrated that. Kong’s rating reflects otherwise and indicates a much stronger track record. Time will tell.
Also I can say this-Janak was composed and collected while Kong was nervous and got himself into time/positional trouble.
To beat a prodigy who was paraded on Canadian National TV, and to beat him fair and square in a National Tournament without the help of a coach and formal chess training- wow-BRAVO my lad BRAVO.
I think all you critics should watch the TV clip of Kong and decide for yourselves who is narcisstic one here.
Janak’s parents,
Check the CFC website, you will find how many good kids ahead your son. I live in Toronto. I didn’t know who Kong was and I never met Kong. Of course I didn’t watch the TV clip of Kong. However,this article is nothing else but show off I only see.
My suggestion to the parents is that: Keep you son on chess lasting at least 6 years without showing off. Let’s see Janak will be a national master or not when he is around 15 years old. Otherwise, don’t using anonymous attack another Canadian boy who is same age as your son and stronger than youe son by CFC rating and nobody cares Kong lost once by CMA rating which is a 30mins game.
Some recent comments on this blog were brought to my attention via a friend- so I thought I should adress them.
Thanks to everyone for all your positive comments, and moreover thank you to all for your negative comments regarding narcissism and ratings.
I agree how it could be perceived that way, but the article was written without my consent by Janak’s uncle, who’s fondness of his nephew, may have gone a touch overboard.If he did offend anyone, my profound apologies.
As for Dezheng Kong- he is a phenomenal chess player. I watched the game he played with Janak, he fought valiantly, and was unfortunate to loose that particular game.
Another point I would like to make is that ratings do not mean anything at this stage. One must also factor in the rating pool they play in. Besides it’s how you play on the day itself.
And to the last comment, yes many players in Janak’s age group are rated higher than him, but I let his performances, at the National Chess Challenge, CYCC and WCYCC speak for itself.
He has no grand delusions of becoming a Grandmaster or Master; he is just focussed on playing good chess.
Best Wishes to all,
Gyan
“David quickly grabbed a knight and a rook. He soon realised it was an intentional sacrifice made by Janak for positional advantage. Janak struck back quickly.”
LMAO! How can you sacrifice both a knight and rook and claim to have a positional advantage.
“Let’s see Janak will be a national master or not when he is around 15 years old.” Done at 13 years old:
http://chess.ca/players?check_rating_surname=awatramani&check_rating_knownby=janak