Eric Rosen (2)

Chess champ from Skokie earns rare international title
Mike IsaacsContact Reporter
Pioneer Press – Chicago Tribune

“I want to keep playing. I want to play in tournaments and be better and better. I want to travel and play in different towns and win lots of games.”

Chess champion and Skokie resident Eric Rosen, who recently was awarded a rare international title from the World Chess Federation, analyzed his future in chess — but not after this recent accomplishment when he officially was ranked international master in chess, not when he was playing top-notch chess in college and high school, not even when Skokie named a day after him because of his many accomplishments in tournament play.

Rosen astutely predicted his future in chess some 13 years ago when he talked with Pioneer Press at all of age 9. As a Middleton School third grader, he had defeated the state’s No. 1 player in his age group. He took home a first place trophy from the Scholastic State Tournament for Primary Division in Bloomington.

Fast forward to September, 2015. Rosen, now 22, was named international master (IM) in chess by the Paris-founded World Chess Federation or Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE) this month at its 86th Congress in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Achieving the title is the culmination of Rosen’s last four years of notching different accomplishments in tournaments near and far.

Rosen did not travel to the Middle East to receive his title, but his qualifications are now officially confirmed and recorded by FIDE. According to the global chess organization, Rosen has a ranking that makes him 151st best of all ranked players in the United States, 79th best of all active players.

Since high school, Rosen has had a FIDE master title, one step below international master, but a big step. FIDE’s profile for Rosen shows that he achieved the FIDE master title in 2011, the international master title this year.

After having attended the University of Illinois, Rosen is continuing his studies this fall at Webster University in St. Louis with a focus on computer science and digital media. He has joined Webster’s chess team, which is known for having one of the strongest college chess programs in the county, his father said.

“Eric is a fantastic and persistent player,” Muradian said. “I’ve known him since he was a little kid. I hold a friendly grudge with him for swindling a draw out of me when he was weak enough for me to compete against him. Now there’s no chance or hope for me.”

He believes Rosen is “responsible, level headed, respectful” because his family has been supportive and “does not push chess down his throat.”

“They give him his breathing space to learn, make mistakes, and grow,” he said.

Brad Rosen said he has seen chess parents who behave differently.

“Eric has never been force-fed chess day and night,” Brad said. “There’s been a lot of chess, but there’s been a lot of other stuff, too. It’s always been up to Eric.”

Full article here.

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