Joshua Waitzkin (born December 4, 1976) is an American chess player, martial arts competitor, and author. As a child, he was recognized as a prodigy, and won the U.S. Junior Chess championship in 1993 and 1994. He is the only person to have won the National Primary, Elementary, Junior High School, High School, U.S. Cadet, and U.S. Junior Closed chess championships in his career. The movie Searching for Bobby Fischer is based on his early life.
Early life and education
Josh Waitzkin, The Art of Learning - Josh Waitzkin discusses chess, martial arts, and ideas from his new book, The Art of Learning.
Waitzkin was born in New York City and has a Jewish background. He began playing chess at the age of six, having discovered it while wandering through Washington Square Park in New York City. While playing blitz chess with the hustlers, he was "discovered" by Bruce Pandolfini, a chess author and teacher, who later took Waitzkin under his wing for a number of years. During his years as a student at The Dalton School in New York City, he led the school to win seven national team championships between the third and ninth grades in addition to his eight individual titles. In 1999, Waitzkin enrolled at Columbia University, where he studied philosophy.
The first master Waitzkin defeated was Edward Frumkin, in a game featuring a sacrifice of Waitzkin's queen and rook in exchange for a checkmate six moves later. Waitzkin was ten years old at the time. At age 11, he and fellow prodigy K. K. Karanja were the only two children to draw with World Champion Garry Kasparov in an exhibition game where Kasparov played simultaneously against 59 youngsters. Five years later, he earned the title of National Master, and at age 16 became an International Master.
Waitzkin has not played in a US Chess Federation tournament since 1999, and his last FIDE tournament was before 2000.
Movie portrayal
The script for Paramount Pictures' 1993 movie Searching for Bobby Fischer was based on a 1988 book by Waitzkin's father, Fred Waitzkin: Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess. Waitzkin makes a cameo in the film, in a scene in the last quarter of the movie where his father is watching a young Josh play a character Vinnie from a bench. The real Waitzkin can be seen wearing a green/gray coat over a white shirt and standing behind a boy in a black sweatshirt who is playing chess right next to the film's version of Waitzkin.
Author
Waitzkin is the author of two books: Attacking Chess: Aggressive Strategies, Inside Moves from the U.S. Junior Chess Champion (1995) and The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance (2008). He is also the spokesperson for the Chessmaster video game series, and is featured in the game giving advice and game analysis.
Martial arts
As a young adult, Waitzkin's focus shifted to the martial art Aikido. He holds several US national medals and a 2004 world champion title in the competitive sport of Taiji Push Hands (Taiji Tui Shou). Waitzkin also became a championship coach, leading Grandmaster William C. C. Chen's US Push Hands Team to several titles at the Tai Chi World Cup in Taiwan, guiding teammates Jan Lucanus and Jan C. Childress to their world titles. Waitzkin is also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under world champion and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu phenomenon Marcelo Garcia. Waitzkin is the co-founder of MGInAction.com and The Marcelo Garcia Academy, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school located in New York City.
Personal
On April 23, 2010, Waitzkin married Desiree Cifre, a screenwriter and former contestant on The Amazing Race.
References
External links
- Joshua Waitzkin player profile and games at Chessgames.com
- "Chess Champion Offers Success Strategies for Life" audio interview by NPR on May 14, 2007 about the book The Art of Learning
- The Art of Learning Project
- Interviews with Josh Waitzkin
- Edward Winter, Searching for Bobby Fischer (Joshua Waitzkin)