As the father of a child talented at chess (state champion), I really enjoyed watching SFBF. Great story, and great acting by Max Pomeranc.
So naturally, I wanted to learn more about Josh Waitzkin, and much to my disappointment I found that the ending was a complete lie. Yes, Josh did play for the US championship. But in reality Josh didn't win. When Josh was 9 years old, he had a draw against a 7-year old named Jeff Sarwer. And an analysis of the game shows that Jeff was clearly winning, but a mistake cost him, ending the game in a draw.
Jeff Sarwer is an interesting story. In real life, Pandolfini said that he had never met anyone else with such a raw talent for the game. But unlike Josh who grew up in a comfortable surroundings, Jeff really did play speed chess with the drug addicts. His father was considered abusive, and Jeff and his equally talented sister Julia were taken away from his father by protective services. But the kids ran away from a foster home, back to their father, and Jeff didn't play chess again for almost 20 years. And when he did, he beat a number of grandmasters despite having no apparent practice.
So far we know that the ending was a lie (thanks to the Internet making these games from 1985 available), and that Jeff played with the drug addicts. So what is really true?
My unfortunate conclusion is that Josh's dad saw that while his child was talented, he was nowhere close to Jeff Sarwer (by the way, Josh never made GrandMaster). But with Sarwer out of the way, why not make his son look good, and make Jeff look bad. What a travesty!
So naturally, I wanted to learn more about Josh Waitzkin, and much to my disappointment I found that the ending was a complete lie. Yes, Josh did play for the US championship. But in reality Josh didn't win. When Josh was 9 years old, he had a draw against a 7-year old named Jeff Sarwer. And an analysis of the game shows that Jeff was clearly winning, but a mistake cost him, ending the game in a draw.
Jeff Sarwer is an interesting story. In real life, Pandolfini said that he had never met anyone else with such a raw talent for the game. But unlike Josh who grew up in a comfortable surroundings, Jeff really did play speed chess with the drug addicts. His father was considered abusive, and Jeff and his equally talented sister Julia were taken away from his father by protective services. But the kids ran away from a foster home, back to their father, and Jeff didn't play chess again for almost 20 years. And when he did, he beat a number of grandmasters despite having no apparent practice.
So far we know that the ending was a lie (thanks to the Internet making these games from 1985 available), and that Jeff played with the drug addicts. So what is really true?
My unfortunate conclusion is that Josh's dad saw that while his child was talented, he was nowhere close to Jeff Sarwer (by the way, Josh never made GrandMaster). But with Sarwer out of the way, why not make his son look good, and make Jeff look bad. What a travesty!