Rakeem Jeter: “Chess gives an opportunity to improve”
The first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners is scheduled for October 13-14, 2021, on the International Day of Education in Prison. With 31 countries registered, the event is going to be the biggest Chess in Prison tournament ever. Sometimes chess is not something that can change the lives of prisoners; it is something that prevents people from going to prison. In West Philadelphia, Rakeem Jeter, who goes by ‘Rock,’ is using the game of chess to reach at-risk teens offering them free chess coaching. He is sure that chess has real-life benefits that can change the lives of youngsters from communities riddled with crime and a climbing murder rate. FIDE Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola talked to Rakeem to find out how learning the game teaches people to think about the consequences or repercussions of every move made in real life. – Rakeem, tell us your story. You are familiar with the city’s youth facilities and even served prison time yourself. How did you get incarcerated? – My first introduction to the prison system was when I was 15. I was like a typical Philadelphian kid, getting into trouble. I committed some robberies, and I was arrested. In my neighbourhood, that’s what people are doing; a lot of people are introduced to the prison system at an early age. – You played chess before you got into prison. Normally, people consider that the chess players know the relationship between the cause and the consequences, so all this didn’t work? – Actually, I started playing chess when I was getting in trouble. I think I was 14, I was getting in trouble, and they told me to see the counsellors. And the counsellor had a chessboard set in his office. I didn’t want to talk to him, so I was just looking at the chessboard, and one day he said: “You wanna learn to play chess?” I said yes. So he showed me the pieces and how they moved, and I learned really fast. And then I started playing, and it soon became one of my favourite games. I was playing in the neighbourhood, playing wherever I went. – You’re a perfect character of the second season of Netflix series like “The Queen’s Gambit”. Apart from playing in parks, since 2017, you’ve been part of the free Chess Chat Program under a non-profit Organization called Childhood lost. Do you think that your example motivates youngsters you’re playing with? – Yes, I think they are motivated by understanding my personal story and knowing that I came from a place just like theirs. Chess is just a vehicle that I use. I really don’t care whether or not they like the game itself; I just want them to understand that they can be sharper by learning the game of chess. First, they don’t want to play chess; they think that chess is for nerds and uncool. But little by little, I get them engaged using tools that they are familiar with – entertaining them to bring them to the board. – When in prison yourself, you were the one who taught your inmates how to play chess. – Absolutely! That’s where I first got the love for teaching chess. We were locked there, and I wanted to play chess, so naturally, I started teaching others how to play chess so that we could play. And as I was teaching, they were getting better and more competitive, so we had fun playing games. – You also played correspondence games and had at least five games going at any time. – Yes, correspondence chess was like my life language in prison. Regardless of anything happening in the world, I was always in the thick of chess games. I had a little correspondence book, and every game was on its own little board in my book. Correspondence chess always gave me something to look forward to. – How do you teach people to play chess? – I naturally teach them by letting them watch the moves that I make. I say, “I’m not gonna say a word, I’ll just show you the way how they move”. We are doing it with each piece and at the end, I am asking them how this or that piece move. Normally, it takes them 15-20 minutes. But then, when we start to play the game, I realize that they forget how the pieces move, so then I just correct them as they go along. A 45-minute session takes them to learn how the pieces move, and then we start learning different strategies, openings and stuff like that. – It takes 45 minutes for you to teach somebody to play chess, but how much time does it take for chess to teach the essential things to a person playing it? – It takes a lifetime to learn all those things that chess can give you, and I still have to learn them too. That’s why I love the game; it offers infinite possibilities. – What is your chess life about? – I do play tournaments. When I started teaching chess actively, I noticed that my chess game went down. I started to lose more and more. I realized that I am not that competitive as tournament players are. I am rated about 1800 or somewhere around. So I do play tournaments, but I also play on the street. I love bullet chess, as I want to play fast, I don’t want to play long games. I prefer to play with 1-minute time control on a computer or my phone and 2-3 minutes on the streets. – What are the things you want your students to learn from you and from chess? – One thing they notice is how I do myself with the other people. It’s about patience. They see me not losing patience and not losing my cool. I am able to demonstrate that outside of chess, and that gives me credibility and an opportunity to have their hear. I talk about the streets
Team CFR and Georgia hold the lead in Sitges
The second day of play brought almost no changes to the standings: the Russian stars, playing under the denomination “CFR Team” due to the WADA sanctions, remain the unchallenged leaders in pool A, followed by Armenia and India. In group B, Georgia tops the standings, being the only team still undefeated in its pool. The leader of the Russian team, Aleksandra Goryachkina, celebrated her 23rd birthday by scoring an important victory over Gunay Mammadzada. The World Championship finalist made chess look easy: on the black side of a Berlin Defense, she opened the a-file, activated her rook, won a pawn, and converted her advantage flawlessly. It was not the best of days for the Azerbaijani players: Mammadova blundered a pawn against Kosteniuk that cost her the game, while Turkan, the youngest of the Mamedjarov clan, allowed a rook lift that ended in an elegant mate attack by Kashlisnkaya. Shuvalova wrapped up the team victory (3½-½) with a draw against Fataliyeva. In the second round of the day, CFR Team defeated a direct rival, India, with victories by Kosteniuk and Lagno. Goryachkina, with a better position, allowed a perpetual check. At the bottom of the table, the host team beat France, which gave Spain some hope to qualify. However, a harsh defeat against Armenia in the next round sent the Spaniards back to the last position in the standings. Only a victory by a wide score margin against Azerbaijan, and a bit of luck, could allow Spain to stay in the competition. In pool B, Georgia had a perfect start of the second day after crushing Germany by 3½-½. Despite the absence of Bela Khotenashvili, who had to withdraw from the team at the last minute, the Georgians seem to be in good shape. They are so far the only team that hasn’t suffered a defeat in group B, having scored two victories and two draws. They ended the day with a 2-2 against Poland, a team that, surprisingly, is the tailender after four rounds, a lacklustre performance for a squad that usually outperforms expectations at team events. The last round of the pools stage, the fifth, will take place on Wednesday, at 15:00. The competition will then move to the knockout playoff. Text: David Llada Photo: Niki Riga Official website: worldwomensteams.fide.com
Carlsen’s lead cut to 4 points but So blows chance to take full advantage
Wesley So blew a chance to get within two points of Magnus Carlsen as both the frontrunners lost in a dramatic day at the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals. The American started off 5 points behind Carlsen on the leaderboard and could have cut that to 2 with a much-needed win over fellow countryman Hikaru Nakamura. But after the pair played out four ultra-safe draws to leave their match hanging on tiebreaks, So then crashed out in the blitz section. Instead of taking the maximum 3, he had to settle for knocking a single point off Carlsen’s lead. It was an opportunity squandered for So who must have been left regretting his tactics in the rapid section of the game. So left the broadcast without being interviewed after the defeat and so wasn’t able to explain. So’s loss came after Norway’s World Champion was downed by Russia’s latest big chess hope Vladislav Artemiev, who beat him twice in a nervy Round 4 match. Artemiev showed nerves of steel as he calmly steered the fourth game in his favour as Carlsen launched increasingly desperate attacks. The Russian had missed a chance of his own to finish off Carlsen in three as he needlessly offered up a draw by repetition while in a strong position. Carlsen, at that point, breathed a sigh of relief. Artemiev, who was the runner-up in both the Goldmoney Asian Rapid and the Aimchess US Rapid, was always going to be a dangerous opponent for the title-chasing Carlsen. Artemiev showed exactly why in the second game as he crashed through to go ahead and set up a difficult evening for Norway’s world number 1. Carlsen, it seemed, played overly risky chess when he could have locked the game down. Artemiev said afterwards that he had tried to play more aggressively against the champion, and his plan worked well. He added: “It’s a little surprise for me that I play in the Finals tournament because before that, I only played in three tournaments.” It was a bad day at the office for the Dutch number 1 Anish Giri, who lost three games in a row to a resurgent Levon Aronian. Shahriyar Mamedyarov, meanwhile, scored his first match-win in the Finals with a 2-5-0.5 victory over the Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The last result was a 2.5-0.5 win for Teimour Radjabov who beat the Pole Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The Finals of the 2021 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour sees the world’s best chess players face off across nine rounds of rapid chess from September 25 to October 4. Tune in on www.chess24.com, YouTube or Twitch starting at 17:00 CET each day. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Play Magnus Groupleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770