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4tl I Ottawa Magazine January 1987 5 JI J

bbodylhan At age five,hewas an Ottawakindergarten dropout. At six,hewas beating chess experts in New York. At eight,Jeff Sarwerwants to takeon the woild

is Canada Day in Ottawa. A polka band is playing in front of the ChateauLaurier; hot air balloons are drifting over Major's Hill Park. And in front of the National Arts Centre a crowd is gatheringto watcheight-year-old Jeff Sarwerplay a gameof chess. Well, thirty gamesof chessactually. Sarwer, the best chess player in the world for hisage, is giving a simultaneouschess exhibition. Thirty schooldesks have been setup in the roughapproximation of a square,and insideSarwer is movingfrom 'il,ri table to table,chess board to chessboard, competing with thirty opponentsat once, forced to move his chesspieces in secondswhile the other playershave minutesto contemplatea move.Sarwer doesn't just movehis chess pieces, though. Rather, he SLAPSthe piecesto theboard, entranced by the soundof ivory pummellingwood, by theexpressions on hisopponents'faces as they see carefully constructedgame- plansfall apart beforemoves the young champion has seeminglymade without even contemplating. "No, no, this won't do," he teases. SLAP."Hey, haveyou beenfollowing the Karpov, Kasparov matches?I have," SLAP. "Well, this is interesting,"SLAP. At oneboard, a man who thinkshe has I Sarwer beatensummons him back im- mediately after Sarwer has made his move.The man SLAPS his queenpast Sarwer'sdefensive grid of pawns.Sarwer SLAPS his knight in reply. The man movesagain quickly. Then Sarwer. By the time theexchange finishes each player has moved five times. The elapsed time is &'\l twenty seconds.It ends when Sarwer quietly slideshis bishop acrossthe length of theboard, leaving it nestledagainst the other player'sking. "Checkmate,"he says,and smiles.

Thelire in JelfSarwer isnot fanned by his l2 IF family.His older sister, Julia, supports and IE .E calmswhile his meditative lalher, Mike. lets lo E p Jeffsambition rule. .9 o r

I 4Hry {F Above,a young Bobby Fiseher plrys coach Jack Collins. Below.Collins leaches Sarwor three decades later

"f am ffying new to be the))oungest chessmasteidvet\" sq)s Jeff. "I must do this by the time I em ten"

t game.Mike challengedhim to another.Jeff with the school's blessing,he decided to won again. The "lesson" came to a quick exercisehis legal right to withdraw his

,f finish. childrenfrom schooland educatethem at Q' EFF SA RWER Jeffs intelligence(his actual I.Q. is un- home. He quit his job at the orchestraand was a prodigy long before he picked up a known becauseMike hasrefused to havehis petitioned the Ontario government for a chesspiece. By the ageofthree he could play childrentested) did not makehim anexcellent household allowance so he could make concertosby composerslike Vivaldi and student.From his firstday in kindergartenhe educatingJeff and Julia his full-time job. Mahler on both piano and miniatureviolin. was what teacherslike to call a "disturbing When the governmentgranted his request The same was true of his sisterJulia, two influencein the classroom."His disagree- (makinghim oneof thefirst men in Canadato yearshis senior and currentlya world ranked mentswith teachersover rules - whento eat, get such an allowance),he packed up the chessplayer as well. His father,Mike, (Jeffs when to sleep,when to read got so bad family'sHonda Civic and setout to give his parentsseparated shortly after he was born) there were days he refusedeven to talk to children the kind of educationhe thought was a violinist with the Ottawa Symphony them. One day, Mike got a phonecall from would be best travel. Orchestraand activelyencouraged his chil- theschool's vice-principal and wastold there In the beginning,the family's trips were dren'smusical pursuits, giving them lessons, wasa problem. short- a coupleof days,a weekat the most. taking them with him to rehearsalsand "Jeff is sitting in the schoolyard and But beforelong the Sarwersbegan to relish recitals.He did not, however,initiate Jefls refusingto come back to class,"the vice- the sensuousbohemian lifestyle of the open all-consuminginterest in his firstboard game principalsaid. road,and the daysbecame weeks, the weeks - checkers.By the ageof four, Jeff was so "What's he doing?"Mike asked. becamemonths. The children beganto get proficientin thegame he was boasting that he "He sayshe's watching the cloudsgo by. their lessonsin Englishfrom dozensof local was unbeatable.Mike. worried about his He'sbeing very polite and everything, but he's libraries,in biologyfrom the hiking trailsof son's attitude, challengedhim to a game, underminingthe teacher'sauthority." Yosemite National Park in California, in explaininghe had taken it easyon Jeffup until Mike Sarwer didn't seeanything wrong social sciencesfrom peoplethey'd meet at thenbecause he wasa child.Jeff won thefirst with hisson watching clouds. That sameday, continuedon page 25

22 Ottawa Magazine January 1987 t continuedfrom page 22 truck stopsand camping grounds. By this time Jeff had startedplaying chess. He receivedhis first lessonsfrom Julia afterhe startedasking her what the other pieceswere that camewith his belovedcheckers set, those elephantsand horsesthat were obviously for another game. From the outset,he displayed an astonishingaptitude for the game. In a way, this wasn't surprising.Numerous studies haveshown that if a personexcels in musiche has a good chanceof excelling in chessand math aswell. But studieshave also shown that if there is a region of the mind which links the three, there must be a region of the heart which gives an individual the personalityto becomegreat in only one.Music, it seems,has a poeticsymmetry, math an austeresymmetry and chess a warlike symmetry. Before discovering chess,Jeff would spend hours inventingwargames with his toy dragonsand soldiers.When Julia showed him exactly what the elephantsand horseswere for, he knew he had discoveredthe ultimate game. Music was forsaken.Chess was embraced. He usuallyplayed by himself,moving each side's pieces in turn, not even bothering to finish many games.Sure, he was good at the game.Both Mike and Julia knew this.But he was good at many things, and the family, leading the often isolatedgypsy lifestylethey had adopted,had no meansby which to know just how goodhe wasbecoming. But that all changedthe day the Sarwersdrove the aging Honda- nowwith over200,000 miles on the odometer- into New Orleans,Louisiana. The people of New Orleans treat chess with the samereverence they treat dixieland jazz and paneedcooking. Paul Morphy, the first U.S. chesschampion, was from New Orleans.Since his time (he was playinghis bestchess in the mid-l9th century)the game has become part of the city's cultural fabric. While you can walk down many a downtown streetin New Orleanswithout hearingthe strainsofjazz, it would be difficult not to seea chessgame somewherein progress. The Sarwersknew noneof this when they pulled into a McDonald's for supper.But it becameobvious when they walked in and burkholdcr games Furs sawa dozenchess beingplayed in the 'f19 back. Jeff went immediately to the nearest Bank Streetat Slater 232-2626 The RideauCentre, Srd level 23G8O82 gameand startedwatching. In a few minutes he started commenting on the play of the game.Then he startedcriticizing. One of the players,wanting to get rid of the six-year-old intrusion, challenged Jeff to a game. The player lost in lessthan five minutes.A crowd started to gather and other people began to play Jeff, none of them successfully.Within half an hour someonewas on the phone to Louisiana statechess champion Al Carlin. When Carlinheard what washappening at the McDonald's,he left instructionsto keep the Sarwers there "no matter what." He arrived to a restaurant packed with chess playerswho had cometo checkthe rumours circulating Canal Street of a "miracle" kid who was whopping the best chessplayers New Orleans had to offer. Jeff couldn't beat Carlin, but the statechamoion keot him at the

OttawaMagazine January 1987 25 McDonald'sfor mostof the night,testing his speedon the chessboard. his concentration. ARCHNTECT{JRALEXF{XB{TN OFS his endurance.When it was over, Carlin invited the Sarwersto spendthe night at his TIN/AGFE ET-}ROPEAN home. it \/ OF ILf,US.TRATEI}FOTIOS AT THH Two dayslater, the Sarwerspulled out of New Orleans with Carlin's admonition to Y]ESTE]RDAY NATIONAL LIBRARYOF CA}-.IADA "live up to your responsibility"ringing in their earsand the addressfor the Manhattan Chess Club in their pockets.Chess was no longer Odofu E, 1985ro March15, 1987 somethingat which Jeff was merelygood. It was now something at which he could 9 4fi- to 9 p.m ilaily becomegreat. Tx.n The eventsin New Orleanscouldn't have 395 Wdlingtol Stra. Ontr"va happenedat a better time. The family had tW been consideringunpacking their suitcases and settling down for a little while. The Hondawas on itslast few miles,and there was LIVRESEUROPEEN$ ILLUffP.iS a standingoffer from friendsin New York to live with them. After a roadside family A ra nmuorn*Qusuenonern meeting,the Sarwersdecided it was time to stayin one placefor a while and devotetime DU CAhIADA to Jeff and Julia's hobbies - chessand modellingrespectively. The Hondabegan its LARC]FJITTI]ECTI{JREDu 8 moWe 19ffi au LS mars 1987 last trip - to New York. ile t The first day Mike brought Jeff to the D'HNER ManhattanChess Club, he hoped he wouldn't -,,n(O 395, rue Wdlinston Otmlta haveto disappointhis son by tellinghim the J[ o ,JEN enrollmentfee was too much. He needn't NGJiI ]EXPOSITNOFS haveworried. When they enteredthe club, Jeff started playing anybody sitting by themselvesin front of a chessboard, oblivious nationare to the fact that many of thesepeople were l* $*l:!H""" 5f[';'l#la grandmastersof the game. Within half an hour it was New Orleansall over again, crowds gathering,incredulous whispers amongstthe spectators,a hastyphone call to BrucePandolfini, the executive director ofthe SEDBERGH club, to "come down quick and seewhat's happeninghere." When Pandolfinisaw, he SCHOOL took Mike into his office and offered Jeff, who he had not eventalked to yet,a lifetime membershipin theclub. "Can his sisterplay as well?" Pandolfini asked. "Yes," repliedMike. "Then let'smake it two," saidPandolfini. Jeffs first chesstournament was the New boys' A smallresidential York Open, a tournamentwithout separate grades4 schoolfrom to univer- agecategories, in which Jeff was competing sityentrance, situated on 600 with adultchess players, many of whom were acresin theLaurentian Shield. grandmasters. got - internationalor Still, he challengingacademic cur- threeand a half pointsout of a possibleeight riculum,small classes in the tournament,an impressiveshowing for - arts,music, public speaking, At last,suits for the his first competition. Ex-world champion frenchmilieu Boris Spasskywas at the New York Open womanwho knowsher - laboratory completelibrary, giving a simultaneouschess exhibition and colourseason. We carrya facilities andcomputer Jeff also played him. He lasted thirty-five - for adventure wideselection in warm campusideal moves,better than two-thirds of the other and coolcolours, and tn andleadership training, competitors. mutedand brighttones. outdooreducation & sports After the New York Open came the - - February 2lst entrance CentralPark Championships,the New York & scholarshipexaminations City ElementarySchool Championships and for September,1987. the United StatesNational Open, where he FOR INFORMATION competedin the children-under-tendivision. J.T.M. GUEST, HEADMASTER Jeff won all thesetournaments. Julia wastop femalein each. SEDBERGH SCHOOL In professionalchess. just as in contract MONTEBELLO, 1L0 165 LisgarAve. (near Elgin St.) QUE. JOV bridge, playersare awarded points on the Phone216-9333 (8r9)423-5523 basisofhow well theydo in tournamentplay. Jeffs performancestarted to earnhim points

26 Ottawa Magazine January 1987 ir and the points started accruing until he reached a standing in the complicated hierarchyof the world's bestchess players. In the small, almost cloistered world of inter- national chess,Jeffand Julia beganattracting ANNUALWINTER SAIE a great deal of attention.Jack Collins, Bobby Fischer's ex-coach, offered the children private lessons.They becameregular guests onThe ShellbyLyman Show,achess program on PBS. In July of this year Jeff enteredhis biggest .tft, f tournament yet - The World Cup of Chess s0% in PuertoRico. The tournamentwas open to all players under the age of fourteen, and OFF children from around the world came to compete.Jeff had spent months training for EVERYTHING the tournament,convincing Mike to cancelall IN THE travelplans so he could stay in New York and devote all his time to playing chess.He STORE!- virtually lived in the ManhattanChess Club in the months leading up to the tournament. The training paid off. So dominantwas Jeff in the two-week tournamentthat he won many of his matchesin the under-tencategory in lessthan ten minutes.When it wasover, he had won his first world championship.He wasthe bestchess player in the world for his age. With the win, Jeffs fame spreadbeyond theborders of thechess world andhe came to the attention of the North American media. And with this attention came the first speculationson the future of Jeff Sarwer. Warm,lightweight, Not just his chess future. That was luxuriouscoats. obviouslybright. Indeed,if Jeff continuesat Choosefrom many the pace he has kept the past four years,he differentstyles in will shatterevery chess record in existence. 100o/"wool. No, the speculationdid not centre on Jeff Sarwerthe chessplayer but on JeffSarwerthe child. Mix'n matchyour own . In our culture it is acceptedalmost as a truism that the star that burns brightestburns sportycoordinates quickest. All of us know of a child prodigy and choosefrom i who grew up to lead a life of ragged our superbselection alienation. In many ways it is a stabilizing of chic designerfashions. factor, a way by which the restof us can lead our lives without envy, knowing the excep- tionally talentedhave troublesas well. There is the example of Bobby Fischer. a Dresses a Suits Fischerholds two ofthe recordsJeffSarwer is a after - youngestU.S. champion and young- Skirts a Pants estgrandmaster. He was a child prodigy who a Jackets a Blouses maturedinto the greatestplayer the gamehas a Sweatersa Accessories everseen. His matcheswith BorisSpassky for the world title in 1972were front pagenews and made Fischera celebrity.But three years *Except later he had the title strippedfrom him when for our he refusedto defendit, andtoday he lives as a Cruisewear virtual reclusein Los Angeles,utterly convinc- Collection ed the KGB is trying to assassinatehim. The few friendshe hasleft sayhe neverstays at the sameaddress for more than a week and lives out of a suitcasepacked with chessperiodi- cals, conspiracy novels and Hitler memo- rabilia. ioenettFormerlyPierre Cardin What's troubling, to those who hear snippetsof the Jeff Sarwer story, is the 240Sparks Street Ottawa.238-745 impressionthat he is living the same sort of Enteron Bank& QueenStreets. isolated existencethat distorted the life of FreeParking Thursday & Friday Evenings & Saturday. Bobby Fischer.Jeff is a child without a friend his own age,living in an adult world of chess

Ottawa Magazine January 1987 27 players and physicists,mathematicians and computer programmers,among people who are already thrusting upon him visions of immortality. The mediahaven't helped allay concerns. A large consumer magazine in the United Statesran a pictureof Jeff and Mike with their hair shornoff. It was an "annual ritual" the magazinesaid, and underneaththe picture of the bald father and son was a caption which read,"At theage of 8, Brooklyn'sJeff Sarwer seems destined to become the world's youngest chess master, the next Bobby Fischer.He is alreadythe pawn of his father's strangeobsessions." In another paper was a pictureofJulia with a look ofhauntingother- worldliness,the kind you might find on the faceof a Bertolt Brechtheroine. Disturbing imagesboth. Televisionwas no different.Sitting in the basement of the CBC's Ottawa offices, I preparedto view a story chroniclingJeffs performanceat a tournament in Puerto Rico. A technicianturned off the lights and shoved a video tape into a nearby VCR. The TV screenfilled with the image of a small boy with a rotund face and short hair exclaiming excitedlythat "my strategyis tojust D/awhim off the board as quickly as possible!" It was not a comfortingscene. The story went on to includeclips of him sayingthings like, "right now nobody under twelve can defeatme in a seriesof matches."In response to a reporter'squestion of whetherhe misses his mother:"No, it's just the one who gave birth to me. That'sall it is." It closedwith a shot of the eight-year-oldclasping his hands Yourchild above his head and screaming,"I'm the {*'{(4 championof theworld.Nobody can defeat me now, nobody." will gainone As the lights went up there was an awkward moment of silencein the room. Countydhoppe full gradelevel Finally,the technician turned and said,"He's injust a hard kid to like, isn't he?" 36hours. ?-, EFF AND JULIA Sarwer sit uncomfortably on an overstuffed Guatanteedl setteein theliving room oftheir grandparents' home in Ottawa. Dr. Gerald Sarwer, a For more information call, prominent area psychiatrist,resides in a fashionablesuburb in the city'ssouth end, an 727-9636 area which, with it's large Tudor homes, close-cropped lawns and crescent-shaped laneways,is worlds away from the flatbush Sylvan regionof Brooklyn where the childrennow Learning live. Although their grandparents'househas ffi3" alwaysbeen like a secondhome to Jeff and - Genter, Julia, they still seemout of place insideit. 5oT1"'Off Becausesuccess Even now, Jeff has trouble believinghow beginswith thebasics. many lampsare insidethe house. .Yur&i.ldwill imtnx al ludwluil etul2 eryiu- "lt is quite a few," he whispers,as if afraid Ienl scm in mth u mding shilk afur 36 hwn of irclructin, or wwill cutiaueLlto 12addiliwl the absentgrandparents can somehow hear hw6 olirctructim, at wfurthel cost.M%suwflt will be fused on a Ntiorullt-ncogt;ud ochiMenl him. "More thanthey needI think." The first testfol imfwill in eiths Mding (cmfreh%ion out-of-the-ordinary thing you notice about r wbuho) or ruth kmrutatim n aPiliation). Jeff Sarwer- assumingyou don't meethim O 1986Sylvan Learning Corporation behind a chessboard - is his manner of 17AYork St. (near Sussex) 230-7381 speaking. He does not affect the blustery, 0penSunday Alternoons. 1600Merivale Road carefree manner of speaking you would

28 Ottawa Magazine January 1987 expect from an eight-year-old. Rather, he enunciateshis words carefully and methodi- cally, rarely using contractions or jargon, concentratingalways on what he is saying. Shellby Lyman, the syndicatedchess colum- nistwith a semi-regularshow on PBS,says he hasnever encountered a personwho concen- tratesmore than Jeff. "His concentrationlevel is phenomenal,"says Lyman. "When we're taping a show it is so obvious Jeff is IrwnoffelTVs concentratingmore than anyoneelse on the set,it giveshim a presenceI have rarely seen. It is like a fire burning." In contrast, Miseenvaleur Julia uses the hesitant stop dela collection and-run pattern of speech common to duMus6e de la monnaie children her age.As the two sit togetheron the Du23 D6cembre settee,the many differencesbetween them au22Mars. 1987 become obvious. Jeffs round face, big ears and pixieish grin give him a Huck Finn kind of appeal,while Julia, with her cat'seyes and angularface, has a much more exotic mien. Sheis soft-spokenand demure,with a civility that belies her young years. A recent newspaperarticle describedher as a "renais- sancegirl in bluejeans and T-shirs," and it is an apt description.It iseasy to seeJulia as the calm opposing the storm that is her younger brother. Jeff Sarwer has an exuberanceand senseofanimation that is positively dizzying to watch. His face constantlycontorts into a caricature of whatever emotion - sorow, bewilderment,joy - he is trying to convey, his whole body sometimessummoned to help him out when he thinks extra emphasisis needed.At the sightofa chessmagazine being placed on the coffee table he lunges off the setteeand excitedly pokes his finger at the cover. "That is Bobby Fischer," he screams,"a young Bobby Fischer. He must be no more than fourteen." "No, he'sfifteen Jeff. Remember,we have that issue.It's about him becominggrand- masterand he'd be fifteen," correctsJulia. "Yes, that is right," repliesJeff thoughtful- ly. "Now I remember." As the children talk, Mike Sarwer sits cross-leggedon the living room floor, small smilesof pride coming often to his face as he MUSEEDE LA MONNAIE listensto them discusstheir chesscareers and RANQUEI)U CANADA future ambitions. He does not interrupt his 24-5.rue Srrarks,()ttana children or elaborate upon what they say, answering questions only when they are directedto him. "Jeff and Julia are very good at expressing themselvesand I don't feel any needto help them out in interviews," he explains later. . . . PI'LLAWAY FROM THE REST! "Even whenone of themmakes a mistakethe COMEINAND EXPERIENCE other one usually catchesit. They're awfully TI{E RHYTHMAND easychildren to be a parent to. All I've really EXCITEMENTOFTHE had to do is support them in whatever they *E SnROKEIWW ROWINGMACHINE. were interestedin at the time." And Jeff ffsso REALtsflc allows little doubt as to what. for him. that might be. THATTHE "l am trying now to be the youngestchess CANADIAN OLYMPICROWING TEAM masterever," he says,"l must do this by the CHOOSESTO USEIT time I am ten. Then I shall try to be a WHEN AWAY FROMTHE WATER. grandmasterby the time I am fifteen and I shalltry to be world championby the time I I' t-l--..FITNESS FURNITURE - - am eighteen." He is well aware of how much work this f Tff ST.TAURENTBLVD. c 52Gilfl.52

Ottawa Magazine January 1987 29 I ambition entails. " Yes,itisquite a bit of work. But I shalldo it. Do not forgetit is a long time. Ten yearsis a long time and that is how much time I have before I am eighteen." How realisticare thesegoals? Many chess experts are skeptical of Jeffs chance to be world championby the time he is eighteen.So far,the youngesthas been twenty-two, and in chesscircles that record is treated the way Pete Rose's career hits record is treated in baseball- too phenomenalto be repeated. But few doubt that Jeff will someday be world champion. Bruce. Pandolfini is on rbcqrd as saying Jeff is the most promising child playerhe hasever seen. Shellby Lyman sayswhen you compareJeffto Bobby Fischer rj at the same age, there is "no doubt Jeff is ahead of him. I think all his goals are :i realistic." And even Jack Collins who, as t; often happensin the small and competitive l1 world of professionalchess, has had a falling out with the Sarwers over their friendship with an adversaryof his, is forced to admit that Jeff is "very, very promising." Julia'sambitions, despite her chessability, are quite different from Jeffs. "l like chess very much and I plan on stayingwith the game for a long time, but what I am more interestedin is someday becoming an ac- /ress,"she says, stressing the word asifit were a mantra. It is clear that despitethe Sarwers' ftmw@ unconventional lifestyle, Julia subscribes Comfort to the North American RideauCentre 3rd Floor completely tradition 230-9450 of treating actors and actressesas the new elite. She has made the rounds of the SARBARA ANN SCO77 ARfNA modellingagencies in New York and is taking a lessonsin ballet and iazz tap. While Jeff *&!LqEg.r4pEJ admireschess players like Paul Morphy and EI T Bobby Fischer, Julia saysher idol is Meryl E sKArrNGSCHOOTS c Streep. rta Both children are anxious to dispel the E notion that chessis their whole lives. They Y s- * take particular exception to people saying F theyare in "training" to be world champions, E tat as if their days were a structured regime of chesslessons and competitions.In truth, there o a is no such thing as a "regular day" for the Sarwers.In New York,the children spend a T lot of time in art galleries,museums, libraries * and the Manhattan chessclub. They still t q good z travel a deal,and devotea lot oftime to qz t simply reading.The children say they are alwaysfree to spendthe whole day, or noneof s : 6 the day, playing chess. U G "There are so many things in life besides a u chess,"explains Jeff. "When peoplecome to i Ottawa'sonly talk to me I tell them this, but when I read the ' story it is always on nothing but chess.They city-wide do not say how much I like travelling or anything." 2 for 2 Neither child says they miss going to c t school. Julia says it was a "horrible" z 226-frtx) z experienceand is still resentfulofthe way her artwork, which before she started kinder- oE s 226-5113 q, garten was full of colour and shapes, t\ degeneratedto black and white stick figures q. Stephanan Klovan, DtDirector under the teacher'sguidance. Jeff sayshe still doesn't understand why teachershave the a a ,AI authority to "make you eat when they want ORIfANS Rf{RECREATIONAICOMPLEX you to, and sleepwhen they want you to, even

30 Ottawa Magazine January 1987 read when they want you to." Neither says labelled,you can learnanything at any age." theymiss the companionship of childrentheir Part of his philosophy involves treating own age.Julia saysthat, while shewill play Julia and Jeff as adults.The childrenoften with childrenfor a while becauseshe needs accompanytheir father to social gatherings, the "exercise,"it is usuallyonly a shorttime cook their own meals and set their own beforeshe gets bored and quits.Jeff sayshe bedtimes.Jeff is evenfree to "hustle" chessin finds children his age "don't think enough" WashingtonSquare, a congregationplace for and he'd rather be around adults because many of New York's streetchess players. "they'remore interesting." "Once,I won $2.60,"Jeff saysproudly. "I Mike claimsthat this lack of contactwith startedwith zero.I bettedten cents. I won the their peersdoesn't concern him at all. "Most ten centsand therewere some side bets so I peoplejustassume that because the kids aren't mzde twenty cents.Then I betted the twenty in schoolthey're not able to get along with centsto someother guy and hebetteda dollar. people.But the truth is the exact opposite. I got the dollar and then it went on from Becausetheir upbringinghas been so varied, there." they'reable to getalong with a widespectrum "A lot of playersin WashingtonSquare of people.And althoughthey prefer to bewith won't play with Jeff anymore,"says Julia. rptipsnory"-"- adultsthat doesn'tmean they don't getalong "No, they know who I am," complains with other children.I've broughtthem up to Jeff."They do not know my namebut when haverespect for everyonethey meet and so far I'm on the streetthey say'Here he comes, it seemsto be working." the new Fischer,the newyoung Fischer'." Askedif hemisses his mother, Jeff gives the Jeff takesobvious pride in thecomparison sameresponse he gaveto the CBC: "No, my betweenhimself and Bobby Fischer,but he motheris just the one who gavebirth to me. doesnot idolizethe ex-champion. He sayshe That'sall sheis." Butin personyou can see the hopeshe can one day be betterthan Fischer look of bewildermentthat comes over his face but hopeshe neverends up like him because beforehe answers.It is clearthat to him the "he is not well." He evenmakes jokes about conceptof motheris an abstractone. He has Fischer,calling him at one point "Blobby" neverknown his mother and cannotunder- Fischer, a wry comment on the former stand why peoplefeel he should miss her. champion'sburgeoning weight problem. David Cohen, a local chessteacher who "Jeff has an aestheticappreciation of the knows the Sarwerswell and helpedorganize gameI don't think Fischerever had," claims the simultaneousexhibition on CanadaDay, Mike. "I don't seeany way the thingsthat sayshe showedthe CBC interviewwith Jeff happenedto Fischercould happento Jeff." to his chessclass and the only thing they Other peoplesupport Mike's view. Jack wanted to talk about afterwardswas the Collins says"it is obviousnow that Bobby quoteabout his mother."Jeff wasjust being had no love of thegame. Winning and losing honest."says Cohen. "How can you miss was everything to him." It is generally someoneyou've neverknown? Jeff may be acceptedamong peoplewho knew Fischer many things,but he'snot coldhearted." that the real reasonhe neverplayed profes- "The media has concentrateda lot on sionalchess again was that he wasterrified of thingslike the childrennot havinga mother losing his title of world champion.To this and being out of school,about trying to be day,he refuses to answerany letter to him that world champions,"says Mike, "and in a way is not addressed,Robert Fischer, World that'sto beexpected. But I think a lot of them ChessChampion. havemissed the real story here and that's how In contrast,Jeff Sarwerspent his first year the childrengot to be so talentedin the first playingchess not evenaware of the fact the -^nH/AIR place. ultimateobject of the gamewas checkmate. "By takingthem out ofschool,away from "There is a lo! more to chess that just "I3iii'v613rf,tllt-r - that wholestructured environment, I allowed winning,"he says. U!lrr t2V1555-^ r(6 Jeff and Julia to pursuetheir interestsat the AlthoughMike's theories on child rearing, exactmoment they were interestedin them. with their emphasison individual responsi- carrinswood The resulthas been they've learned more in bility andthe pursuit ofexcellence, are clearly ,Ylr*" four yearsthan many people learn in twenty." elitist,there is no hint of snobberyin either de Hutt' Mike Sarwer'stheories on child rearingare Jeffor Julia.Jeff s claimsto oneday be world @leries 11v5\sz '60s-style ' an eclecticmix of libertarianism, champion are youthful boasts, not cold dut*""-: American transcendentalismand personal arrogance.Both children are deferentialto Place tr*rr}O contemptfor the mundaneand the mediocre. peoplearound them, whether in a restaurant. As hesits cross-legged on thefloor, dressed in at a photo sessionor in an interviewbeing ajoggingsuit and gray flannel work socks,he asked questionsabout a magazinearticle isthe caricature of a displacedflowerchild. He which claimed they were "obsessed"and ;l::::.:."::;i""" speaksproudly of droppingout of McGill in "strange." '70s. the early He still meditatesdaily. He "I wish they wouldn't saystuff like that," admires writers like Thoreau. Emerson. moans Jeff. "They make me look so Orwell and Jefferson- all of whom have competitive,so bratty. It is like I am a little espousedsome sort of theory of personal monster.Just becauseI play chess." libertyand exploration. He stilltakes Herman Mike refusesto get angryover the stories. Hessseriously. He says he "understands"why the stories haveconcentrated on the brassyand sensa- tional aspectsof the family'shistory - like theannual ritual of fatherand son shavins off

Ottawa Magazine January 1987 31 I *Stufflike that helpsto sellmagazines and I can'tfault them for that. I'm not goingto try Dworkinosand hide the fact we're different from other people." MASTERQUALITY FURS As to thecharge ofhis pushingthe children in their chesspursuits, Mike adamantlydenies AT FABULOUSPRICES it. "What peopledon't understand,"he says, "is thatI am only involvedin thisbecause the children want to be. It is their decisionand I just supportthem in it. It's the way I've always brought them up and it's the way I'll continue to bringthem up, no matterhow manytimes I I'm accusedof being a stagefather." Mike has refused all offers of money generatedby the children'schess playing. The family getsby, he admitsrather sheepishly, on the "charity of friends." Although a compe- tent chessplayer, Mike is not a brilliant one. He made no attempt to teachhis children the game and even treats it with a bit of scorn, sayingat one point that it hasbeen a "colossal waste of a lot of good minds." He has even tried to infuse a bit of "spirituality" into the game by getting Jeff and Julia involved in a project to give chesslessons to underprivileg- ed childrenin Harlem.When askedhow he would feel if the children decidedto give up chess,he replies,"l would be ecstatic." Pffi.lIt's clear that a lot of the questions surroundingthe Sarwerscan be debatedad infinitum.It is a tricky subjectiveline which separatesprecocious from self-centred,com- petitive from obsessed,confident from arro- gant. On one side of the line we find social acceptance.On the other,social damnation. Yet eachof uswill draw theline at a different place.Jack Collins,a man who hasseen three generationsof talented chessplayers march through his apartmenton New York's lower eastside, has perhaps the bestcomment on the whole debate. "The answer to all the concernsbeing raised by the media," he says, "is in the Dworkin outcome.It'll be yearsbefore we realizewhat kind of personJeff Sarwer is." Still, after spending some time with the Furs children,a lot of the concernssubside. When I saw Jeff and Julia rummaging through their 256 RIDEAUSTREET 232-4213 grandparents'study in searchofa prop for the photographer(they settledupon a globe), it A memberof the RetailFur Council of Canada was impossible to tell these were the two pint-sizegeniuses causing all the havoc.It was also comforting to seeMike dump a grocery bagfull of matchbooks,napkins and shredded piecesof paperon the rug in searchofa phone number, showing that despite his focus on developingthe mind, his addressbook wasno more orderly than most. )' When I was ready to leave,both children ' houJu escortedme to the door and thanked me for - ..'ulll Y- coming. 'lt.-1 tlY-^ l, "I hopeyou will tell peoplethat chessis not my whole life, that it is/st a game," saidJeff rw\ | ll^;^lu. as he openedthe door. When I assuredhim I would, a quick look w-l of concem came over his young face. "No, no, that wouldn't be right," he trfir corrected himself. "Perhaps you should tell ffio,* 564-1234 them that it is just the best game." .

32 Ottawa Magazine January 1987