Almost giving up chess

After almost giving up on chess, Los Gatos teen brings home world championship

Julia Prodis Sulek
Posted: 11/01/2010 06:37:54 PM PDT
Updated: 11/01/2010 07:47:35 PM PDT

When Steven Zierk was just 8, he was called a chess prodigy, a child whose talents at calculations and competition were beyond his years.

Around his hometown of Los Gatos, the shy little boy with spiky blond hair was known as “that chess kid.” Expectations were endless.

How far could he go? Would he stick with it?

Well, now, a decade later — and after a five-year hiatus that crushed his coach and relieved his mother — the 17-year-old Los Gatos High School senior has stormed back with a world championship gold medal he brought home from Greece over the weekend.

“It’s huge,” he said Monday from his family home, where his mother and two younger sisters had filled his room with 300 gold balloons.

“I went in expecting just to play, to do well. The Top 10 was my goal. So obviously, it’s a great surprise.”

On Monday, he wore around his neck the medal he got for winning the under-18 category of the World Youth Chess Championship sponsored by the International Chess Federation. He entered as the 26th-seeded player and competed against young players from some 80 countries. With the medal came the title of international master, one step below grandmaster, which he hopes to earn before he goes to college next fall.

Here is the full article.