IM Ray Robson has won the 2009 Samford Fellowship! A very deserving honor to a nice and talented young man!
In addition, Ray has also just confirmed his participation in the 2009 SPICE Cup B Group! He will join IM Ben Finegold along with other very strong players aiming for the GM norms this September at Texas Tech University!
2009 SAMFORD CHESS FELLOWSHIP WON BY RAY ROBSON (PRESS RELEASE)
Contact: Allen Kaufman(718) 544-5036
AllenKauf@aol.com
Ray Robson of Largo, Florida, a fourteen year old International Chessmaster (“IM”), has been awarded the twenty-fourth FRANK P. SAMFORD, JR. CHESS FELLOWSHIP. Ray is home-schooled and is able to devote four or more hours per day to chess study.
Ray has been playing chess since the age of three and entered his first tournament when he was seven. He reached the IM level when he was thirteen and is currently the youngest player in the United States with this title. His first major tournament victory was the 2008 Miami Open, then tied for first in the Florida State Championship. He has defeated many international grandmasters (“GMs”) and is working toward that title himself now.
Robson’s trainer has been GM Alexander Onischuk. Because of financial constraints the lessons have been mostly by telephone. With funding provided by the Samford Fellowship the training can now be substantially increased and conducted face-to-face. Travel to strong foreign tournaments and other assistance will now also be possible.
The Samford is the richest and most important chess fellowship in the United States, providing brilliant young American chessmasters the support and resources necessary to enhance their skills and reach their full potential. The total value of the Fellowship is approximately $36,000 per year. The prize is awarded for one year, beginning July 1, 2009, and is renewable for a second year.
The winner was chosen by the Samford Fellowship Committee, consisting of Frank P. Samford III (son of Samford Fellowship founder Frank P. Samford, Jr.), former U.S. Chess Champion Grandmaster Arthur Bisguier and International Master John Donaldson. The winner’s potential was determined based on his chess talent, work ethic, dedication and accomplishments. The Fellowship is administered by the U.S. Chess Trust with particularly valuable services provided by Barbara DeMaro.
The purpose of the Samford Fellowship is to identify and assist the best young American chessmasters by providing top-level coaching, strong competition and access to study materials. The Fellowship also provides a monthly stipend for living expenses so that the winners may devote themselves entirely to chess without having financial worries.
Since its inception the Samford Fellowship has proven very successful. Several of the Fellows have become Grandmasters and a few have won the U.S. Chess Championship and played on the U.S. team in the chess olympiad.. The full list includes:
- Joel Benjamin
- Maxim Dlugy
- Patrick Wolff
- Alex Fishbein
- Ilya Gurevich
- Alex Sherzer
- Ben Finegold
- Gata Kamsky
- Josh Waitzkin
- Tal Shaked
- Boris Kreiman
- Dean Ippolito
- Greg Shahade
- Michael Mulyar
- Eugene Perelshteyn
- Varuzhan Akobian
- Dmitry Schneider
- Rusudan Goletiani
- Hikaru Nakamura
- David Pruess
- Josh Friedel
- Irina Krush
- Vinay Bhat
The Samford Chess Fellowship was created by the late Frank P. Samford, Jr. of Birmingham, Alabama. Mr. Samford was a distinguished attorney and CEO of Liberty National Life Insurance Company (now Torchmark). Mr. Samford was active in civic, business, political, educational and cultural affairs. He was also an enthusiastic competitor in chess tournaments.
Generous contributions from Mrs. Virginia Samford and Torchmark Corporation support the Fellowship. The Samford Fellowship is a fitting memorial to an extraordinary man. The dedication, creativity and achievement that marked Mr. Frank P. Samford, Jr.’s life are examples for all chessplayers to admire and emulate.
Source: US Chess Trust
1987 Joel Benjamin
1988 Maxim Dlugy
1989 Patrick Wolff
1990 Alexander Fishbein
1991 Ilya Gurevich
1992 Alex Sherzer
1993 Benjamin Finegold
1994 Gata Kamsky
1995 Joshua Waitzkin
1996 Tal Shaked
1997 Boris Kreiman
1998 Dean Ippolito
1999 Gregory Shahade
2000 Michael Mulyar
2001 Eugene Perelshteyn
2002 Varuzhan Akobian
2003 Dmitry Schneider
2004 Rusudan Goletiani
2005 Hikaru Nakamura
2006 David Pruess
2007 Joshua Friedel
2008 Irina Krush & Vinay Bhat
2009 Ray Robson
Great job Ray! Well done!
Why pay for lessons, when you can get them for free?
Congratulations to Ray, the only one in America who became an IM by training over the phone!
Go Super Ray!
You are the great hope of America!
You are Bobby Fischer’s legacy and successor!
Go Ray!
I want to train Ray Robson. How much do I need to pay him?
You can join http://www.chessdiscussion.com forum and download a free copy.
http://www.chessdiscussion.com/fullphpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1034
Congratulations to IM Robson. Didn’t he used to be coached by GM Kaidanov? I don’t know what happened there (maybe I read something to do with Ray’s father) but Kaidanov coached Ray up to and including his IM title and should be acknowledged. He just started with the new GM coach in the last year or so.
Keep up the hard work IM Robson.
Please think about extending an invitation to IM Alex Lenderman, one of the hardest working young players.
Regarding the comment about Robson and Kaidanov, IM Robson earned all of his IM norms when he was working on his own — after he left Kaidanov and before he started working with Onischuk.
According to an article in chess life, Robson stopped working with Kaidanov because the tutor and the father disagreed about training. Perhaps young Robson’s results after leaving Kaidanov justify the father’s position.
In any event, congratulations to IM Ray Robson!
From Wikipedia: “In 2004, at the age of nine, Robson defeated his first National Master in tournament play. In 2005 he defeated his first International Master (IM), and in 2006 he defeated his first Grandmaster (GM). He studied with GM Gregory Kaidanov for almost two years (2005-07), where the two mainly communicated over the phone and Internet. He has been working on his own since June 2007.[1]
Robson was awarded the FIDE Master (FM) title in June 2005 after tying for first place at the Pan American Youth Chess Championship in Brazil. He earned the USCF National Master (NM) title in January 2006 by raising his chess rating above 2200 (the minimum required for the title of National Master). Robson earned the three norms needed for the IM title in only six weeks: the first at the 6th North American FIDE Invitational on November 3, 2007, in Chicago, Illinois; the second 24 days later at the World Youth Chess Championship in Antalya, Turkey; and the third 13 days later (December 10) at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) GM Invitational in Dallas, Texas, making him the youngest IM-elect in the United States .[5]
Robson tied for first place in the 2008 Florida championship.[6]” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Robson
Another interesting article: http://www.macauleypeterson.com/Print/Chess/New%20Superstars%20June%2007/pg_0007.htm
His father’s blog: http://www.monroi.com/chess-blog/chess-experts/ray-robson-blog/125-ray-robson-blog/902-chess-update-for-ray-robson.html