Edison native on his way to becoming grandmaster

Edison native on his way to becoming grandmaster
2:53 PM, Aug 14, 2012

EDISON — Until the day he plays a flawless game, chess champion Victor Shen said he will never be completely satisfied with his performance.

“After every game, there’s something to learn,” said Shen, 19. “There’s always something you can do better. … I’m the type of player that’s sort of a perfectionist.”

The Edison native has competed in chess tournaments since he was 7, following his goal to become a grandmaster. While he narrowly missed the top spots on the 2012 U.S. Junior Chess Championships in July, Shen said, he is set on winning at next summer’s World Championships.

Shen, who has competed internationally, said he is a slow player who tends to make careful but decisive moves.

“I thought that from the beginning that he was a very well-rounded player,” said Joel Benjamin, who started coaching Shen about five years ago. “He was a very patient player, and he was good in defense, which is often unusual in young players.”

Shen, a student at Columbia University, returned home and decided to dedicate his summer to chess competitions. He attended tournaments all summer, with his season peaking the U.S. Junior Chess Championships in St. Louis. He has registered for the Manhattan Open, which runs from Aug. 17 to 21.

“I’m just trying to find a tournament that’s going to attract strong players and that’s not too far away,” he said.

Shen began learning chess when he was 7, after being introduced to it while in summer camp, said his father, Dongming Shen. He chose to play chess every day and started learning the rules with his father. From there, he spent an average of two hours a day practicing chess.

“It (chess) taught him how to get focused and how to do well in a certain area,” Dongming Shen said.

Full article here.