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It was said of Canada's best known child prodigy, Jeff Sarwer, that he was "2 years ahead of Fischer" in his early development. Jeff, at the age of 8, was on all the major U.S. talk shows of his day but we now know where that all ultimately led ):
I suppose it can now be said, at least at a superficial CFC ratings level, that we have a couple of new 'prodigies' who are 5 years ahead of arguably Canada's best current player, Eric Hansen. Eric didn't exceed the 1800 level (CFC) until the month he turned 13 (i.e. May 2005). We now have 2 players, one barely 8 and the other not 8 for another 4 months, who have already surpassed the 1800 level. Harmony Zhu currently is rated 1830 while the still 7-year-old Nameer Issani is rated 1816.
A third U10 junior warrants mention here, Nicholas Vettese. While Nicholas does turn 10 this year, he's currently the highest rated of the three at 1956. A quick glance at the CFC top U10 lists:
1. Nicholas Vettese 1956
2. Harmony Zhu 1830
3. Benjamin Lin 1524
I don't know why Nameer Issani doesn't appear in the 3 spot and it's not just because he's still U8 since he doesn't head up or even appear on the U8 list (top billing there is Aiden Zhou at 1337). It's hard to believe Nameer could pass through CFC scrutiny since he played 47! rated tournaments in 2013 - 2 more than Nicholas Vettese and 16 more than Harmony Zhu.
I'm not sure any of these 3 young stars will ever attain the chess status of an Eric Hansen but they're obviously all currently heading in the right direction and way ahead of 'schedule'.
I suppose it can now be said, at least at a superficial CFC ratings level, that we have a couple of new 'prodigies' who are 5 years ahead of arguably Canada's best current player, Eric Hansen. Eric didn't exceed the 1800 level (CFC) until the month he turned 13 (i.e. May 2005). We now have 2 players, one barely 8 and the other not 8 for another 4 months, who have already surpassed the 1800 level. Harmony Zhu currently is rated 1830 while the still 7-year-old Nameer Issani is rated 1816.
A third U10 junior warrants mention here, Nicholas Vettese. While Nicholas does turn 10 this year, he's currently the highest rated of the three at 1956. A quick glance at the CFC top U10 lists:
1. Nicholas Vettese 1956
2. Harmony Zhu 1830
3. Benjamin Lin 1524
I don't know why Nameer Issani doesn't appear in the 3 spot and it's not just because he's still U8 since he doesn't head up or even appear on the U8 list (top billing there is Aiden Zhou at 1337). It's hard to believe Nameer could pass through CFC scrutiny since he played 47! rated tournaments in 2013 - 2 more than Nicholas Vettese and 16 more than Harmony Zhu.
I'm not sure any of these 3 young stars will ever attain the chess status of an Eric Hansen but they're obviously all currently heading in the right direction and way ahead of 'schedule'.
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