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and can hardly believe the gong show that is Wesley So and company.
It isn't even clear who So is hanging out with or what he is doing...
As I first started reading this interview, I was struck that everything seemed connected to Wesley So winning $100,000 in the Millionaire Chess Open. It looked like a classic case of "sudden money syndrome" (which you hear about with lots of lottery winners).
But then at the very end... wow! There's a Bobby Fischer connection!
Will Wesley So turn into the next high-profile chess psychopath? We should all shudder to think about that. All the efforts to get chess into school curriculums, to widen the appeal of organized chess... and suddenly we could have chess producing yet another major lunatic who, among other possible things, apparently can't even understand a rule when it has been explained to him twice before.
That would definitely get parents thinking twice about getting their children seriously pursuing chess as a career.
What's really weird: a few months ago, Nakamura and So played a so-called "Death Match" and chess.com interviewed each of them. In the interview, each of them was asked to fill in the following statement:
"Chess players are better at (blank) then most people but worse at (blank)."
Wesley So's answer was "Better at chess and worse at interpersonal skills." But even more on the mark was Nakamura: "Chess players are better at analyzing and thinking ahead then most people but worse at understand (sic) real-life situations." Wow......
Incidentally that article has a photo taken by one Lennart Ootes of Wesley So writing on his scoresheet.....???? That photo might be about to make Mr. Ootes a lot of money.
Only the rushing is heard...
Onward flies the bird.
My guess is So is trying to free himself from the control his parents are imposing on his life. Asian parents are very controlling of their children. Wes is 21 and he wants to do his own thing without his parents telling him what to do all the time.
For many reasons, I'm now close to being convinced he's being manipulated or has joined some weird cult or something.
We now have 4 differing narratives of what has been going on: from Wesley So's mother Eleanor (Leny), from his 'foster mother' Lotis Key (not sure why a 21-year-old needs a foster mother), from Paul Truong at Webster, and from Wesley So himself...???
If the stuff above really was written by Wesley, this part directly contradicts Paul Truong: "Calling your room to check if you had left yet, the operator would not give me the information unless I gave them the name of the person in the room. I tried your name. No. I tried Susan’s name. No. Then I guessed Paul Truong and yup, the operator told me that was the name on the credit card. She even spelled it out for me."
Well, according to Paul Truong himself as shown on the Chessbase article at http://en.chessbase.com/post/what-is...with-wesley-so this was not the case: "I did not book any hotel room for anyone, especially Wesley's relatives.
I did not pay for for any hotel room in cash or credit card.
I did not buy any airline tickets for anyone.
I did not arrange any trip for anyone. Neither did Webster or anyone I know.
I did not go to the St Louis Chess Club. In fact, I have not been to the St Louis Chess Club since March 2012."
Truong also alleges that Wesley didn't quit Webster to turn pro, his scholarship at Webster was rescinded on Oct 28 2014 for breaking many team rules. The exact rules he broke are not disclosed.
Ashley: So you have one more game to play. What do you have to play for now in the last round?
So: To try to win. I can understand Var [Varuzhan Akobian] for not wanting to play against me, but tomorrow one more game against Kayden Troff and try to win and give my best.
Ashley: You mentioned Var. He says you guys are friends and the opportunity to play you doesn't come every day. Do you think he didn't want to play you?
So: Well obviously he wanted a free point.
Ashley: You think he just wanted the free point?
So: Yes.
Ashley: Wow, that's a big claim. He said you guys are teammates and friends.
So: Well we were. But yes, I guess you've just got to abide by the rules.
Hikaru Nakamura hit back immediately on Twitter:
Hikaru Nakamura @GMHikaru
Very shameful and disrespectful comments by So about Varuzhan Akobian. Blame everyone except yourself for breaking the rules.
6:08 PM - 11 Apr 2015
Still, to me the most explosive revelation in this whole affair is the one from So's mother Eleanor about the Bobby Fischer connection with Lotis Key:
This pattern of what Wesley is facing now is similar to Bobby Fischer in Pasadena. We all know what happened to Bobby Fischer after Pasadena. He was never the same. It scared us even more after what Lotis wrote publicly:
“Bobby Fischer lived in my older sister’s house in Pasadena. There is no mystery to Wesley wanting to live with us. He is a good fit here, as we all enjoy each other’s company.”
Only the rushing is heard...
Onward flies the bird.
Lotis Key was an actress in the Philippine cinema in the late 70's and her current husband is a former pro basketball player in the Philippine professional league. At one point Lotis was rumored to have had a relationship with former President Marcos . She speaks Tagalog hence the reason why Wesley probably feels at home with her family. Lotis also accompanied Wesley when he received recognition from the Philippine Senate for winning the Universiade gold medal in 2013 - long overdue because the Phil. National Chess Federation refused to recognize his accomplishment. They wanted him to play in an Asian tourney but another government sports agency funded his trip to the Universiade.
The poor chap had been subject to so many tribulations brought about by people who want to cash in on his talent. He had a miserable time moving from the PNCF to the USCF and we don't know how much he paid to complete the transfer. He needs to play competitive chess and at the same time maintain his scholarship. At some point, when all you really want to do in life is play professional chess and all the people you deal with for much needed emotional and moral support are expecting you to acquiesce to their demands and you can't handle the stress - what would you do ??
Lotis Key was an actress in the Philippine cinema in the late 70's and her current husband is a former pro basketball player in the Philippine professional league. At one point Lotis was rumored to have had a relationship with former President Marcos . She speaks Tagalog hence the reason why Wesley probably feels at home with her family. Lotis also accompanied Wesley when he received recognition from the Philippine Senate for winning the Universiade gold medal in 2013 - long overdue because the Phil. National Chess Federation refused to recognize his accomplishment. They wanted him to play in an Asian tourney but another government sports agency funded his trip to the Universiade.
The poor chap had been subject to so many tribulations brought about by people who want to cash in on his talent. He had a miserable time moving from the PNCF to the USCF and we don't know how much he paid to complete the transfer. He needs to play competitive chess and at the same time maintain his scholarship. At some point, when all you really want to do in life is play professional chess and all the people you deal with for much needed emotional and moral support are expecting you to acquiesce to their demands and you can't handle the stress - what would you do ??
I don't think I would turn to a nut bar like Lotis Key... Maybe Scientology - no, wait, that might actually be worse.
We now have 4 differing narratives of what has been going on: from Wesley So's mother Eleanor (Leny), from his 'foster mother' Lotis Key (not sure why a 21-year-old needs a foster mother), from Paul Truong at Webster, and from Wesley So himself...???
It's called the Rashomon effect as portrayed in the film 'Rashomon' (~1950) by the late great Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune.
I think what we have here is a perfect storm of strangeness. If So is right, it still doesn't excuse his inability to follow the rules. Deliberately writing on a separate sheet of paper seems like a fine job of splitting hairs. Meanwhile the foster mother seems nutty, there are possible holes in Truong's story and the mother may or may not be taking engaging in a maternal power play. It's like the chess world has switched story lines with a daytime soap opera. :-)
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