Joshua Waitzkin (born December 4, 1976) is an American former

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

player, martial arts competitor, and author. As a child, he was recognized as a

prodigy Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to: * Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer ** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess Arts, entertainment, and ...

, and won the U.S. Junior Chess championship in 1993 and 1994. The film ''

Searching for Bobby Fischer ''Searching for Bobby Fischer'', released in the United Kingdom as ''Innocent Moves'', is a 1993 American drama film written and directed by Steven Zaillian in his directorial debut. Starring Max Pomeranc in his film debut, Joe Mantegna, Joan A ...

'' is based on his early life.

Early life and education

Waitzkin first noticed the game of chess being played while walking with his mother in New York City's

Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. One of the best known of New York City's public parks, it is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. ...

at the age of six. At age seven, Waitzkin began studying the game with his first formal teacher Bruce Pandolfini. During his years as a student at

Dalton Dalton may refer to: Science * Dalton (crater), a lunar crater * Dalton (program), chemistry software * Dalton (unit) (Da), the atomic mass unit * John Dalton, chemist, physicist and meteorologist Entertainment * Dalton (Buffyverse), minor ch ...

he led the school to win seven national team championships between the third and ninth grades, in addition to his eight individual titles. In 1999, Waitzkin enrolled at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, where he studied philosophy. At ten years old, Waitzkin played a notable game featuring a sacrifice of his

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

and

rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military * Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * USS ...

in exchange for a checkmate six moves later. At 11, Waitzkin and fellow prodigy K. K. Karanja were the only two children to

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...

with World Champion

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...

in an exhibition event where Kasparov played simultaneously against 59 youngsters. At age 13, he earned the title of National Master, and at age 16 became an International Master. Waitzkin has not played in a

US Chess Federation The United States Chess Federation (also known as US Chess or USCF) is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, the World Chess Federation. US Chess administers the official national rating s ...

tournament since 1999, and his last FIDE tournament was before 2000. Waitzkin has also stated in an interview his reasoning for leaving chess

When people ask me why I stopped playing chess … I tend to say that I lost the love. And I guess if I were to be a little bit more true, I would say that I became separated from my love; I became alienated from chess somewhat … The need that I felt to win, to win, to win all the time, as opposed to the freedom to explore the art more and more deeply, and I think that started to move me away from the game and also chess for me was so intimate. It was something that I loved so deeply that when I started to become alienated from it, I couldn't do it in an impure way.

Film portrayal

The script for Paramount Pictures' 1993 film ''

'' (released in the United Kingdom as '' Innocent Moves'') was based on a 1988 book by Waitzkin's father,

Fred Waitzkin Fred Waitzkin (born 1943 in Massachusetts) is an American novelist and writer for ''The New York Times'' ''Sunday Magazine'', ''New York'', and ''Esquire''. He graduated Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio in 1965, and lives in New York City and Marth ...

: ''Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess''. Waitzkin makes a cameo in the film, in a scene in the last quarter of the movie (at 1:21:52) where his father is watching a young Josh play Vinnie (

Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. He is a three time Emmy Award and Tony Award winning actor known for his roles on stage and screen. He has been hailed for his forceful, militant, and authoritative charact ...

) from a bench. The real Waitzkin (16 years old at that time) can be seen wearing a black jacket/white hoodie playing chess right next to the film's version of Waitzkin and is sitting across from Josh's father (Joe Mantegna).

Author

Waitzkin is the author of two books: ''Attacking Chess: Aggressive Strategies, Inside Moves from the U.S. Junior Chess Champion'' (1995) and ''The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance'' (2008), an autobiographical discussion of the learning process and performance psychology drawn from Waitzkin's experiences in both chess and the martial arts. He is also the spokesperson for the ''

Chessmaster ''Chessmaster'' is a chess-playing computer game series, which is owned and developed by Ubisoft. It is the best-selling chess franchise in history, with more than five million units sold . Timeline *1986: '' The Chessmaster 2000''. First publ ...

'' video game series, and is featured in the game giving advice and game analysis. Waitzkin has a chapter giving advice in

Tim Ferriss Timothy Ferriss (born July 20, 1977) is an American entrepreneur, investor, author, podcaster, and lifestyle guru. He became well-known through his ''4-Hour'' self-help book series—including ''The 4-Hour Work Week'', ''The 4-Hour Body'', and '' ...

' book ''

Tools of Titans ''Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers'' (2016) is a self-help book by Timothy Ferriss, an American writer, educational activist, and entrepreneur. He interviewed more than 100 "wor ...

''.

Martial arts

As a young adult, Waitzkin's focus shifted to the martial art

Taiji Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. T ...

. He holds several US national medals and a 2004 world champion title in the competitive sport of Taiji Push Hands ( Taiji Tui Shou).Archived a
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Waitzkin also became a championship coach, leading Grandmaster William C. C. Chen's US Push Hands Team to several titles at the Tai Chi World Cup in Taiwan, guiding teammates

Jan Lucanus Jan Lucanus is an American comic book writer, filmmaker, martial artist, musical artist, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of the transmedia company Creative Impulse Entertainment, Inc., co-creator/co-writer of the mixed martial arts ...

and Jan C. Childress to their world titles.Archived a
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Waitzkin is also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under world champion and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu phenomenon Marcelo Garcia. Waitzkin is the co-founder of MGInAction.com and The Marcelo Garcia Academy, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu school located in New York City.

Personal life

On April 23, 2010, Waitzkin married Desiree Cifre, a screenwriter and former contestant on ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...

''.

References

External links

*
"Chess Champion Offers Success Strategies for Life"
audio interview by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

on May 14, 2007 about the book ''The Art of Learning''
The Art of Learning Project

Interviews with Josh Waitzkin
* Edward Winter
Searching for Bobby Fischer (Joshua Waitzkin)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waitzkin, Joshua 1976 births American chess players 20th-century American Jews American chess writers American male non-fiction writers American non-fiction writers American martial artists Jewish martial artists Chess International Masters Dalton School alumni Columbia College (New York) alumni Living people Jewish chess players 21st-century American Jews