Chess Child: The Story of Ray Robson, America's Youngest Grandmaster

by Gary Robson

Chess Child describes the development of Ray Robson from three-year-old chess player to 14-year-old grandmaster. More than just a biography, the book tells the story of a father and his struggle to adapt to meet the changing needs of his child.

Genres: Chess

281 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Robert J Gyurik · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel sorry for Ray. What a childhood! I am about the same age as Gary; I was a full-blown hippy, lived in the bush, went to Woodstock, attended all of the rock concerts at the Fillmore in NY, marched in all the right protests, and so on.

But I progressed out of that childish mind-set and moved on into practical life and became a research scientist. Unfortunate for Gary, he is locked into that philosophical professorial mind-set and is not allowed to think away from that group think. I hope that Ray is able to progress past that way of life and stay independent.

I think that Gary has done as well as he could with Ray under the circumstances. I am now reading In Search of Bobby Fischer to see the differences.

[Todd Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads clunkily at times, but it's still fascinating to peer into the life of America's latest chess monster.