CL_09-2008_looking_back_DLF_r11.
qxp:chess life 8/6/08 2:15 PM
The international master reached a
peak rating near 2600 fresh out of high
school. He won the National High School
Championship twice, attended Harvard,
and helped guide the Crimson to three
Pan-American titles. He added one more
collegiate title during his graduate school
days at the University of Illinois. Oh,
while there he also earned a Ph.D. in
physics. Here is one of his wins from that
tournament—you may recognize his oppo-
nent’s name.
A Vivek-section
IM Vivek Rao (2549)
GM Gata Kamsky (2730)
1991 Pan-American Games, Chicago
r+ + + +
+ + +qk
+ +lppp
+ L + +
Pn+P
 p P
+LQ + +
+ + +P+
+ + +R+K
After 52. ... exf4
53. Bxc4!
The opposite-color bishop position will
accelerate White’s attack.
53. ... Bxc4 54. Rxf4 Ra6 55. e5 Bd5
Not 55. ... f5? 56. e6+ Qf6 57. Bd4.
56. Rxf6 Rxf6 57. exf6+ Kg8 58. Qe5
White’s pieces dominate the board.
58. ... Qd7 59. Kg1
If 59. Qe7?? Qh3+.
59. ... Bc6 60. Qe7
Perhaps surprising, but Rao correctly
evaluates the ending as winning.
60. ... Qxe7 61. Bxe7 Kf7 62. Kf2 Ke6 63. g3
g5 64. hxg5 hxg5 65. Ke3
White’s two passed pawns are just far
enough apart to overextend Black’s
defenses.
65. ... Bb5 66. Kd4 Be2 67. Kc5 g4 68. b5 Kd7
69. b6 Bf3 70. Bd6 Ke6 71. Bf4 Be4 72. f7!
Kxf7 73. Kd6, Black resigned.
uschess.org
Page 29
What you say about Vivek Rao
is what you say about theory now.
Rao enjoyed studying opening theory.
His knowledge of the opening catapulted
him to the top of the scholastic chess
scene. IM Greg Shahade once wrote that
during Rao’s junior days, “What you say
about Vivek Rao is what you say about
theory now.”
Like Rachels, Rao never earned his
grandmaster title (Rachels achieved two
grandmaster norms), a goal he would
have liked to fulfill. But unlike Shaked
and Rachels, he said he would have con-
sidered a career in chess if the financial
rewards were adequate, “at least for a
decade or so.”
Nowadays, the former prodigy is 37,
lives in Boston, and cannot imagine
spending four hours on a game, let alone
a full day digesting the game’s minutiae.
For Rao, being a banker allows a pleasant
mix of investing, math and computer pro-
gramming. He wonders whether he should
have spent more time on those areas than
on chess. Rao is now married and the
eldest of his three children, still only four,
is already competing—a three-year head
start compared to his father. That’s where
Rao said he would like you to see him
next—at a chess tournament, helping his
children find their way to the right board.
Life After Chess
The game, once so engrained in the
daily lives of these players, was never
completely abandoned. Shaked and Rao
still play on the Internet Chess Club,
mostly blitz. Shaked used to write a chess
column after his retirement. Rachels just
completed an intriguing essay for a new
book entitled Philosophy Looks at Chess.
In it, he claims that the genius of chess
players and problem composers alike is
obfuscated from mainstream society. Rao
played in a few quick chess tournaments
in New York a few years ago, mostly out
of convenience.
Only Shaked does not hold a Ph.D.,
but he may have finished it were it not for
landing such a coveted job. As Kevin
Spacey deadpans in the recent movie 21,
“It’s not like it’s the Sizzler, it’s Google.”
None of the three said anyone expressed
disappointment in their respective deci-
sions, just some surprise. But jejune
speculation about their reasoning seems
to be unjustified. One Internet posting
reads, “I am sure [Rachels] passed up
chess for monetary reasons as most Amer-
ican players have to do unfortunately.” But
if you talk to the men, the game had sim-
ply run its course. All three were in search
of other areas of intellectual stimulation
and enlightenment. “Tal is probably the
most inquisitive person I have ever met,”
Colby said. None are likely to return to
serious competition.
“A lot of people have to make these
decisions—I think I made the right deci-
sion,” Shaked reflected. “There was a
whole other part of the world I wanted to
experience. I kind of wonder if I had kept
playing how good I could have gotten.
And I’ll never know that. On the other
hand, if I never went to college ...”
Other strong players have pursued their
own way, in law, medicine, and poker.
Some have returned—Wolff played in the
U.S. Chess League after a long hiatus
and Kamsky is two steps from being a
world champion. Watson, Shaked’s former
teacher, came back to the game reincar-
nated as an award-winning author.
Shahade has made his mark as a chess
organizer in addition to playing poker.
In 2005, Shaked was in New York on
business and decided to stop by the Mar-
shall Chess Club. His girlfriend, an avid
user of the Chessmaster program, had
never been there. A few people recog-
nized him, others did not. It felt like a
high-school reunion, and Shaked gladly
reconnected with old chess friends and
listened to their experiences beyond the
game. By chance, it happened to be the
day of Jennifer Shahade’s book signing,
and the cavernous club was filled. “Every-
one was there,” he said. “I was expecting
it to be dead.” .
Rachels, Shaked, &
Rao in Chess Life
Stuart Rachels:
2/82, p. 15; 10/87, p. 35; 8/88, p. 31;
12/88, p. 14; 3/90, p. 25; 1/92, p. 34.
Tal Shaked:
11/95, p. 49; 5/97, p. 6; 6/97, p. 52;
7/97, p. 57.
Vivek Rao:
10/87, p. 35; 11/87, p. 30; 8/88, p. 33.
This is not a comprehensive list.
Chess Life — September 2008 29