When Justin Sarkar, a soft-spoken and genial international master, was younger, he cut a distinctive figure at the chess board. He would sit slightly askew with his head turned to one side, and he would look down to avoid looking at his opponent.
Sarkar, now 30, still has trouble making eye contact, and he said in an interview on Tuesday that he had always been uncomfortable in social situations. He becomes anxious and has difficulty reading people. “Some of their hand movements I don’t quite get,” he said.
Though he has never received a diagnosis of any disorder, he believes that he has a form of autism. “I wish it was easier for me to explain,” he said.
“I have a condition that appears overwhelming,” added Sarkar, who lives in Westchester County, N.Y., “but I’ve shown it is still possible to be successful.”
Sarkar graduated from Columbia University with a degree in applied mathematics, though he found the classroom atmosphere to be difficult. “The good thing,” he said, “is that I have an Ivy League degree.”
Sarkar has had many notable victories in his chess career, but he has not always been consistent. He recently began studying with the grandmaster Giorgi Kacheishvili, and his results have improved.
Read more at The New York Times
IM Justin Joseph Sarkar has 3.5 points after four rounds. (Photo: Lars OA Hedlund)
Laddar ...
Senaste kommentarer