WITH JESSE KRAAI
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SFR: When did you first start playing chess?
JK:
I was probably in sixth grade. I went to Larragoite [Elementary School] and we didn't have a chess club there, but I had friends that went to Carlos Gilbert and other schools that had chess programs. So I got into it by proxy.
Any predictions about winning your fourth straight state championship [Oct. 28-29 at the University of New Mexico]?
[Laughs] Well, I guess I'm kind of the heavy favorite, so it's a situation where if I don't win it's the end of the world and if I do win it's just business as usual.
Do you have to travel outside New Mexico to find a decent game?
New Mexico has always had a strong scene, but I'm playing on a more national or international level right now and there's not really anyone else in the state at that level, so I'm usually going out of state for tournaments. Last weekend I was in Reno and soon I'll be going out to [Los Angeles] to play.
How do you keep sharp if you don't have stiff competition at home?
I travel. I'd say I try to play in a tournament at least once a month, but the main thing is just to review my own games. It's kind of like a self-psychoanalysis session where you try to understand why you do certain things in certain situations.
What's your biggest weakness? Too aggressive? Not aggressive enough?
I think I'm strong in counterattacking situations but I'm not very good on the attack. I'm from Santa Fe, so I just take it easy and let things happen. I don't try to go out there and take control of things right away.
You're ranked as an International Master with a rating of 2,545 and…I have no idea what that means.
Well, it's a little bit complicated. There are basically a bunch of hoops you have to go through to reach the IM level…the best analogy I could give would be that the International Master title is like a doctorate and a Grand Master title is kind of like when you're the head of the Max Planck Institute.
So…how far away are you from becoming a Grand Master?
It's just a couple steps away. I'm holding my own against the top players in the country, but I'm not really dominant, so I really just need a little bit more of an edge…In the states there are maybe 20 or so [Grand Masters], and right now I'm ranked something like 25th in the country.
Who's the best player you've ever played against?
Probably a guy named Gata Kamsky [currently ranked No. 19 in the world by the World Chess Federation]. He was just a fantastic player. I played him twice, and I drew once and lost once.
Who's the greatest chess player ever?
Of all time, I think [Garry] Kasparov is the greatest. You could argue that it was [Bobby] Fischer, but I think that Kasparov was the greatest just in terms of what he did.
What, no Deep Blue?
Well, we'll see. I think there's a public perception that the computers are better than us now, but the last couple of matches have been dead even.
Is Eastern Europe still the breeding ground for the best players?
Absolutely. If you take the ratings and list them, I think it goes something like Russia, Ukraine, United States, Armenia and then maybe India. But we're not that far behind. I think the issue here is that chess has always been seen as kind of a nonmasculine game. Over there, the epitome of manliness is to play the game and play it well. A big part of it is that chess was sanctioned by the Soviet authorities back in the day. Stalin was really into it, Castro was really into it.
Could you beat Castro and Stalin?
I don't know. That's a good question. Che [Guevera] played chess too, and they were all into it, but I have no idea how good they were.
Do you identify with one chess piece more than the others?
No, they're all my friends.
Are the pawns given a bad rap?
[Laughs] The pawns are pretty powerful. You can't do anything in life without the pawns.
What's a question you wish somebody would ask about your chess career?
Well, I've always wanted someone from the Reporter to ask me, 'Why aren't you financially motivated by the whole capitalist scheme?' My answer is that I used to be a paperboy for the Reporter. This was at a period in the Reporter's history when they wanted to charge for the newspaper. So you can just imagine me, as a 9-year-old boy, delivering newspapers to the crack houses off of Second Street and demanding money for a newspaper that was normally free. That experience explains all my future development in terms of being attracted to things, like philosophy and chess, that don't really have anything to do with making money.
So…in a roundabout way, we're responsible for your success?
[Laughs] Yeah, you helped me magnificently in my intellectual development.
