The Brownsville Herald
Chess Strategy
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If you see Timur Gareev on the street, you might be fooled into thinking that he's just your average 18-year-old. Like most of his peers, the UTB sophomore enjoys spending time with his friends, playing basketball, and going to the gym. If you see Gareev near a chess set, however, 'average' is the last word that comes to mind.
In May, Gareev represented his home country of Uzbekistan in the 2006 Chess Olympiad in Italy. The tournament, often described as the sport's equivalent to the World Cup, drew 148 national teams from around the world. Just participating in the competition is one of the most prestigious accomplishments in the world of chess.
Gareev took the accomplishment a few steps further. He finished 24th out of 882 players.
The story of Gareev's chess career began nearly a decade ago, when the 9-year-old watched his father playing chess with a large group of friends. 'I saw them playing, and I wanted to play with them. Well, I wanted to beat them,' said Gareev.
Within a few years, he was doing exactly that. By the time he was 13, Gareev was Asia's under-14 chess champion. When he was 16, he became a part of chess' pantheon by reaching the level of Grandmaster, a title which only a thousand living players have achieved.
Despite his youth, Gareev has always rejected the title of child prodigy. 'It's a game in which age doesn't matter,' he said. 'Everyone talks in the language of chess.'
Chess, then, is one of the many languages that Gareev hopes to speak fluently. As an international business major, he has already perfected English in his first nine months in the United States. He's moved on to Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese'all of which he hopes to learn before graduation.
He's had just as much success in his studies as he's had in chess competitions, maintaining nearly a 4.0 grade-point average while taking 21 credit hours. Many educators, including the university's assistant coach, Rusty Hargrove, have substantiated the correlation between academic and chess-related success. University President Juliet Garcia sees the connection between the university's chess program and the school as a whole.
For more than a decade, Brownsville has been known for its achievements in the world of chess. The success of the city's chess programs, especially those at the elementary school level, is expected to grow with the presence of players like Gareev.
As Harwood tells of Gareev, he's more than a good player, he's a good coach. When he's not playing competitively, Gareev devotes time to coaching younger players. While he looks to players like Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fischer for inspiration, Brownsville's future chess stars look to Gareev.
Some of those young stars waved to Gareev as he sat with UTB's Garcia in a convertible at the front of Brownsville's Christmas parade. Gareev had just returned from a victory at the K12/Collegiate Chess Championships.
Victory on the chessboard is something to which Timur Gareev is becoming accustomed. It is not, however, something the 18-year-old takes for granted.
'The game gives me confidence in everything I do,' said Gareev. 'If I can succeed at something as difficult as chess, maybe I can succeed in other aspects of life.'
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