SA chess champ likes to beat dad while blindfolded
Eben Karsten used to let his son beat him at chess to help with morale.
Now his son beats him blindfolded. Again and again.
In fact Jan Karsten, 14, can beat just about anybody. He didn’t lose a single match throughout the new African Junior Champs held in Algeria earlier this month.
He was one of the youngest contestants at the tournament, open to anybody younger than 21.
“I would get home at night and play both my sons at the same time. I would sometimes let them win,” said Eben.
“Now when I get home Jan wants to play us both and wants to play blindfolded, and he wins both games.”
Jan said blindfolded chess is good training. “It helps me to visualise the chess board,” he told TIMESLIVE Premium. “I just love the game.
“I have been playing chess since the age of three and since lockdown got immersed in it.
“I think I have a talent for things along the line of maths, chess, music and so on, but I also work really hard.”
Jan, a pupil at Cape Town’s Jan van Riebeeck High, used to play online games with friends but spends more time these days honing his chess skills.
The “downtime” during the lockdown helped him study past matches and receive online training.
In 2019 he began competing, aged 11, with remarkable success. The big turning point was a wildcard competition to qualify for the SA Junior Closed champs, which he won.
“I was obviously very, very happy with the win. I had had high hopes for this tournament, but winning was always going to be easier said than done.”
The budding maestro now has grandmaster ambitions but says he’ll take it one step at a time.
“Thankfully I am still young, so I can give it a shot, but at some point I will be keen to get qualified in some profession and start working.
“To be a professional player is the dream for me, but unfortunately chess is a game that does not have that much money in it, unless you reach the very top. I will, however, try my best to get that grandmaster title,” he said.
Paul Wilson, founder of South African Chess Hub, said Jan’s victory at the 2022 African Junior Championships was remarkable in a number of ways.
“He is only the third South African player to win the open section, and to do it at such a young age makes it even more impressive.
“His commitment and hard work set a great example to other young chess players in SA and will inspire and motivate them that with hard work they can achieve their dreams.”
Wilson added: “Having a young international master with a grandmaster norm is incredibly important for chess in SA, as we only have one grandmaster (Kenny Solomon) who is based overseas. Jan will become the ninth and youngest international master in SA.
“The more titled players in SA, the more opportunities there will be for other talented chess players to achieve title norms in local tournaments, as opposed to travelling to international events at great cost.”
He said the future of chess in SA looked bright with African Junior Champion Jan and African Schools Under 17 Champion Tezihano Mnyasta from Elsies River. The SA Women’s’ Champion is 15-year-old Chloe Badenhorst.
There are other rising chess stars competing against the country’s best, including 15year-old Michael Simpson, who finished fourth in the South African Open and 12-year-old Caleb Levitan, who received his candidate master title in 2022.
Now that he’s a chess champ, does Jan ever let his dad win? “That’s a tricky one to answer honestly,” he said.