The youngest ever US grandmaster – a 14-year-old from suburban Boston – on intimidation tactics and what it will take to become America’s first world champion since Bobby Fischer

Hello Sam! Hello, Small Talk!

You have a big couple weeks ahead with the US Championship. How are you feeling? Of course there is a little bit of anxiety, but I have played many such tournaments where I am outrated by a couple hundred points, so I don’t think this should be something that is new to me.

How does this US Championship compare to the others you competed in, especially since it is the first since you have reached the rank of grandmaster [Sam is doing pretty well so far, last Friday he beat world No8 Wesley So]? This is the strongest US Championship in history, and that kind of puts a little more pressure on me. I did play in the US Championship two years ago, and I did quite well there. Of course, this competition is even stronger, so that makes me excited to play.

In other sports, as folks head into big competitions, they taper, or slow down training to reserve energy. What does your training look like heading into big competitions, and do you have any sort of “tapering”? In general, yes, one should preserve energy for tournaments, and probably [Garry] Kasparov and [Bobby] Fischer are good examples of that. For me, I try to do both; I try to stay relaxed and at the same time stay sharp. To stay sharp, I do problems and to stay relaxed, I watch sports and basically take my mind off the game.

You are the youngest ever US grandmaster in history. Not such a bad thing to have on your resume. What was your first thought when you became GM? I was really happy because that game I had to win to become grandmaster was a really intense game! It came down to the wire, and I was able to win it, so it was really exciting in the moment. After the tournament, it settled down, so I understood more what it meant.

Sevian became the youngest grandmaster in American history with a thrilling win over Andrey Gorovets of Belarus in November.

But in the moment, you were just focused on winning the game. It was stressful just reading about it because it was a nail-biter, but that buzzer beater won you a monumental achievement overall. How did you stay focused in the moment? There was a lot of pressure on me, and I tried to basically focus on just the game. But at some point, I got really deep into the variations. I had very low time, but I made the game very sharp, and my opponent then also kept getting lower and lower on time.

Now we’re thinking ticking time bomb … At some point, I even had only one second on the clock, and I had to make my move extremely fast.

And looking back, was it the right instinct? Yes, I think it was the correct move.

Trash talk isn’t really a big part of the culture of chess. What kind of mental intimidation occurs over the board between opponents? Sometimes people try to stare down their opponents, but …

But you have a mind of steel, Professor X … Well, I will just stare right back.

I understand that you have your eyes on a world championship. What do you need to do to get there? Anyone who plays the game has eyes on the World Championship title, and if they say otherwise, don’t believe them. Basically, though, it comes down to work ethic, and when I say I want to become world champion, I think that time will show. I just became a grandmaster, and there are still so many steps to get to that title.

Matches can span a long period of time, what’s the longest match you have ever played? I played in a big tournament a few months ago in the Netherlands called Tata Steel Chess, and in the fourth round, I was playing the former European Champion, Vladimir Potkin. The game went a little more than seven hours.

How do you sustain yourself –mentally, physically and emotionally – from exhaustion in long matches? Well basically during tournaments, a win really adds to your confidence, and I don’t really get hungry.

Because of the adrenaline? I drink water, but I don’t need anything else. But I do stay physically fit in general. I go to the gym. I run and swim and play sports, which you should do for these long games that can last so many hours.

With all that water over those hours, can you get up and go to the bathroom? [Laughs.] Of course, you can do that as much as you need.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sevian turns the screw on an opponent in November. Photograph: AP

Despite the fact that a match can last a long time, there is a time limit for making your move. How can you stay ahead of the clock, and when is it most challenging to have the clock in your ear? Right now I have some problems with my time management because I can start calculating the line and get very deep into the variation, and this is time-consuming. I am working on it. Of course, when you are up on time, you play a little differently.

How much of chess, then, is playing against your opponent versus playing against yourself? When it comes to playing your opponent, you especially want to be up on time or at least equal on time to keep the pressure on.

What do you think separates greats, then, from my neighbor Max, who plays in the park most days? I think it’s just the work ethic and the time. Greats spend a lot of time on chess, but I don’t think that most folks do.

You started to play chess when you were five. What’s your first memory of playing the game? I remember when I was just learning the moves, my dad was playing against me without a queen … he took out his queen, and he was beating me! I couldn’t imagine how one could win without a queen.

Chess is a huge part of your life, but you have lots of other interests. What are those, and how do you balance them. Well, I watch sports and go to the gym. Mainly on a daily basis, though, if I study for six or seven hours, there’s not much time to do other things. I read chess books a lot, but I love it!

Well, it’s a pretty addictive, almost like golf for the brain for a lot of people. Because chess is so popular, it’s in a lot of films – X-Men, James Bond. What actor (or who) would you want to play you in a movie of your life? Well, I would want someone who would understand the complexities of the Sicilian defense would be nice! [Failing that] Will Ferrell. He could come close.

Does he play chess? I don’t know. He should!

Notably, you’ve had the chance to train with Garry Kasparov. What’s been the best part of training with him? I like to watch and listen to Kasparov and try to get into his mind to see how he thinks. He’s one of those unique players who is able to give many ideas at once. It’s hard to evaluate all of the ideas, but that’s part of what makes him one of the best players of all time, and it’s also what I really admire about him.

Sevian has broken a number of ‘youngest ever’ records throughout his meteoric rise. Image: FIDE.com

If there is one thing that Kasparov says to help improve your play, what is it? He told me to make my game a little more practical, to work on my time management, to think a little less, and to work on my decision-making process.

Well, when you think about your ability in the past to make split decisions, such as in the game you won to become grandmaster, that shows your instinct is there. Well that was a really rare case. I had 10 seconds and thought, “That’s enough time to make a move.” But then I looked up and saw I had no time, so I just immediately made a move. It happened to be the best one.

It’s certainly tradition in sport to have teams split by gender. There are lots of reasons for this in physical competition. Many would consider chess to be largely a mental sport. What are your thoughts on the gender divide in chess, particularly in modern day (and in the future)? In chess the best female players in the world play in men’s tournaments, and the best make it far. Take, for example, Judit Polgár. She was once the best player in the world and was very close to becoming world champion.

She rarely if ever played in women’s only championships, right? Yes, she refused to.

So what does this mean for the future of men’s or women’s only teams? I think it will change more and more. There are so many great female players, and many will continue to make it to higher rankings.

You have a little sister. Does she play chess? If so, do you two ever play together? No, she doesn’t really like it. Every time we bring up chess, she seems like she thinks it’s annoying or she doesn’t like it.

You travel a lot for competition and are home-schooled, so a lot of your friends live all over the world. I wasn’t home schooled in elementary school, but I started being home-schooled in middle school because public schools don’t allow that many absences in a month.

Which is hard when you have a lot of tournaments with adults, who are, you know, finished with school. How often do you get to see and speak with friends your age, and how has this changed over the years? I either meet my friends at tournaments or talk to them on Skype. Most of them live in the States.

Will any of them be in St Louis? No … not yet.

How do you balance all of the hard work of your day with being a 14-year-old? Because I love the game I pretty much spend a lot of time playing it. I don’t have any other big interests yet. I do get to talk to friends and relax, but I do love chess.

Many people get totally overwhelmed by the infinite possibilities and combinations of moves in chess. What do you think is the most misunderstood part of the game? I think chess helps with your life and with your logical thinking process … if I play this, my opponent can reply with that. I don’t think people really understand that chess can be helpful not just as a sport but in applying the thinking to your life.

Thanks for talking to us, and good luck! Thank you!