Joshua Waitzkin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Joshua Waitzkin |
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Waitzkin in 2005
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| Country | United States |
| Born | December 4, 1976 New York City, U.S. |
| Title | International Master (1993) |
| FIDE rating | 2464 (August 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2480 (July 1998) |
Joshua Waitzkin (born December 4, 1976) is an American who was once a top chess player. He also became a world champion in martial arts and is a successful author. When he was a child, people recognized him as a prodigy, meaning he had amazing natural talent. He won the U.S. Junior Chess championship two times, in 1993 and 1994. A famous movie called Searching for Bobby Fischer tells the story of his early life.
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Early Life and Chess Journey
Joshua Waitzkin first saw chess being played when he was six years old. He was walking with his mother in Washington Square Park in New York City. At age seven, he started learning chess formally with his first teacher, Bruce Pandolfini. Joshua attended Dalton, where he helped his school team win seven national championships. He also won eight individual titles himself. Later, in 1999, Waitzkin went to Columbia University to study philosophy.
Becoming a Chess Star
When he was ten, Joshua played a very memorable chess game. He cleverly gave up his queen and a rook to set up a checkmate just six moves later. At age 11, Joshua and another young talent, K. K. Karanja, were the only two kids to get a draw against the World Champion Garry Kasparov. This happened during a special event where Kasparov played against 59 young players at the same time. By age 13, Joshua earned the title of National Master. At 16, he became an International Master, which is a very high title in chess.
Why He Left Chess
Joshua Waitzkin has not played in a major chess tournament since 1999. He explained that he felt he had "lost the love" for the game. He felt too much pressure to always win. This made it hard for him to enjoy exploring the art of chess deeply. He said that chess was very personal to him, and he couldn't continue playing if it didn't feel pure and joyful anymore.
Film Portrayal
The 1993 movie Searching for Bobby Fischer was based on a book by Joshua's father, Fred Waitzkin. The book was about Joshua's early life in the chess world. Joshua himself makes a small appearance in the movie. You can see him playing chess in a scene where his father is watching. The real Joshua, who was 16 at the time, is sitting right next to the actor playing young Josh.
From Chess to Martial Arts
As Joshua grew older, he shifted his focus from chess to the martial art of tai chi. He became very skilled in this new area.
Tai Chi Champion
Joshua has won several national medals in the competitive sport of tai chi pushing hands. In 2004, he even won a world champion title in this sport. He also became a successful coach. He led Grandmaster William C. C. Chen's US Pushing Hands Team to win several titles at the Tai Chi World Cup in Taiwan. He helped his teammates Jan Lucanus and Jan C. Childress achieve their own world titles.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Master
Waitzkin also holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He trained under the world champion Marcelo Garcia. Joshua is a co-founder of MGInAction.com and The Marcelo Garcia Academy, which is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu school in New York City. In January 2025, Joshua shared that he had faced a serious health incident while doing breathwork. He also suffered a back injury during a jiu-jitsu training session. These challenges led him to stop competing in jiu-jitsu. Instead, he now focuses on coaching others in the sport.
Life Beyond the Game
Joshua Waitzkin has explored many different paths in his life, from writing books to consulting for sports teams.
Author and Speaker
Joshua has written two books. His first book, Attacking Chess: Aggressive Strategies, Inside Moves from the U.S. Junior Chess Champion, came out in 1995. His second book, The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance (2008), shares his thoughts on how people learn and perform at their best. He drew on his experiences in both chess and martial arts for this book. Joshua is also a spokesperson for the Chessmaster video game series. He appears in the game to give advice and analyze chess games. He also contributed a chapter with advice to Tim Ferriss' book Tools of Titans.
Personal Life and New Challenges
On April 23, 2010, Joshua Waitzkin married Desiree Cifre. She is a screenwriter and was a contestant on the TV show The Amazing Race. Joshua's grandmother was the artist Stella Waitzkin. In May 2025, it was announced that Waitzkin had been working as a consultant for the Boston Celtics, a team in the National Basketball Association. Reports explained that he had been working closely with the team's coach, Joe Mazzulla, since the 2022–23 NBA season.
See also
In Spanish: Joshua Waitzkin para niños
- List of Jewish chess players
- Searching for Bobby Fischer
