Rochelle Ballantyne facts for kids

Rochelle Ballantyne (born in 1995) is an American chess player. She is well-known for being in the 2012 movie Brooklyn Castle. This film showed her journey in the world of chess.

Rochelle has a USCF rating of 1988. This means she is among the top junior players in America. Her FIDE rating is 1912. FIDE is the international chess organization. Her highest FIDE rating was 1954 in January 2012. The USCF calls her an "Expert" or "Candidate Master." These are special titles for skilled chess players.

Early Life and Chess Journey

Rochelle Ballantyne grew up in New York City. She learned to play chess through a program called Chess-in-the-Schools (CIS). This program was at PS 139 in Brooklyn. She kept playing chess in middle school. She went to Intermediate School 318 (IS 318). Later, she attended Brooklyn Technical High School.

During high school, Rochelle was part of the CIS College Bound Program. This program helped her a lot. She got special coaching from grandmaster chess teachers. Grandmasters are the highest-ranked chess players. She also received help with her schoolwork and advice for her future.

Becoming a Chess Champion

In her first year of high school, Rochelle achieved a big win. She won the 2012 All-Girls National Chess Championships. Because of this win, she received a full college scholarship. This scholarship allowed her to attend the University of Texas at Dallas. Her amazing story was shown in the movie Brooklyn Castle.

Education and Future Goals

After her time at the University of Texas, Rochelle received another full scholarship. This time, it was to Stanford University. She graduated from Stanford in 2017. She then earned a master's degree in education policy. She got this degree from Columbia University in 2020.

In the fall of 2020, Rochelle started law school. She is studying at New York University Law School. She received the AnBryce Scholarship, which pays for all her studies.

Playing Against a Legend

In 2008, when Rochelle was 13 years old, she played against Garry Kasparov. Kasparov is one of the greatest chess players ever. This game was part of an event called "Harlem Shake." In this event, Kasparov played against 19 opponents at the same time. He managed to beat all of them.