Chess Whiz to Take on All Comers at UM

David Ross, No. 1 player in Mississippi, will play the first 25 contestants who sign up

Mississippi’s No. 1-ranked chess player, David Ross, is coming to the University of Mississippi to take on up to 25 different players at once. Photo by Kevin Bain/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services

OXFORD, Miss. – David Ross is so good at chess that he’s coming to the University of Mississippi this weekend to battle up to 25 opponents at the same time.

A native of Montreal who lives in Jackson, Ross began his chess career in 1984 when he won the Canadian open as a 23-year-old. He went on to win the Memorial Day Classic in 1985 and took second place in the Canadian Championship in 1998, among other titles. He made the ranking of International master before moving to Mississippi in 2006.

These days, he’s a professional chess trainer who travels around the South teaching the next generation of players. He sees himself as an evangelist of the game, and was thrilled at the chance to come to Ole Miss.

“I consider myself an ambassador of chess,” Ross said. “When I was asked to visit Ole Miss, I wanted to give the opportunity for some people to play the highest-ranked player they might ever face in their lifetime.”

The chess “simul” is an event in which someone plays several games simultaneously against different opponents. The Ole Miss simul, which is free and open to the public, is set for 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday (Sept. 28) in Butler Auditorium in the Triplet Alumni Center.

The first 25 to sign up for the event will have an opportunity to play Ross. Refreshments will be provided before the event, beginning at 12:30 p.m.

David Ross

Ross is rated in the top 50 for his age bracket by the U.S. Chess Federation. He began making a name for himself by participating in a number of events around the country, but the Ole Miss event will be his first sponsored by a university.

“I will be on the lookout for someone who surprises me with their talent,” Ross said. “The one thing I have learned is that you can never assume the ability of someone’s chess game based on their age or appearance.”

The Ole Miss Chess Club’s new president, Caesar Shrestha, a senior math and physics major from Katmandu, Nepal, hopes to grow the club and lead it to a higher competitive standard. He sees the simul being the first step to getting there.

“Chess is more than just thinking,” Shrestha said. “You have strategies and openings, and the more you play, the better you become. You never know what can happen because people make mistakes all the time.”

Aaron Stanley, a senior biology major from Livingston, Texas, and member of the club, has been playing since he was 8 years old. He relishes the opportunity to play against Ross, who has played at such a high level for so many years.

“The challenging thing is strategies because there are so many moves to be made,” Stanley said. “It’s extremely tough and I’m definitely going to be going against the best player I’ve ever played.”

Steven Soifer, UM professor of social work and the club’s faculty adviser, said he is looking forward to the simul and is taking info for those interested in playing Ross, via his email at ssoifer@olemiss.edu.

“I am looking forward to playing against David Ross and am interested to see if anyone that shows up can spar with him,” Soifer said.

Soifer also hopes the event helps restore the Chess Club back to its former glory, and he looks forward to pushing himself through competition with Mississippi’s top player.

“The Chess Club was semiactive and teetered out at the end of last year, so I suggested this event as a way of generating awareness for the Chess Club on campus,” Soifer said. “David Ross is the strongest chess player in Mississippi and for him to play all these people at once will really be something.”

Soifer hopes the event will help grow interest in the sport on campus and restore the club back to its nearly 20-member roster.

Ross shares that hope.

“I do hope that this event will get people interested in the Chess Club because chess is a universal language,” Ross said. “Chess gives you a common bind and a way of relating to someone anywhere in the world, and I think that is just a beautiful thing.

“We are all members of the same club.”

Marvin King, an associate professor of political science and African American studies and senior faculty fellow at the Residential College, had the idea for the club a few years ago as another way to get students involved on campus and to learn valuable life skills.

“We are starting small with this event and hopefully, in the next few years, we can get staff and graduate students to join,” King said. “Students should graduate knowing these types of strategy skills, and chess is a great opportunity to learn that.”

King also plans to play in the simul, but he’s tempering his expectations.

“My goal is to hopefully make it six moves before David says, ‘checkmate.'”