Josh Altman is a senior at the Field School, in Washington DC, and at first glance he leads a very ordinary life. However, he has had an action packed past filled with diverse, life changing experiences that make him the person he is today.
By Brooke Goldberg
D.C, America- Chess prodigy at age 9, Josh Altman traveled the world on behalf of the country of England through the English Chess Organization. Described as a “child genius” by the Lorraine show during a television interview, Josh had earned a Bronze Medal performance in the European Youth Chess Championship by age 8. Thus making him the youngest English player alive to hold a FIDE title. The FIDE is the International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation. The FIDE, founded in Paris, France, is an international organization connecting a variety of national chess organizations. Josh knows them through their role in governing international chess competitions. They most notably define the rules of the game for both individual games and competitions and determine who will challenge who. While a life of traveling the world playing a game you love seems entirely glamorous, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I was given the fortunate opportunity to sit down with Josh to elaborate on this.
Josh’s father, Andrew Altman uprooted his family from DC to England for the 2012 Olympic games. He’s a city planner “toward the top of his field” Josh gloated proudly. They moved in 2009 so Mr. Altman could start planning what would happen to the Olympic fields once the Olympics came to a close. An impressive job that actually gave Josh the opportunity to attend the games in person. Josh was only 5 when he moved, however, “I don’t think I really cared when we moved, I was five so I just kind of went along with it.” he explained.
The Illinois Chess Association discusses the psychology of pre-game suggestions “DO NOT tell them what not to do, especially as the last reminder before a game. There isn’t a more certain way to make them mess up. Let me illustrate: Don’t think about pink elephants. What’s the first thing that came to mind? You see, the human brain is wired to think about things, not to avoid thinking about things. So leave them with a positive message. Wrong: “Don’t bring your Queen out early.” Right: “Remember, bring all of your men out early, and bring your Queen out last, after all the other pieces are out.”. Josh also expressed a similar sentiment of pregame jitters, “When you walk in there are thousands of people. You also have to wear a flag on your table and you have to wear a specific uniform. Your team and coach are there who tell you to win. You prepare for your opponent all day so I definitely felt the pressure with preparation.”. As mentioned earlier Josh is the youngest English player alive to hold a FIDE title. So as you can imagine that title also came with pressure “And representing my country, it’s like I have to do well, I don’t want to lose like why am I coming here if I’m gonna lose. Obviously, your parents want you to do well, but it was mostly self-pressure. Obviously, it’s ok if you lose, everyone is gonna tell you it’s ok. But I convinced myself I have to win the game, I can’t let my coaches and my mom down.”. Josh mentions his mom here as well. Mrs. Altman would travel with Josh when he would attend tournaments abroad. The Illinois Chess Association goes on to provide parents of young chess players with advice on nurturing young prodigies, “Reinforce how to correct errors, but believe me, the kids will kick themselves about their mistakes, so you usually don’t have to do anything to make this a big point. Tears are o.k. In fact, there are times when, under the right circumstance, I’ve even encouraged this. Let them know that feeling bad is o.k., and to avoid it next time, here is a positive step that we can take to improve our game.”. Although as I spoke with Josh his demeanor wasn’t brought down by the topic of pressure. When I asked why he looked back so positively he explained that “I think it (pressure) gave me more joy in the game I really dove into it and created a new world. I’m just focusing on the board and the pieces. I don’t care about anything else, it’s one goal.”. Hearing him speak so positively about a concept with a negative connotation made me realize I was anticipating a different outcome. I came in expecting the opposite. It was a pleasant surprise. As a peer to Josh, I know he doesn’t always jump to share about his chess life. It was nice to get a peek into his past.
Travel was a big part of Josh’s childhood. He was constantly gone for weeks at a time in foreign countries. His travel time was always unclear as chess tournaments can last anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks, depending on how well you rank. This way of life might not sound too crazy if it was for the fact that Josh was still in elementary school at the time. It’s possible for some players at the top of their ranks to make a living attending tournaments. I asked Josh if chess ever interfered with school or his friendships, he half chuckled “my school was actually very supportive. I was also a young age so making up work wasn’t too terrible. They were very nice about it. My classmates didn’t really care either. Nowadays they might but back then it went unnoticed. The first day back was always awkward though”. He elaborated by explaining how social media may have made the whole process a lot more intense. Social media allows for people to know where their mutuals are at all times in circumstances, it would have drawn a lot more attention. As well as serving as a distraction from his gameplay and the nature surrounding him. Josh has traveled to Romania, Iceland, Greece, South Africa, and the Czech Republic. During our sit down I asked Josh to tell me about three places. I didn’t prompt any emotion, just three places outside America in England that he wanted to talk about. Immediately his eyes lit up and he said “Iceland”. Located in the North Atlantic Ocean, Iceland is known for its breathtaking landscapes. He described Iceland as “such a beautiful place. It’s almost like imagining a utopia where nothing can go wrong, a place where you don’t have to worry about anything, and everyone’s so nice. It was snowing to which was great.”. He stayed with the theme of positive memories and mentioned Greece next. Josh was there for 2 and a half weeks with his mom, “I also really enjoyed Greece. We got to stay in a resort with a waterpark, we got to go into the city. I love Greek food and the architecture was beautiful. Sometimes you got put into really bad hotels with horrible food, but other times you were luckier.”.
That’s when I decided to push deeper. I knew I wanted to discuss the bubble of living in a privileged area like DC or London, this was the perfect segway. That’s when we started talking about his time in Romania. Romania was actually Josh’s first tournament when he was just 7 years old. For reference, Romania has the highest poverty rate in Europe. On Average citizens live on less than $5.50 American dollars a day. Josh recalls his experience there, “In Romania, we went into our really creepy room. There was actually a rat roaming around our room, I remember screaming. Spiders in the bathroom and everything. It was really my first time being out of the country”. I wanted to know more about the lasting effects of his experience there. He elaborated on his time with “ It was really my first time being out of the country. I mean I moved from America to London but that didn’t really feel any different. It was the same language and similar culture. Romania was a completely different place. It kind of opened my eyes to the world, other cultures that it was just me living in London, which feels safe. The part of Romania we were in was an impoverished place. It was a very different environment, it opened my eyes that life can be very different. There’s a whole world out there. Not just the little bubble I live in. The more I thought about it, I mean I was there for 3 weeks, it was just so different. It made me more curious. I wanted to see what the world was REALLY like”.
That’s what led to our conversation on growing up in DC. DC is the capital of America and is home to many impactful political locations. For people who don’t live in the city, it can be hard to understand what daily life is like here. Josh described it as such “When you live in DC you’re very attuned to what’s going on especially in the white house, politics, and the world. You meet a lot of different people who come from very different walks of life. You learn a lot about the world, you get a really good worldview and political view.” With technology being at the forefront of teenagers’ lives, I can only imagine how enhanced accessibility is when you live in the center of America.