Interview with Paul Truong

- In the interest of truth and fair play-

Mr. Truong was very kind to answer to some questions which I have sent him.

Goran Tomic: I have read your interview conducted by GM Susan Polgar on
Chess Cafe. The interview was very interesting, but some facts are not clear
enough.

I cite: "Paul Truong: Growing up in Saigon, Vietnam, I became a chess icon
at a very young age. I won the first National Junior (under 21) Championship
when I was only 5 years old, unexpectedly. All of a sudden, I became a
sensation, a child prodigy. I defended this title for the next three years.
At the age of 8, I stunned the country by winning my first national
championship and defended it successfully for four consecutive years."------
On the web site http://www.uschess.org/news/bio/truong.html somebody can
read:

"FIDE Master Paul Truong was born on June 2, 1965 in Saigon, Vietnam. He
learned to play chess at the age of 5 from his father."

Could you tell me something more about your early chess days. Did you really
become Junior Champion (under 21) when you were only five years old?

Paul Truong: Yes, I won my first National Junior Championship at the age of
5. I do not remember exactly 5 and how many months. I defended my title
successfully for another 3 years. Then I won the overall National
Championship at around 8 or 8.5 years old. I kept my title for another 4
years until my father and I escaped from the communist regime. I also was in
the final in Chinese Chess as well at around the same time (between 8-9).
This was a much bigger accomplishment than winning the National Chess
Championship. Vietnam was (and probably still is) the second strongest
country in the world in Chinese Chess (only behind China). It was a
sensation in Asia. Unfortunately, Vietnam is basically considered a third
world country. Therefore, not much publicity was made and I had no help in
training in either game (Chess or Chinese Chess). There was a lot of
negotiation to get me out of Vietnam to train in another country.
Unfortunately, that did not happen and the rest is history. I have no
regret. There are more to life than just chess and I am happy to be in the
position to help chess change for the better. But I do not want or need to
be in the lime light. I prefer to stay in the background and help the chess
industry.

G.T: I cite:

"Paul Truong: On that day, (April 30, 1979-G.T.) my father and I escaped by
boat through an underground network, leaving my mother and young brother
behind.

....Then finally, we came to New Jersey on December 1, 1979. I spoke no
English. I was frail. I was very rusty in chess. It was a disaster."

The whole story of your escape from Vietnam was very traumatic to all
refuges. There were pirates, shark attacks, desert island, and many people
died. Did you have any help from some humanitarian organizations, chess
organizations or somebody else when you came in New Jersey? You made a big
success in a relative short time. How did you manage?

Paul Truong: More than 1,000,000 Vietnamese lost their lives trying to
escape communism. We lost more than 300 in the first boat when it was sunk
by the Thai pirates. We also lost more than 300 the second time around. No
one had the exact count because everything was so crazy and hectic. Some
humanitarian group dropped off some rice and medicine on the island. But it
was not merely enough.

When I arrived in NJ on December 1979, I spoke no English. I went to High
School while holding 7 part time jobs at night and on the weekend to make
money to help the rest of my family in Vietnam. Therefore, my chess suffered
a great deal. I was only about 2400 or so, which was a grear disappointment.
Knowing I cannot do both, I decided to give up chess and went on to college
and then business. The success was not in a short time. I was also working
7 part time jobs in college while attending school full time. After
college, I worked between 15-18 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year
for 15 years. It was a lot of hard work and sacrifices. There is no short
cut in life, only hard work and dedication.

G.T: You lead special trainings for youth and school players. Is there a
great interest for chess in schools among the children?

Paul Truong: My main interests are women's chess and scholastic/youth chess.
Why women's chess? Because a) my best friend is Susan Polgar. I believe in
her cause to promote chess for women, to give women an equality. b) I want
to help raise self-esteem and self-confidence in women because I have a
daughter. This means something to me personally.

Why scholastic/youth chess? Because I believe chess can help a young mind
develop many skills such as: Logical thinking, concentration, patience,
dedication, pattern recognition, etc., and these skills will help the
youngsters in their lives. Chess helped me in my school and business. I want
other children to benefit, even if they choose not to play chess
professionally.

G.T: You made a decision at the ago of 17. to leave chess and went to the
college to have "a normal career". Do you think that young people would
choose to play chess as professional chess players?

Paul Truong: It is up to each person. But everyone should be realistic. If
at 17-18 and you are not at least 2400-2500, it would be hard to be a
professional chess player. But chess will help them one way or another.
Some can try to see how far they can go in chess. But it is always good to
have a back up plan.

G.T: Your wishes to get gold medal on Olympic games are real. I cite from
Susan's column on Chess Cafe ("Susan Polgar on Chess") with title Two World
Champions with One Common Mission: Bringing Chess to a Whole New Level of
Popularity! on http://www.chesscafe.com

"Paul Truong: According to the FIDE list, our training team is now ranked #2
in the world, only behind China. This is a major accomplishment in itself
since the US Women's Olympiad Team has never ever won any medal. We have a
very good realistic shot at the Gold in 2004 and we are all working very
hard to reach that goal."

In another post you wrote:

We have 5 ladies to date. 1 was originally from Hungary (Susan), 2 from
Ukraine (Irina and Anna), 1 from Georgia (Rusa), and 1 from the US
(Jennifer). 2 of the girls we consider for the next group: Tatev is from
Armenia and Laura is American born I think. I am from South Vietnam and
Michael Khodarkovsky is from the Ukraine."If your Women Olympiad Team on
Olympic games 2004 win will it have influence in chess development among
young people in the USA? Could that Women's team mainly consisted of
international chess players be the promoter of chess life in USA?

What do you think about information from a very popular chess web site: ..."
who is by far the strongest American-born female chess player in history.
She became a WIM at 15 and WGM at 18. She was among the ten best in the
world in six consecutive women's world championships, and twice the third
ranked player in the world women's rankings. This is not a record achieved
by any other American-born female chess player." She is GM Alisa Maric, who
was born in New York but now lives in Belgrade. She has 2433 ELO rating.
Have you made any contacts with her about taking part in the Olympic team?


Paul Truong: I would love to have Alisa Maric with the US team.
Unfortunately, she does not meet the residency requirement to take part in
the US team for 2004. She is a wonderful player and a nice person. I heard
many great things about her. This is not about us winning the Gold. We
feel that a Gold can help revolutionize chess in America and help chess
overall. It is not a personal thing.

Goran Tomic: Thanks for the quickly reply.

Goran Tomic

Interview with Paul Truong (PDF)
http://www.sah.paracin.co.yu/INTERVI...AUL_TRUONG.pdf

Interview with Paul Truong http://www.sah.paracin.co.yu/Paul%20Truong.htm