Starswirl taught himself to read at age 2. Before he was 3, he was cutting out what he considered the most important story of the day, and putting it in a scrapbook together with an essay explaining why he thought it was important. Some of these journals survive and provide an insight into his thoughts.
Although his family thought he was smart, Starswirl first came to public prominence when he was 4 years old and taught himself to play chess. In his own words from an interview given upon the publication of his first chess book at age 8:
"I was playing in my parents' library when my father entered with a stallion that I had never seen before (or since). They went over to an elaborate chess set that my father kept on display in the library and began playing chess while discussing business. As I was sitting on a high shelf, I could see the chessboard and watched, fascinated, as the game unfolded. They finished their first game and began a second. My father moved a knight from a black square to a black square. For those unfamiliar with the rules of chess, this is a mistake sometimes made by beginners. I called out 'Daddy's cheating! Daddy's cheating!'
My father used his magic to bring me down from my perch and demanded to know why I said that. I said 'Because pony heads don't move like that.'
My father demanded to know how I knew that when I didn't even know what the pieces were called. I replied 'I know enough to beat you!'
My father was going to punish me for my insolence when the stallion intervened. He convinced my father that it would be better to defeat me at chess, then punish me.
By luck, I got the white pieces and was able to quickly defeat my father.
Using what is now called "Starswirl's Mate". There are several slightly different variations
E2-E4 E7-E5
B-C4 B-C5 (anything except N-F6, really)
Q-H5 Any of several moves
QxF7#
My father was astounded and demanded to know who had taught me to play chess. I replied 'I learned today while watching you play.'
Again, my father was going to punish me for insolence when the stallion intervened. He told my father that he had heard of such things and that I should be tested and (if I was any good) encouraged.
So, my father got my uncle (at that time chess champion of Neigh Orleans) to come and try my skill -and I defeated him, using what would become known as my famous gambit.
For those unfamiliar with chess, offering material to open lines of attack is called a "gambit" in the opening, a "sacrifice" in the midgame or the endgame.
Starswirl's Gambit
1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Bc4 Bc5
4.b4 Bxb4
5.c3 Ba5
After that, I never looked back, never took a lesson nor read a book until I was chess champion of the world and had written a book that was worth reading." (His book "Fundamentals of Chess" was published when he was 1)
When rebuked for bragging, he replied "It's not bragging if you can really do it." He also stated "You show me a good loser, I'll show you a loser"
During Starswirl's time, there was no tournament system to produce regular title challenges. You simply challenged the champion and, if you could agree on the terms, you had a match and the winner was considered the champion. It took him several months of entering tournaments to become prominent enough to challenge his uncle and become the Neigh Orleans champion. He used this victory to gain a job as a syndicated columnist, writing a weekly chess column "Checkmate" under the title "Grandmaster Starswirl". (Probably to get the money to compete in tournaments. For a ranked player such as himself, there was no entry fee but often no monetary prize either and he still needed travel expenses plus lodging for himself and an adult guardian, usually a family servant. )(This was an age when professional sports players were considered somewhat disreputable. Gentlemen were considered to compete solely for the love of the sport) He gained the world championship at age 6.
So that he could read foreign chess journals, he learned to speak, read, and write every language in the world. To study faster he taught himself to read over 5,000 words a minute with a near eidetic memory. Over 50 years later, he would win a famous bet with Rockhoof. Rockhoof would read a line from any of Starswirl's old textbooks and Starswirl would start reciting the text from memory. It took over 2 hours and a dozen texts before Rockhoof's other friends could convince him to concede that Starswirl could really do it.
During his chess playing years he was called "Starswirl the Prodigy" to his face, and "Starswirl the Jerk" or "The Brat" behind his back. He played in hundreds of simultaneous exhibitions, charging players and spectators one bit apiece admission. For those unfamiliar with chess, this is when 1 player plays many opponents and goes from board to board making one move at each board then moving on. This got him the money to enter tournaments and, more important to him, taught him to size up a position and decide on a move in seconds. (This was considered acceptable because of the need to pay to rent the hall.)
He was famous/notorious for his outrageous conduct in tournaments and matches. He would show up as much as an hour late (with his clock ticking away) For those unfamiliar with chess, you are required to make a certain number of moves in a specified time. You can spend as much of that time as you want to on any given move, but if you don't make your quota of moves then you are considered to have forfeited the game. You can't do that today, the rules were changed so that if you're even 1 second late, you are considered to have forfeited the game). He would move, then engage in some quiet but childish activity such as drawing or working a jigsaw puzzle. When his servant would tell him that his opponent had moved, he would return, look at the board, "involuntarily" make some dismissive noise, or roll his eyes in contempt (trash talk being against the rules), then move, usually in 10-30 seconds. He would then return to his other activity. This would show that he didn't take his opponent seriously and would often annoy them to the point that it would affect their play. As he was the world champion, and usually drew a vast audience plus giving the tournament publicity with his column, he usually got away with this
Shortly after Celestia and Luna were crowned princesses (because they were raising the sun and the moon), they invited Starswirl to join him at an opera. During intermission, they played a chess game. Because of the noise the Princesses made, consulting (and sometimes arguing) over moves, the game was reported in may newspapers besides being reported in Starswirl's column. It became one of the most famous chess games in history. (Though the game is remembered, which opera it was is long forgotten )
The game is often used by chess instructors to teach the importance of rapid development of one's pieces, the value of sacrifices in mating combinations, and other chess concepts. The game is sometimes called "The Opera Game" or "A Night at the Opera" (in Prance: "Partie de l'opéra").
White: Starswirl Black: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna Opening: Filly Door Defense
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 d6
(This is the Filly Door Defense, named after one of the leading chess masters of the second half of the century and a pioneer of modern chess strategy. She was also a noted opera composer. It is a solid opening, but slightly passive, and it ignores the important d4-square.)
3. d4 Bg4?!
(Though 3...Bg4 is considered an inferior move today, this was accepted theory at the time. Today 3...exd4 or 3...Nf6 are usual. Filly Door's original idea, 3...f5, is a risky alternative.)
4. dxe5 Bxf3
(If 4...dxe5, then 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Nxe5 and White wins a pawn and Black has lost the ability to castle. Black, however, did have the option of 4...Nd7 5.exd6 Bxd6, when he's down a pawn but has some compensation in the form of better development.)
5. Qxf3
(5.gxf3 dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8 7.f4 is also good, but Starswirl recommended avoiding simplification unless it was to the player's advantage . After Black recaptures the pawn on e5, White has a significant lead in development.)
5...dxe5
6. Bc4 Nf6?
(This seemingly sound developing move runs into a surprising refutation. After White's next move, both f7 and b7 will be under attack. Better would have been to directly protect the f7-pawn with the queen, making White's next move less potent. It is the losing move.)
7. Qb3 Qe7
(Black's only good move. White was threatening mate in two moves, for example 7...Nc6 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 (or Kd7) 9.Qe6#. 7...Qd7 loses the rook to 8.Qxb7 followed by 9.Qxa8 (since 8...Qc6? would lose the queen to 9.Bb5). Notice that Qe7 saves the rook with this combination: 8.Qxb7 Qb4+ forcing a queen exchange.
Although this move prevents immediate disaster, Black is forced to block the f8-bishop, impeding development and kingside castling.)
8. Nc3 c6
(The best move, allowing black to defend his pawn without further weakening the light squares, which have been weakened by black trading off his light-square bishop.)
9. Bg5 b5?
(Black attempts to drive away the bishop and gain some time, but this move allows Starswirl a strong sacrifice to keep the initiative. This move loses but it is difficult to find anything better; for example 9...Na6 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Bxa6 bxa6 12.Qa4 Qb7 and Black's position is in shambles.)
10. Nxb5! cxb5
(Black could have played 10...Qb4+ forcing the exchange of queens (11.Qxb4 Bxb4+ 12.Nc3), although White would retain a technically won game being a pawn up.)
11. Bxb5+
(Not 11.Bd5? Qb4+, unpinning the knight and allowing the rook to evade capture.)
11... Nbd7
12. 0-0-0 Rd8
13. Rxd7 Rxd7
14. Rd1
(At this point, Black's d7-rook cannot be saved, since it is pinned to the king and attacked by the rook, and though the knight defends it, the knight is pinned to the queen.)
14... Qe6
(This is a futile attempt to unpin the knight (allowing it to defend the rook) and offer a queen trade, to take some pressure out of the white attack. Even if Starswirl did not play his next crushing move, he could have always traded his bishop for the knight, followed by winning the rook.)
15. Bxd7+ Nxd7
(If 15...Qxd7, then 16.Qb8+ Ke7 17.Qxe5+ Kd8 18.Bxf6+ gxf6 19.Qxf6+ Kc8 20.Rxd7 Kxd7 21.Qxh8 and White is clearly winning. Moving the king leads to mate: 15...Ke7 16.Qb4+ Qd6 (16...Kd8 17.Qb8+ Ke7 18.Qe8#) 17.Qxd6+ Kd8 18.Qb8+ Ke7 19.Qe8# or 15...Kd8 16.Qb8+ Ke7 17.Qe8)
16. Qb8+! Nxb8
17. Rd8#
His second most famous game was during his title match against world champion Martial Art. In the midgame, Martial pondered the position for over an hour. He then offered a knight sacrifice. As was his habit, Starswirl looked at the board for a few seconds then moved. He completely ignored the sacrifice and made a developing pawn move on the other side of the board. In Martial Art's own words "I was devastated, I was destroyed. I was in severe time trouble. I had counted on being able to move quickly in a pre considered position, but I had never considered that Starswirl might ignore the entire sacrifice. Starswirl stayed at the board and moved so rapidly that I had no time to think. I panicked, made a few bad moves in a row, then resigned"
This game would have drawn some attention but not been nearly so famous if a rival chess columnist hadn't been covering the game. He asked Starswirl "Excuse me, but wouldn't your position have been better if you had accepted the sacrifice?"
Starswirl replied "I just won the game. How much better can my position get?"
The columnist said "Yes, but what would have happened if you had accepted the sacrifice?"
Starswirl replied "I have no idea. You'll have to ask Martial Art that question."
When several ponies expressed surprise that he hadn't even thought about the sacrifice before rejecting it, he explained "When a player the caliber of Martial Art makes what is obviously a long prepared sacrifice, I do him the honor of considering it to be sound. I never consider accepting a prepared move such as that until I have considered the possibility of rejecting it"
Later in the interview both players were asked "How far ahead do you think in a game?"
Martial replied "Always at least 5 or 6 moves. Sometimes as many as a dozen."
Starswirl replied to the same question "Usually only 1 move. But, it is always the right move"
The column "Grandmaster Wins Game By Mistake" drew enough attention that the game drew considerable attention for decades. The analysists concluded that, unless Martial Art saw something that nobody else ever did (possible), the sacrifice was NOT completely sound. Starswirl would have been little, if any, worse off accepting the sacrifice and might have been marginally better off accepting it. But, he wouldn't have won nearly so quickly or so easily.
Shortly after publishing his book, Fundamentals of Chess, Starswirl retired from competitive chess. Despite repeated pleas, (mostly from fans, almost never from his fellow Grandmasters) he never played in an exhibition or match again. He stated "I have already accomplished all that there is to accomplish in chess. Repetition would merely take the time that I will need for other things. I have too much to accomplish in too many other fields to waste the time". In addition, he was due to be sent to boarding school (as was the custom for unicorns of his social class) which would have greatly cut down on his time.
Accomplishments
He never lost a tournament or a match in 7 years of competition play. At one point, he won 95 games in a row without a loss, a record that stands to this day
Record number of simultaneous blindfold games: 48 (The record stands to this day) 35 wins 7 draws 6 losses
This took 19 hours, 9 minutes with most of the draws and losses taking place at the end as he was literally falling asleep towards the end
"Blindfolded chess", you are not necessarily blindfolded, you just can't see the boards and are playing from memory
Record number of simultaneous games: 321 (the record now stands at 500) 294 wins 26 draws 1 loss
Published his book Fundamentals of Chess. The part on opening theory is still in print today, and is one of the most widely read books for beginners
Invented Chess960 and helped publicize it.
Randomizing the main pieces had long been known as Shuffle Chess; however, Chess960 introduces restrictions on the randomization, "preserving the dynamic nature of the game by retaining bishops of opposite colors for each player and the right to castle for both sides". The result is 960 unique possible starting positions (There are actually 1920 possible positions, but half are mirror images of the other half). It employs the same board and pieces as standard chess, but the starting position of the pieces on the players' home ranks is randomized. The random setup renders the prospect of obtaining an advantage through the memorization of opening lines impracticable, compelling players to rely instead on their talent and creativity.
He also invented "Bughouse Chess" (Team chess play had been around since time immemorial, this simply became one of the most popular variants). The game is usually played at a fast time control; this, together with the passing and dropping of pieces, can make the game look chaotic and random to the casual onlooker; hence the name bughouse, which is slang for a mental hospital or insane asylum.
Bughouse is a chess variant played on two chessboards by four players in teams of two. Each team member faces one opponent of the other team. Partners sit next to each other and one player has black, while the other has white. Each player plays the opponent as in a standard chess game, with the exception of the rules specified below.
Captured pieces
A player capturing a piece immediately passes that piece to the capturing player's partner. The partner keeps these pieces in reserve and may, instead of playing a regular move, place one of these pieces on the board (as in shogi and crazyhouse), called dropping the piece. Pieces in reserve or on deck may be dropped on any vacant square, including squares where the piece delivers check or checkmate; however, pawns may not be dropped on the first or last rank. Dropped pawns may promote, but all promoted pawns convert back to pawns when captured. In play over the board, a promoted pawn can be put on its side to indicate promotion. A pawn placed on the second rank may move two squares on its first move. Each player must keep the reserve or stock pieces on the table in front of the board, always visible to all players of the game. http://www.nwchess.com/articles/rules/bughouse_rules.htm
Proof positive that just because you are an arrogant jerk, doesn't necessarily mean that you are an incompetent, arrogant jerk.
Equestrian Chess
The rules are the same, but the names are different.
Instead of Black and White, they are called Day and Night, or (in Equestria) Sun and Moon
The King and Queen are called the Prince and the Princess
The white bishop is the "Pegasus" and the black bishop is the Thestral
Knights are still called Knights or sometimes Guards
Rooks are called Towers