How chess threw a lifeline at a boy drowning at school

He must be retarded. How else could it be explained?

As a boy, Janton van Apeldoorn was drowning at school. While the other children learned to read and write, little Janton lagged further and further behind. He repeated grades three times. There was only possible conclusion: Janton, born with oxygen deprivation, must be mentally impaired.

But he wasn’t. He wasn’t dumb, and he wasn’t stupid either. But nobody realized. It took 64 black and white squares to turn the tables.

Continue reading, How a ‘retarded’ boy grew up to become a successful chess entrepreneur – thanks to chess

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