Show wniUbniMDNflniNiiti l schools Lenny unwavering Even sow ihe spells that he casta sunrise hen itiigpBKioroyirigwBWCBBWi re Moahe Shahed a tician hr Tbcson taught Ms' son to play chess overt Christmas break Soon the was bearing the above his glassc Tal The tot 90 minotes At the awards ceremony an official anootaced which KDOGOB DM )BianM SOC uft HIM PUb off Finally he named (he Ooe who did be Lenny Ng:-r- : ? ftom the back of the hall the small cbOdatarted toward the stajgfc As he paasedeachrow spectators stared marveled then stood and dapped By die Stated 12 Aa hdiiellAlMMwJwlwMM AllMinM MOUC nwm HOOK UB ill uala and helped his son read the wonts inside Tsl explained to him why the moves wuDQ - Only a year later TU— then in dried : AIaJ AmaILabaIIamaIam "HUlMCODnBIDMlDDUGlMi CuUjOQflB BOFjufliOF faisfa Xeany waa an school tfodootk In May TU piaoed above 296 contest-mi iq bfiooflic iin Niiood Huontfr qrSchoolQMmp jotBuse games he hunrhudowertheboara dhows on the table He bailed both hands admoMll''0ionH hif One yean atoSdkohn now predict he’Q become America’s betfmkh- WMA-iDtStmleycafo him the“ablest mast highly acMevfagT American youth behas AllMMSnUaaaMLAiaAAAilaMlAafkaJJ JuunumnuKarcomracaaemicuiyginea prodigies“Lenay is like anting Sail” Stanley saytjntbu jo fet cot of the Onlyi feet X he sat on Us legs to make bhnsfiftalliT When his opponent moved he leaned beck brooding His freckled free is a poker face He makes adult players stumble They’re lata a ha and ability Ift aa if he was bom knowing— as if learning merely jop his menny 'JackNf Lenny'S father explained fractions to him at me 5 When he saw how the Ettle boy understood he began nudging hia interest in numbers By elementary school Leocy’smind rea-- onedttiDuahuicree ematical shortcuts math- iiMt hmutively HBsloveof adding peoblema— of seeing 'j:1 so-boo- suddenly come to Val— mma liinswlilw took the SAT at IQ His score an the math half— a flawless 800—aetanooed: No one so young had ever done that on the fint try Lenny i gift hnt formed to numbers nepiayitatiiit wiitastanrieicorapoaciiiat- sic He watches Htde television and rarely seta foot inmovie thedten'Tmhiat not that Idnd of person” he says This fall Uke last year he is studying math ' r srrityafl - “It’s fan to do this stuff” he says ?Ihere are no iD effects as long as people don’t call me a nerd” fhristnphfr PauIMfr 13 — extraordinaire On the way to music lesaons when he was only 3 Christopher Gauthier used to balance a short stool over his head while his mother Martha carried his cello At twice his size the instrument was too big for the bey to cany alone He couldn’t play it well either Then one dqr Mrs Gauthier brought home a scaletHlown cello fiom a music store The little boy who conld barely make a sound soon made magic His memory astonished teachers: He could listen to a ICUALUT ri iwwiaAU - - piece of mode and thro play H Tbday he stands apart even among die most talented At 13 Christopher & the youngest cello student at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia He has soloed three times with the Philadelphia Orchestra “1 practice to per-- ' form” he says v'- "HU musical instincts are exceptional " says his teacher Orlsndo Cole “It all comes rather easily to him but he abowotksjhard He’s devoted to musicM Early on friends told Mardia Gauthier and her hurinnd Harold that their easygoing son wu unusual At 14 months he knew die alphabet At 17 months he spoke in dear sentences Before 2 he could identify the SO states on a map “He knows the states he might as well know (he capitals” became Mrs Gauthier’s hi recitals you could barety see Christopher among the bigger older kids Yet w! r - 1 C fatiest CdlUt always stood out —asmucfaforhU musical prowess as fix his shorts droopysockssnd Buster Brown shoes x Meanwhile Cbtphertpre-ent- s begsn searching for a school that would chal- lenge trim Both doctors they had setded in Ohio to open a familypnctice clinic They agreed to give it up to find die right piece for their son The fimuly moved east eventually renting a apartment around the comer fiomThe Curds Institute so Christopher wouldn’t have to cross buy streets (He did anyway to buy oatmeal cookies) Mrs: Gauthier tutored Christopher at home Before performances he read Hardy Boy mysteries not even pausing to two-bedro- wannup mtheaudienoeMn Gandnert palms turned clammy is her son took the stage and played— back straight eyes getting used to losing to him” sayshU ' coach Ken Larsen ':v " TU has held the MahestUtritod States Cheas Federation raring for his age In die summer whenhebnot staDdnggmsa-hopper- e in the desert or working on his bedroom Amx so open chess book beside him Hi parents for with him to tournaments despite foe expense Both say (hey’reglaadutf their son also plays basketball tennis and foe clarinet “I see chess asabobby”s his mofoe&hdi a French teacher “I don’t make a foss over witmitu or losing I say ‘Did you wta?LoK?(3hnr Left go have dunet’” ‘ BalaAmbet£l3areM-fcwDooci- e Howaer When Arribad Rao was in graduate school in New York he tutored college students in derivatives and integrals at his home One afternoon he asked a group "Whafs the integral rfsin(x)7" No one responded From foe back of the room Ambati’s son Bala blurted out the answer: “Minus cocfr)” The students turned in amazement Bala wis only 4 r r MJ” continued |