Q: Isn't chess a relatively inexpensive sport?

A: In terms of cost Chess may be one of the most expensive sports, especially as you reach the higher levels and are required to travel. A single tournament outside of Utah costs between $500.00 and $1000.00. And nine round norm tournaments typically cost about $1500.00 for the extended time frame. My chess instruction costs $300.00-$400.00 per month. And international tournaments cost $2000.00 - $5000.00 for the large youth championships where I compete against players from around the world. We are also trying to upgrade equipment and get new training materials on a regular basis.

Q: How much have you spent on chess so far to reach the rank of National Master at such a young age?

A: My Dad and Mom say that my college tuition including room and board would have been covered already if they had saved up this money instead of used it to further my chess career. It's a good thing that I'm worth it! And a huge thanks needs to go out to my sponsors who have helped us along the way!!!

Q: Do you have regular sponsors that are helping this effort?

A: We have a couple of sponsors that have been helping us out on a regular basis. Unfortunately this only covers a fraction of the costs. We are definitely looking for businesses and individuals that may want to help me work towards my International Master and Grandmaster titles since this will involve quite a bit of travel outside of the United States.

Q: What do you anticipate your costs to be in 2011?

A: This year I will be focused on the longer nine round IM norm tournaments so that I can work on getting my International Master title. At the present we are planning to attend at least five of these tournaments within the United States and my Grandmaster teacher would like me to do a European swing to attend 2-3 of these norm tournaments as well. I also am planning to possibly attend the World Youth Championships in Brazil, but this will definitely be dependent on sponsors this year. Between travel, chess instruction, and equipment my costs will be $18,000.00 for 2011.

Q: Are you kidding me - how is this possible that your costs will be $18,000.00?

A: If you add $4,200.00 for chess instruction (average $350.00 per month) + $5,000.00 for the World Youth Championship in Brazil (I and my mom will be traveling together) + 7,500.00 for five other National tournaments (average of $1,500.00) apiece - we are already at $16,700.00 without any of the other tournaments or national events that may come along.

Q: Why are you only asking for $5,000.00 on your donation meter so that you can become an International Master?

A: This money will help me get to three International Norm tournaments and get me started for the year. It is certainly not all that I will need, but it gets things rolling for 2011.

Q: Don't you win prize money that can help pay for these costs?

A: I do win some prize money but it is less than $1,000.00 per year. I do utilize this money for equipment needs when necessary. For example I spent $400.00 on a net book so that we could talk to the family from the World Youth Chess Championships in Greece over Skype. The net book is also easier to utilize as a computer resource when I travel. I spend money on training software, and donate to my church so that I can receive blessings as I reach for the stars.

Q: Why don't you win more money than that?

A: Because my chess rating has risen so quickly - I have risen above the big money prizes. Let me explain. In most of the larger tournaments there are large class prizes like U1500, U1700, U2000, U2200. I rose so quickly and was not afraid to play in the higher sections above my rating. This had the negative effect of putting me in the lower half of the section so I wasn't really in contention for the prizes. Whenever I would be in contention for the money then I would play in the lower section of the next higher section which would help my rating but not help me win money. Now I have a 2250 rating and I only play in the highest section of the tournaments (Open Section). To win the big prizes I would need to beat out the Grandmasters and International Masters. This is my goal, but at the moment I would be more likely to win the U2300 prize or the U2400 prize and these prizes within the Open section typically have smaller prize funds.

Q: Why are the tournaments so expensive?

A: We have been able to travel at a minimum in the past, but the minimum still costs about $500.00 per tournament for non-norm tournaments, and the minimum for a norm tournament is $1000.00 and more than likely the full $1,500.00 because we must stay at least a full week and sometimes two weeks for these norm tournaments. . The tournament entry fees for these tournaments range from $125.00-$350.00 just for the privilege of playing in the tournament.

Q: Why is the World Youth Championship in Brazil 2011 so expensive?

A: Now that we have participated in this event in Greece for 2010 we have a much better idea of the costs associated with this tournament. Airfare is a large part of the cost for Mom and I. Additionally, you cannot go low budget to this event. You must stay at the hotel arranged by the organizer and pay a combined food and room rate. So $5,000.00 is about what this will cost and it will be about $1,500.00 more if I am not the official US Representative. This year I will only be 13 years old in 2011 for the U14 category. So I will be part of the younger group and will also be able to play in the U14 in 2012. This means to be the official representative and save an additional $1,500.00 in expense I will need to have a higher rating on the USCF rating supplement that these players that are a year older than me. It’s possible, but it will be a stretch with the tournament opportunities available to me through the end of the year (all of which will be in Utah). Right now the highest rated player in this category is USCF Standard rated 2347, so wish me luck but also help me out since I would like another shot at the World Championship next year.

Q: Why are your chess lessons so expensive?

A: At my level I must have a good teacher so that I can progress. I prefer a good Grandmaster teacher since that is what I want to become in the next few years. It is also important to find a Grandmaster that can actually teach, and customize his lessons to my playing style. This may sound funny, but there are a lot of Grandmasters out there that are not good teachers. I have two awesome teachers! GM Melik Khachiyan directs my overall instruction and IM Sam Shankland works on my Openings and battles me on a regular basis to make sure that I am learning the material through training games. With both instructors, my costs far exceed the $350-400.00 per month but Chess.com is helping to pay for some of this instruction. I am hoping to add another hour of instruction per week from GM Khachiyan, but this is not in our budget at the moment.

Q: What is your family doing to help cover the costs of your training?

A: My parents have made deep sacrifices to get me to this point and I am very grateful to them. All they ask in return is that I work hard to achieve my dreams. It's fun and it doesn't seem like much work at all. Besides paying for my teacher and my travel my parents make sure that all of my brothers and sisters have what they need for their activities. Mom and Dad work hard to find things on sale and on the internet so that my activities would not impact our family in a negative way.

My parents are not dependent on sponsors and they are determined to see this dream through to its end! But things are getting to the point that they will need new sponsors for the large expenses due to the norm tournaments that we will have in 2011. If I do not get new sponsors then things will slow down - less travel, less opportunity to improve my chess ratings and world rankings, less opportunity to try for world titles, etc. This does not mean that things will come to a screeching halt, but it does mean that we will not be able to continue to move forward at the pace I have maintained.

Q: Why can't you just stay in Utah and improve your ratings there?

A: At the end of last year I was the 2nd highest rated active chess player in the state of Utah. I enjoy playing tournaments locally, and have started to actively play on a regular basis so that I can stay sharp in my over-the-board play. That being said I will go up a handful of rating points by playing in Utah, but that's only if I play to perfection and win every single game. In the national norm tournaments I have decent chances to go up 20-50 points if I can do well against players in the 2300-2600 rating range.
Players that live in New York and have access to the Marshall Chess Club tournaments 2-3 times per week, or in California or Texas have a major advantage over myself since I am relatively isolated from the opportunities that they have. In fact I had a master from New York recently tell me that he would be able to catch my rating if he didn’t have to play against Grandmasters. I couldn’t believe it! He has no concept what I would do to be able to play against Grandmasters on a regular basis! This would be a dream come true!

Q: What do you have in the works that will help you achieve your expenses of $18,000.00 this year?

A: Mom and Dad are paying for my chess lessons, and are paying as we go for the national tournaments. The Schein-Friedman Scholarship that I received in 2010 will complete our expenses for the World Youth in Greece, the US Chess School in LA this December, and the Berkeley International norm tournament in January. After that, we will have run out of funds. Of course Mom and Dad will be able to help me a little bit here and there but our previous active sponsors have encountered issues with the downturn in the economy. They want to continue to help us and they cheer me on with each new success, but they have informed us that they will not be able to help us financially in 2011.

So we have a good start to finish up 2010 but we won't go very far without additional help. Mom and Dad are confident that things will work out if I do my part and prepare well.

Q: Why don't you get sponsorships from corporations to help in this endeavor?

A: We are now set up to receive donations from corporations or individuals and this will give them a tax deductible contribution. The Utah Chess Association is a non-profit 501(c3) organization that has recently set up a UCA Scholarship Fund for which you will receive a tax deductible donation receipt so that you can write off you contribution. You may read a copy of the scholarship eligibility and disbursement requirements here: http://ucascholarshipfund.blogspot.com/.

Because of the nature of this type of tax deduction/scholarship there is no guarantee that Kayden will receive 100% of the donations, however it is very probable that he will receive 100% of the donations in the immediate future at least. Kayden is the only one that has met these qualifications for the past 2 years on a regular basis and he is presently eligible for the 100% disbursement of these contributions which disbursement occurs on a quarterly basis. No one else is eligible at the moment and we would be happy to advise any potential contributors of the potential eligibility of other scholastic candidates prior to your contribution if this is something that is of interest.

Q: Would you be willing to do a simultaneous exhibition for our organization or be willing to wear t-shirts or other promotional materials if we donated to your cause?

A: Definitely, I would pretty much do what it takes to make sure that I can give back to your organization if possible though I do not have a lot of time because of my own studies and tournaments.

Q: Will your expenses be this large in 2012?

A: Our best guess is that these tournaments will cost roughly about the same amount of money for 2012. Perhaps less if I can achieve this goal sooner than later, but once I achieve my International Master title then I will be working on my Grandmaster title and the same tournaments will be required for that. It is said that a person will have played tournaments in 50 countries on average before they become a Grandmaster. Even on this budget it will not be possible for me to do this. I am looking at achieving this goal on a much more conservative traveling schedule.

Q: How do you possibly think that you can be prepared to meet these lofty goals?

A: I work at my chess about 6 hours per day. This is not busy-work or distracted learning. I am 100% focused on what I love and I am working under the direction of my parents and my Grandmaster teacher. I have high level chess software that I use for my training, and I play chess on the internet every day against high level players from around the world. I have been winning several games against International Masters and Grandmasters each day, and I plan to continue to compete against higher and higher competition until I am comfortable playing in these high level tournaments around the country and around the world. My dad says that I can't expect to win International Masters and Grandmasters in these tournaments until I can do it on a regular basis at home. So this is my goal and this is what I am doing so that I will play with consistency, vision and confidence when I take it on the road!

Q: Do you do anything else besides chess?

A: Most definitely! I love chess, but I enjoy reading, sports, mathematics, history and learning in general. I love doing things with my family, and I enjoy playing video games. If I get a chance to go fishing or to a movie, or to just relax for a little while then I am all over that. My dad says that it's important to keep a sense of balance and I 100% agree. Life is great and it deserves to be enjoyed!

Q: How can I donate flyer miles?

A: Email my mom at kaydentroffdonations@q.com. She is my travel coordinator. Sometimes we buy our plane tickets several months in advance, or we are restricted to certain airlines due to our destination so it helps us a lot to know what our options are a few months before the tournaments.

Q: Will you provide donation receipts?

A: Yes, we would be glad to do so if requested.

Q: Why don't you have different levels of giving on your sponsor list?

A: Many of our sponsors have contributed large amounts, but we do not distinguish one from another unless they ask us to do so. We would be glad to specify higher giving levels if this was desired.

Q: Can I donate by credit card?

A: Yes, our donations run through Paypal, and Paypal will accept credit card donations.

Q: What if I want to donate directly so that you would not be charged a credit card fee?

A: This would be preferable for large donations because we are charged approximately 3% for credit card transactions through Paypal. Please contact us at kaydentroffdonations@q.com and we will arrange for the donation to be sent directly to us.

Q: Is your donation money kept in a separate bank account?

A: Yes, I have two personal accounts. One of my accounts has my winnings from tournaments and the money that I earn from teaching chess. The other account is strictly for donations, and is used only for my chess expenses.

Q: What if I don't have a lot of money to make a big donation?

A: It's interesting to see everyone that has signed up to be my fans on Facebook. That number keeps going up and up. Large donations are wonderful, but many of my expenses could be handled by small donations in large numbers. If I can continue to increase my fans on Facebook and everyone contributed $5.00 - $10.00 apiece then this would add up very quickly. If you cannot donate anything then please recommend me to all of your friends on Facebook so that the power of the internet can eventually help me out. I would love to hit the 1000 fan mark and then we'll reach for the 10,000 mark and so on.

Q: What if I don't have a lot of money to make a big donation #2?

A: If you have connections with someone that might be interested in sponsoring me then this might be far more valuable than anything else that you could do. Even those that are still in high school, or are younger have connections. Spread the word. We are just certain that there are many people that would love to help me, but we just haven't gotten my info to the right places yet. We joke about Oprah Winfrey, or Jon Huntsman, or Glenn Beck sponsoring me one of these days, but this is the type of sponsorship that might be possible through everyone's connections. Please let others know about me and my dream!

Q: Will you achieve your dream?

A: I know that I cannot do it alone. After all is said and done - I trust God that he has given me this talent for a reason, and he will help me bring it to its conclusion after everything that I can do. I'm willing to do whatever it takes. I'm committed and I trust that if I will do my part then he will do his part and the ultimate result will help others know him better. Because that is why we are given talents, and told to let them shine.