Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Chess Prodigy Plays the Game

15-year-old Emilio Cordova was crowned South American chess champion in January after winning a tournament in the Argentine city of Cordoba. But instead of returning to Lima, he told relatives he was heading to Brazil to compete in tournaments there in a push to reach the rank of international grandmaster.

But far from focusing on his grandmaster dreams, Emilio hooked up with 29-year-old go-go dancer and single mother Adriane Oliveira-- dubbed the "Bella Brasileira" by the Peruvian media. Emilio met Adriane in a night club called Love Story, a hot city club where young Emilio took to spending his nights dancing.

To fund his Brazilian sojourn, he told his family he had fallen ill and needed them to wire out money to pay for medical expenses. He even sold his laptop computer, which contained all his chess notes and training programs.

As weeks turned into months, Emilio's family became worried about him, and the Peruvian media went on a mad hunt to locate the missing prodigy. After the Peruvian media located his son, his father set out to bring him back home. At first Emilio was adamant he would not leave Brazil, and the Peruvian Foreign Ministry had to ask the Sao Paulo police to prevent the boy leaving the city before his father arrived and dragged him back home. Upon his return, Emilio told reporters that Adriane was just one of several girlfriends, and explained, "I have to live."

See more details here.

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