Chess Student Spotlight: Gustav Wernevi

For the second installment of our student spotlight series, we're shouting out Gustav Wernevi, who won the middle school section of the Rhode Island Scholastic Chess Championship this year!

According to his chess coach in the Elite Academy, Grandmaster and 2006 Swedish Chess Champion Johan Hellsten, Gustav has always been an active participant in his chess classes while also being a tough opponent in practice games.

We sat down with Gustav to learn a little bit more about his story. He's worked hard on his chess and has learned a lot from his collection of chess books, peers in the Academy, and tons of practice games. Below, Gustav annotated one of his best ever tournament wins, and his thoughtful commentary shows how he thinks about chess.

Gustav's Chess Beginnings

Silver Knights: How did you learn to play chess? When did you get started?

Gustav Wernevi: I started to play chess when I was 5 when my dad taught me, but I didn't start competitively playing until I was about 9. 

SK: And did you play at a school club or anything like that? 

GW: My first school didn't have a chess club, but when I was 9, I switched schools and my new school had a chess club. I also started taking chess classes at the Rhode Island Chess School. 

Gustav's First Chess Tournament 

SK: Do you remember your first tournament and what happened? 

GW: My first tournament was a scholastic tournament where I won the novice section. 

SK: Did you think it was fun? 

GW: Yeah, I thought it was pretty fun. I wanted to do more.

SK: What's your favorite thing about playing chess? 

GW: Well, I find it very peaceful, and it’s very easy, when you're in a classical game over the board, just to be sucked into the game and not think about anything else. Also, it helps you exercise your brain, and I think that's pretty cool. 

SK: Was this your first time playing in the state tournament? 

GW: No, I first went about two years ago. Last year, unfortunately, I couldn't make it... but this year, I won.

Chess Coach Johan’s Class 

SK: What’s your favorite thing you’ve learned in Johan's class? 

GW: Overall, I like learning from the other kids in the class. I find it's a very good group and usually I don't get to be with so many other top kid chess players. So, if we're looking at a position, I’m able to learn what other people think about it, how it’s different from my thinking, and how I can improve. 

SK: So you like seeing other people's ideas when you're looking at a position and thinking about how they got to those moves? 

GW: Yeah. 

The 2025 State Chess Tournament

SK: What was your favorite game from this year's state tournament? 

GW: It’s not the game I annotated here, but it would probably be the last game, the fourth game of the tournament, where I was playing an unrated player. I had already played him in a team tournament before, so I knew he was very strong. I liked this game the most because it was the last game, and there was a lot of pressure on that game because whoever won it would probably become the state champion. 

SK: And did the game next to you, where they also had 3 points, finish before you so that you knew that if you won, you would be the state champion? 

GW: Yeah, the board next to me had my main competitors. They eventually ended up in a draw, so I knew if I won, I would become champion. 

Gustav's Favorite Chess Players and Chess Books

SK: Who's your favorite chess player? 

GW: That’s a tough question. There's no chess player whose style really matches mine, but in terms of who I think is the best, it’s probably Magnus. His games are always interesting. 

SK: Anyone else you like? 

GW: Well, I like all the current top players like Hikaru and Fabi, but I also like the newer players like Gukesh. I find it pretty interesting to follow their improvement. 

SK: What's your favorite chess book? 

GW: My favorite chess book might be "My 60 Memorable Games" by Bobby Fischer, but I also like the annotated game collection by Alexander Alekhine. In terms of more modern books, there's a book called "The Hidden Laws of Chess" by Nick Maatman. 

SK: What’s "The Hidden Laws of Chess" about? 

GW: There are different volumes, but it's about positional play and this volume is on pawn structures. There should be new volumes coming out later. 

Gustav's Non-Chess Hobbies and Interests

SK: What do you like to do besides chess? 

GW: Other than chess, I like to do sports like soccer, basketball, and tennis, which I play for my school teams. 

SK: What's your favorite non-chess book? 

GW: It’s not one book, but a series. Maybe you've heard of it. It’s kind of an old series called the Hercule Poirot series by Agatha Christie.

SK: How did you start reading Agatha Christie? 

GW: My grandmother got me a book about a year ago, and then I started picking up other books this year and thought they were pretty interesting. 

SK: And what do you want to do when you grow up? 

GW: I can’t really tell yet, but maybe I would like to become a chess player when I grow up.