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In his short life, Avery, who attends Hudson County Montessori, boasts a resume of accomplishments that would make even some adults blush. The youngster is already a year ahead of his peers at school, attends seventh grade math, and is nationally ranked just outside of the top ten by the United States Chess Federation.
By the time he was two years old, Avery had a mastery of the United States map. A year later he could recite the state capitals and could name any American president, chronologically, a feat that took him just two weeks.
Despite having the intelligence of an adult, Avery, who turns eight later this month, is a regular kid. He has friends of all ages who enjoy playing soccer and baseball as much as a good book
His mother, Julie Meyers, is a counselor at Eastchester High School. She said the prodigy is still debating whether he wants to be a professional baseball or soccer player when he grows up.
“We had him tested by an educational psychologist when he was about three years old and he maxed out the IQ scale. And that wasn’t the preschool test. Some of the abilities matched that of a 13-year-old,” she said. “We wanted to keep him challenged so he developed a work ethic and didn’t coast.”
Avery, who is ranked 11th by the U.S. Chess Federation, and will settle in around 30th when his age group changes on his birthday, is a self-taught chess master. Nearly three years ago, he taught himself chess on an iPad application, and was playing in tournaments against grown men at the famed Marshall Club less than two years later.
Although his feet don’t even touch the floor when he plays, the youngster hasn’t let his elder competition intimidate him. His parents had to open a bank account for him when he won $350 in a handful of tournaments earlier this year. Avery came in eighth place at the National Elementary School Championship, earning a trophy taller than he was.
“He started maxing out at kids' tournaments, so we had to go to the city to the Marshall Club, where Bobby Fisher used to play,” Meyers said. “He did this all on his own, my husband and I don’t play chess.”
Slightly timid in nature, Avery hasn’t let his prodigy-like status go to his head. He may have only lost four teeth, but he is already serving as a role model for his peers, young and old alike.
“The school has been incredibly flexible, but it was rough at first to get them to take that chance, but everyone has accepted him. He’s physically small for his age, which makes it more comical at times,” his mother said. “The kids look at it as a positive. They’re not saying ‘Avery is a geek,’ they’re saying ‘I want to be more like Avery.’”
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