Here is a sad story about 21-year-old Wesley So. The youngest Grandmaster in the world has been disqualified after nine rounds of the US National Chess Championships, apparently falling victim to a bitter family dispute that now threatens to derail his rising career.
The contention centres around So's apparent decision to abandon his chess scholarship studies at Webster University, St Louis, to pursue a full time professional career in the sport. The number eighth player in the world rankings, So took this step after he won the $100,000 first prize in the inaugural Millionaire Chess Open in Las Vegas last year.
It seems, however, that the young Filipino chess star did not bargain for the fierce quarrel this decision would ignite between two sections of his family.
On one side were his mother and aunt who, together with his siblings, had migrated to Canada several years ago. On the other were his foster parents, Lois Key and her husband, Renato Kabigting, who took him into their home at Minnetonka, Minnesota, after he had left Webster University.
According to the apparent scenario, So's decision to drop out of Webster only served to aggravate the difficult relations he has had with his mother since his midteens.
As Lois Key tells it, So's mother and aunt came to St Louis and contacted So minutes after his arrival at a hotel.
Key said they began, "in strident encounters over the course of several days to insist that he return to college or face losing complete contact with his family including his sisters."
At one point, Key recalled, So's mother and aunt confronted him outside the chess club after his game, trying to grab his arm and yelling at him when he would not go with them to talk.
That scene led to an apology by So to the club and a request that his mother and aunt be banned from the tournament site.
The forfeit of So which "rocked the national championship competition" was extensively reported by the widely read Minnesota Star Tribune and became the subject of endless rumours and blog postings.
They included a tale of what So's Minnetonka family called "an ambush by his estranged mother on the eve of the tournament, an incident that created stress and distraction that threw him off his game."
"There are personal problems in my family," So said after the forfeit. "Trying to fix them during this tournament caused a lot of stress and tension. It diverted a lot of energy from the board when I should be focusing on my game."
DR believes that every serious chess player would be in sympathy with the "plight" of the young Grandmaster but the reason for his disqualification from the US National Championships can hardly be questioned, however unprecedented it may be.
So was forfeited by arbiter Tony Rich for writing notes to himself on his scoresheet during his game with Varuzhan Akopian who complained about it.
Rich reported that So had declined to heed several warning about the infringements.
DR is no psychiatrist but he cannot avoid wondering whether the family "warfare" swirling about him was so troubling to the young and ambitious chess star as to cause such a case of defiance or disorientation.
The entire affair became even more complicated with the response of Paul Truong, husband of GM Susan Polgar whose Institute of Chess Excellence was merged with Webster University in suburban St Louis in 2012.
In reply to attacks in the media by So's foster mother, Truong pointed out that So did not quit the college to become a professional.
The truth is, he disclosed, So's chess scholarship at Webster had been fully revoked last October "for multiple team rule violations." And So's biological family had been duly informed about this.
Why then their big fuss over So's "decision"? Why their insistence that he should return to Webster? Why all the apparent mental agony on the young GM's part?
DR believes the mystery of So's conduct, unbecoming of the status of a GM, may be solved by looking elsewhere.
Perhaps the scoresheets would have a clue; four wins, one draw, three defeats by Nakamura, Sevian and Holt.