Carol Ann Caronia knows potential when she sees it. After a career teaching chess to young children in city schools and programs, she’s worked with kids who’ve won national championships before graduating high school. Talented children, knowledgeable about the rules and moves even soon after kindergarten. But then there was Fabiano Caruana.

He came to her after-school class at Park Slope’s Congregation Beth Elohim sometime around 1997. He was about 5 years old, a “very serious child.” Other kids, even the good ones, wanted to talk or fool around, make friends. That wasn’t Caruana’s style. “He was there to win the game.” When he did, he didn’t do a dance of joy: He just won.