Author: Mike Byrne
Date: 07:14:43 02/22/03
...but membership may not be desireable... http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/22/nyregion/22CHES.html The Game Is Chess, the Opponents Are Felons By MAREK FUCHS RENTON, Feb. 21 — There was no Karpov, Kasparov or Deep Blue around the chessboards. Only murderers, arsonists and other felons, all facing off against two inky-haired students, the top-rated players in Princeton University's chess club. The felons were all inmates at New Jersey State Prison, a maximum-security facility that houses 1,900 inmates, the state's death row and a thriving chess club of its own. The two Princeton students were here as invited guests today in a four-hour match that pitted them against 34 inmates, all of them excited about the contest and the break in the prison routine — and all on their best behavior. Though one associates chess clubs with leafy campuses or the local high school cafeteria, the club that convenes here on Thursday nights meets behind bars. Jude Acers, a world-recognized chess champion and author, was the last outsider who came in to play, two years ago, and he was beaten by one prisoner and played to a draw by another. Prison officials say that even outside the club, chess is a mainstay of life in prison, where video games and other hand-held devices are banned. Craig Haywood, the prison's acting supervisor of recreation, said he issues 50 to 60 chessboards a week, and the game is even more popular than checkers. Moreover, said Anthony Sarlo, the prison's director of education, "It's one of the few games that's not physical; you don't have to be a macho man." The game is useful to inmates, said Devon Brown, New Jersey's commissioner of corrections. "It allows them to use skill and logic constructively and to plan ahead — a skill they've tended not to have," he said. Today's single-game match was held in the prison's lime-green gym, which was rimmed with guards. The chessboards were laid out on two sets of tables, each arranged in a horseshoe shape. Brandon Ashe, 20, a Princeton junior, played half of the 34 inmates, moving a chess piece and then going to the next board until he had made his way around the table, then starting again. Ian Prevost, 19, a sophomore, played the other half. Both students were nervous — not, they said, from entering a prison for the first time but because they were unsure of their opponents' abilities and felt inexperienced playing so many people at once. The prisoners, by contrast, were confident, some of them bordering on bluster. Sylvester Livingston, 38 and serving 25 years to life for aggravated assault, said he played chess "because if you make the mistake you can fix it." He thought he might have a chance. But Anthony Nickels, 34, predicted victory. "I'm going to keep attacking," said Mr. Nickels, who is serving 30 years for murder. "That's my strategy." The matches began, and Anthony Szadorski, 30, who is serving a 30-year-to-life sentence for murder, thought he had a bead on Mr. Prevost's strategy. Mr. Szadorski had taught himself how to play the game, and plays mostly against himself. "I sit on my bed with only my board, and sometimes I even role-play with myself, saying I'm protecting my castle or my army," he said. Soon, though, Mr. Prevost surprised him with a move that Mr. Szadorski had not seen before, and Mr. Szadorski was losing badly. Within 30 moves, Mr. Ashe was starting to sweep players off the boards, but much of Mr. Prevost's competition was holding tight. As players were checkmated, they called out for body bags for their kings and then stood behind other inmates, offering advice liberally. Before long they were all congregated around Naifra Boyer, 46, a murderer who has been in jail most of his adult life. Mr. Boyer, the inmate who had played the chess master Jude Acers to a draw, had control of the middle of the board against Mr. Prevost. After Mr. Ashe had beaten all his competition, and with the matches well into their third hour, he took over half of Mr. Prevost's remaining opponents. Finally, after about four hours, to much hollering and high-fiving, Mr. Boyer beat Mr. Ashe. "Chess is a game of life and death," Mr. Boyer declared. "The students," he said, "were being too aggressive with me. They weren't watching their backs." Mr. Boyer asked the guards if he could begin touring colleges playing chess, promising to behave — a proposal that drew laughter all around. Mr. Prevost said he learned a lot by playing in prison. "It was unique," he said, "in that they came up with most of the styles themselves. I'm used to playing against players who are classically trained, and in some ways you know what they're going to do more." Mr. Boyer, headed back to his cell, was still laughing and glad that the students had learned. "The kids," he said, "they need a little more practice. They're all right, though
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