Knight Life

The first thing you notice as you enter the children's area of the Maple Heights Library is a giant, nine-square-foot chessboard and a set of eight-inch-high playing pieces. You'll also see a medieval castle that encloses the picture-book area, as well as many books and displays relating to the board game. Chess is one of the dominant themes in the children's section, and our Thursday Knight children's chess club has attracted about 50 members, ranging in age from five to 16, to our public library, east of Cleveland, OH.

Maple Heights is a blue-collar town, almost evenly divided between African Americans and whites. When it comes to proficiency testing, our public schools rank in the state's lowest 35th percentile. Many children in our community are not encouraged to use the public library. But since we've introduced chess, that's changed.

I've always loved chess and taught beginning and intermediate classes to children at my former library in Ohio. When I joined Maple Heights as the children's librarian nearly four years ago, I sensed that a chess club would be popular. So I distributed fliers at the nearby schools, made posters, and advertised in the local newspaper. Now kids come to the library every day after school to play chess, with teens tending to monopolize the giant chess set.

Up to 30 boys and girls, accompanied by their parents, stream into our library four times a month for our Thursday Knight club meetings. Students are not allowed to join until they can identify all of the playing pieces and understand how each one moves. Families from as far as Cleveland, about a half-hour away, travel to the meetings. One of those families—a father and his five children—are regulars, and our youngest participant is a kindergartner. When they arrive, the visibly excited kids sign in, put on name tags, and await a partner before sitting down at one of the six tables that house a dozen chessboards. (Our Friends of the Library donated five tournament-sized, Staunton chess sets, plus a hanging instructional board, and T-shirts for winners.) We record players' wins on a scoreboard that looks like a castle; those who accumulate 10 wins are awarded T-shirts emblazoned with a knight and the library's name.

The chess program has undeniably increased our children's library attendance and circulation. I always recommend books and Web sites about the game, and students are encouraged to take out books on many topics. Equally important, kids make new friends and learn lifelong skills such as planning ahead, maintaining self-control, channeling aggression, thinking before they act (if you touch a chess piece, you must move it), and good manners (opponents shake hands and thank each other for a good game). Children also learn algebraic notations, checkmating combinations, and how to avoid making common mistakes. I insist that the game be played in silence, as some kids like to verbally intimidate or distract their opponents.

Only one in four of our members is female, but I try to reassure them that they too can excel. After all, three Hungarian sisters were each grandmasters and Irina Krush became a U.S. champion at age 14. At times, local retirees join us, and the interaction between the generations helps to dispel many stereotypes held by both groups. Chess, once dominated by older men, is now attracting a younger crowd, thanks to the likes of Gary Kasparov, Bobby Fischer, and Maurice Ashley, the first black grandmaster, who is a great role model for our inner-city youth.

Last July, club and community members took part in a life-sized chess tournament at our civic center, which is attached to the library. The mayor and the head of the library system were cast as two opposing kings, the regional administrator and head of children's services were queens, and 32 other participants stood in for the rooks, bishops, knights, and pawns. We hope that the tournament will become an annual event. But whatever the outcome, one thing is for certain: there's nothing like a chess club to get kids excited about the library.