In the end, it was checkmate for Louis Taylor, who challenged the New Rochelle, N.Y., library rule when he refused to put away a chess board as he studied a chess book.
Taylor was convicted last Tuesday of trespassing for ignoring a "no board games" order posted at his local library last September.After a one-day, nonjury trial, City Judge Kenneth Rudolph found Taylor's actions had nothing to do with chess but everything to do wit disobeying a lawful order, The Associated Press reported.
Authorities did everything to persuade Taylor to leave voluntarily or stop playing chess, Rudolph said, adding that police officers "pretty much begged him to comply."
Taylor, a 41-year-old unemployed graphics artist, said he wasn't "playing" chess; he was reading a chess book and studying the board. He said he couldn't check the book out of the library because his library card had expired and he preferred the library's ambiance.
Dan Edelman, assistant director of the U.S. Chess Federation (USCF), testified that at Taylor's beginning level of play, he needed a board to follow any chess book.
Taylor, who was briefly jailed for his actions, faces up to 15 days in jail and a $250 fine when he is sentenced.
This is not the first time that the royal game has found itself on the cutting edge of the law.
There are a number of cases on the books. A British magazine, Chess, was sued for advertising for sale "genuine Staunton chessmen," a common pattern used in all chess events.
The ad was misleading, argued the manufacturer, because only it made the real thing, as opposed to any Staunton pattern. In 1940, Chess won on appeal.
Not too long ago, a chess hustler was caught in a sting when detectives raided Bryant Park, next to New York's famed 42nd Street Library. Arkady Flom, a Russian immigrant, was charged with gambling when he won a marked $5 bill from a police officer posing as a worker on a lunch break.
"With all the crime and drugs around here," marveled an onlooker, "they bust chess players."
While in custody, without access to his medication, Flom has a $1 suit against the city that still hasn't gone to trial.
Chess by mail during wartime has also come under scrutiny. Wilhelm Steinitz, world champion from 1872 to 1894, reportedly was detained as a spy because his postal games with Russia's Mikhail Chigorin were suspected as a coded imparting of vital war secrets.
MARCH MADNESS - A "blitz" chess tournament will be held March 27 in the BYU Wilkinson Center in Provo.
It will be a double Swiss system (play each opponent twice - black-white). Rounds will be played at 10, 10:45 and 11:30 a.m., 12:15, 2, 2:45 and 3:30 p.m. Game time is five minutes for each player, each game.
The entry fee is $15 if received by March 22; $20 at the site. Mail registrations and entry fee to Jeff Robison, 1484 S. 400 East, Orem, UT 84058. Telephone 378-4751.
There will be cash prizes for first and second place in all sections: A, B, C, D and unrated. USCF membership is not required. The tournament will be unrated - it's just for fun. Chess sets provided. Players can use their own clocks if they prefer.
AFTER SIX ROUNDS - World champion Gary Kasparov drew against fellow Russian Valery Salov at the Linares Grandmaster Tournament in the sixth round that featured several decisive time scrambles as payers struggled to beat the clock.
Kasparov now shares the lead on four points from six games, with Anatoly Karpov and Gata Kamsy, who won their games, and Anand, who drew after a round where "thinking time" was a crucial factor.
Games were won and lost as players fought to complete the required 40 moves without exceeding the time limit - an exciting situation that invariably produces nervous play and sometime atrocious blunders, Reuters reported.
American prodigy Kamsky took advantage of Belyavsky's time trouble to start a strong attack. Belyavsky lost his nerve and his queen, resigning on the 35th move.
Next to collapse was Vassily Ivanchuk, who resigned after 33 moves when he lost his queen to youngster Vladimir Kramnik.
Then it was Belarussian Boris Gelfaun's turn to surrender to the relentless pressure of ex-world champion Anatoly Karpov. He resigned in a hopeless position after 45 moves.
Kasparov himself had spectators on the edge of their seats as he almost ran out of time. At one point, the world champion was left with only five minutes to complete 15 moves. But he managed to avoid disastrous mistakes and a draw was agreed in an endgame after 47 moves.