At the end of the 80's, my family moved back to Hamilton after we'd spent five amazing years enjoying small town life in Northern Ontario. Starting grade nine in a big, downtown city high school was a huge eye-opener for me. A little traumatic actually. There were fights, trouble, crime and sketchy characters o' plenty. I actually dreaded lunchtime, as it meant I had to either go to the cafeteria (didn't like big crowds), or just walk around the hallways munching my PB sandwiches to pass the time, which I did.
Eventually, I got to know a few people and on one occasion, a couple of us ambled into the school library at noon. We pulled down one of the dozen or so chess sets and started playing. The school librarian (Mr. Moore I think was his name) let us eat our lunches as we castled, forked, and put each other in check. It quickly became our daily mid-schoolday routine. Our group of players grew to about a dozen as we sharpened our skills while talking Nintendo, TMNT and became friends. In hindsight, they were great freshman days.
Our Chess Crucible - Scott Park's library (post-vandalization)
I spent only one year at that downtown high school before moving up the Hill. It was intense, yet memorable. Everything is when you're 14, I guess. Scott Park was torn down in 2015, with mega-school Bernie Custis taking its place. The demolition of SP had been hastened when a group of adolescents went in and turned on fire hoses, discharged fire extinguishers and vandalized as much as they could. It's a little sad when places of your past cease to exist. Maybe those kids who tore the place up didn't have a place to pass time with worthwhile hobbies. Thanks to Mr. Moore, and thanks Dad for teaching me this great game when I was 8 years old.
A great chess match breakdown of arguably the game's finest player ever; Paul Morphy. Hang in until the very end to hear the acknowledgments ;-)