First Moves / Chess news from around the U.S.
Advancing the
US Chess Mission Masterman’s school chess team isn’t just winning national championships. They are winning in life too.
TOM NORDEMAN
My name is Tom Nordeman and I have a condition called cerebral palsy. I live in a facility for people in wheelchairs called Inglis House, located at 2600 Belmont Avenue, Philadelphia. Throughout my adult life one of my hobbies has been chess. I have been intrigued by this game because it is so complex. I consider myself to be an average chess player. I am writing this piece to let the world know about a group of young chess players that have had a tremendous impact on my life.
Stephen Shutt, a coach of the Masterman Middle School chess team and a former member of the US Chess scholastic council, sent the following to Chess Life:
“A number of my students at Masterman have been helping a young man, Thomas Nordeman who
is dealing with cerebral palsy and who loves chess. He is in his early twenties and confined to a wheelchair with only limited use of his fingers. He lives in an assisted living facility, which provides transportation to local chess tournaments. “Several of my middle school students at Masterman have taken him ‘under wing’ and have been
giving him chess lessons. I did not realize how much this meant to him until I read an open letter he sent displaying his feelings (see sidebar on right). He then asked me if I could arrange for some of my students with ratings similar to his to come to his assisted living home and play him after school on Thursdays. “I found four students whose parents were willing to drive them there each week on a rotating
basis. Tom sent me another letter expressing his appreciation. “I am very proud of these kids. One theme we try to express at Masterman is ‘paying it forward.’
There are many examples of this at our school, but I am particularly proud of the chess team for taking this initiative for Tom without any prompting.”
10 October 2015 | Chess Life
Masterman High School, located at 1699 Spring Garden Street, is known for having the strongest chess club in the country. Last year, I contacted a former teacher, Steve Shutt, who is now retired but still is very much involved with the chess club. I in formed him that I was interested in playing some practice games with his students. He invited me to come to chess club after school on Thursday afternoons. In addition, many of Masterman’s stronger players have be come my teachers. The students are not only good teachers and mentors but also wonderful friends.
This year, Mr. Shutt arranged for four students, Zak, Beckett, Manas, and Hayden, to meet with me on Thursday afternoons at Inglis House to play chess. My instructors are Torin, Nalin, and Srisa. If all I wanted to do was play chess, I could play on the Internet. However, the students give me so much more than just a chess game. They are some of my best friends and I am hoping that these relationships can continue in the future.
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