The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Public library hosting chess club for children
Group leader earned International Master title
The first meeting will be on Sept. 12 and will be led by resident and International Master Steve Neff.
For Fairport Harbor Village resident Steve Neff, learning how to play chess as a child provided him with more than just a fun activity.
“I felt that chess helped me in a lot of ways in different aspects of life, because it teaches you to think in a certain way,” Neff said. “And you can kind of instill that with your life decisions and it can be very beneficial.”
Neff, who’s now married with five children and a veteran of the U.S. Navy, wants to help children of today’s generation acquire a love for chess. To achieve that goal, Neff decided to start a chess club for children at the Fairport Harbor Public Library.
The club will hold its first meeting on Sept. 12 at the library, located at 335 Vine St. in Fairport Harbor. That meeting, and subsequent gatherings of the club, will start at 10 a.m. each Saturday.
Neff said the atmosphere for the club will be “totally casual.”
“Come and go as you please,” he said. “There will be no obligation or anything like that.”
Neff said he’ll supply at least one full-fledged chess set and three roll-out chess mats with plastic pieces that children can use for games.
The club will welcome all children who enjoy playing chess, regardless of their skill levels. But Neff emphasized that kids who have never played chess before also are invited to come and learn the game from scratch.
Kids who participate in the club will be able to learn tips and strategies from a club leader who gained worldwide acclaim as a competitive chess player.
Neff holds the title of International Master, which is awarded by the International Chess Federation. He earned that designation during a six-year stretch when he played competitive chess.
The federation bestows various Master titles in chess upon players who attain certain ratings of their relative skill levels, and consistently achieve outstanding performances in approved tournaments.
These are designations that recipients retain for life and can only be revoked for cheating or other serious infractions.
Grand Master is the highest of these titles, followed by International Master.
Neff, who grew up in the city of Ashtabula, was introduced to chess at age 12 by a neighbor.
“Originally all I did was mow his grass — I was just the neighborhood grass mower,” he said. “He was playing chess one day with a friend … and he asked me if I ever played. I was like, ‘Nope.’ He said, ‘Do you want to learn?’ and I said ‘Sure.’ “
After playing chess regularly against his neighbor for about two months, Neff began defeating him.
The neighbor wanted to see if Neff could compete at a higher level, so he took him to a meeting of the Ashtabula Library Chess Club.
At that particular meeting, Neff met a friend of his neighbor, who also happened to be a columnist for Chess Life Magazine and the United States Chess Federation.
“(The columnist) watched me play, played me himself,” Neff said. ” Then he said, ‘OK, have you played in any tournaments?’ I was like, ‘No, I just played one person in my whole life until today.’ And he’s like, ‘All right, if you’re ever interested in taking up some tournaments, give me a call.’ “
A few weeks later, Neff contacted the columnist.
The columnist also spoke to Neff’s mother and got her permission to take her son to out-oftown
“I felt that chess helped me in a lot of ways in different aspects of life, because it teaches you to think in a certain way. And you can kind of instill that with your life decisions and it can be very beneficial.”
— Steve Neff, group leader
tournaments.
“We ended up doing that, did that quite a few times,” he said.
Neff traveled to places like Columbus, Cleveland and New York City to compete in chess tournaments However, his chess-playing days ended when he joined the U.S. Navy immediately after high school.
“I didn’t play (chess) at all in the Navy,” said Neff, who served his country for six years as a computer specialist.
In fact, Neff didn’t rekindle his interest in chess until his daughters Emma and Lilah began showing an interest in the game.
“They like playing games, they’re big gamers,” said Neff, who’s now 40 years old. “Eventually they started playing different board games and ran across chess.”
Neff came up with the idea to start a chess club at Fairport Harbor Library one day when 12-yearold Emma brought home a friend to visit.
“And then from that blossomed, ‘Hey, maybe if your friend wants to learn how to play and she’s interested, and your other friend, well, we might as well do a chess club at the library.’ “
In fact, Neff recruited Emma and 10-year-old sister Lilah to assist him with instructing other children who participate in the chess club.
Neff said his primary goal in launching the club is for children to have fun playing chess.
“Enjoy trying to develop your own game and being creative,” he said