Saturday morning, while many of their friends were still noshing Frosted Flakes, Bethany Horman and Matthew Smith were staring down a chessboard and mastering the fine points of castling and capturing en passant in the basement of the Ligonier Public Library.
Horman, 7, of Ligonier and Smith, 10, of Derry were taking part in a tradition that Ed Surma has been nurturing in Ligonier for years.
Surma, 51, of Unity, a former competitive chess player, loves passing on his passion for the game that has mesmerized players for centuries.
“I do this because there was no one to teach me. I learned, though, and I played competitively in my twenties and thirties. I played in the World Open in Philadelphia in the early 2000s,” Surma said.
He patiently tutored Eli Cooper, 9, of Ligonier in castling — a special move that simultaneously involves a player’s king and rook — and when a sacrifice can set the stage for a checkmate.
Ligonier area children from kindergarten through eighth grade can get a taste for chess under Surma’s careful tutelage two Saturdays a month at the library.
Surma gets a hand from avid players such as John Hamp. Hamp, a retired math teacher from Blairsville, said he learned to play in high school and polished his skills in the Air Force.
He watched closely Saturday morning, offering advice to several players, as his three young grandsons practiced their skills with various opponents.
Who knows — the next Bobby Fischer or Garry Kasparov could be sitting at one of these chessboards.
Players were brushing up on their skills Saturday in anticipation of the local tournament scheduled for March 14. Winners there will go on to the Westmoreland County tournament in April.
Chrystal Walsh of Cook Township said her son Linden, 11, loves the competition. He’s won the local tournament twice in the junior division, which includes players through fourth grade, and last year in the senior division that includes grades five through eight.
She said Linden, who made a point of ending each game with a handshake, is hoping to repeat for another chance at the county tournament this year.
Bridget Horman, who learned to play from her mother, began teaching Bethany when she was 4.
“My mom, Bethany’s grandma, played and was really good,” Bridget Horman said. “I learned from my mom. And I remember sitting down with her and saying, ‘Okay, you’re old enough and now; we can play. This is just great. She loves it.”
The smiling girl with the long, dark pigtails can hold her own in a roomful of boys.
Asked what she likes best about chess, Bethany smiled.
“That the queen is big,” she said. “That’s what I like.”
