|
|
 |
| |
Chess ace John Healy in action at Simpsons. ‘I was moving constantly,’ he said |
Moving from cell mate to checkmate
Former ‘wino’ who learned game inside takes on 13 opponents
IT was a far cry from playing against the infamous burglar Harry the Fox in a prison cell, but for chess master John Healy, a street drinker-turned-author, the outcome was the same: a resounding victory.
John, who lives in Dartmouth Park, took on 13 opponents and a computer at the swanky surroundings of Simpsons in the Strand on Wednesday – and beat all 13, but managed only a draw against the computer.
The life of Healy, 65, whose book The Grass Arena lays bare his time as a Camden Town street drinker, is now the subject of a feature-length documentary backed by the BBC.
As part of the film, he flexed his grey matter in an invitation challenge match against multiple players.
It took him just over three hours to win.
He said: “It was a challenge as you have around 30 seconds at each table to work out your move while your opponent has all the time to think about it as you move on to the next board.”
John was once a boxer. But a taste for alcohol got him and he slipped slowly into a life on the streets, drinking anything he could get his hands on before being sent to prison for petty crimes and then meeting a burglar called Harry who taught him the rudiments of the game of chess.
After finishing his stretch inside, he turned his attentions to mastering the game and competing in professional tournaments.
It also prompted him to write his life story, recently re-published by Penguin in its Modern Classics range.
He limbered up for the tournament with his own regime. “I did some yoga in the morning,” he said.
“But there is no secret to preparing yourself. You just have to think a few moves ahead of your opponents. They were a mixed bunch – some were much tougher than others.
“I was moving constantly. It is like moving round the clock. You make one move and then move on, and then soon you’re back at the beginning again.”
He enjoyed playing at Simpsons, set up as a coffee house and chess club in 1828 and considered to be the best venue in the country.
“It is the home of world chess – it just has so much history there,” he said.
His second novel, The Metal Mountain, is the story of a young Irish woman who moves to London in the 1950s and has to face a hostile, racist city.
“I have nearly finished it, but haven’t got a publisher yet,” he said. |
 |
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
