My First Contact with Chess by Bernard Freedman

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  • #61
    THE STORY OF FRANK ANDERSON

    I was in my office one day when a stranger walked in. "I am Mr. Anderson," he said. "I have been advised that you would be able to help me. My problem concerns my son, Frank. He is now fifteen and for five years has been confined to bed, hardly able to move, with a severe attack of arthritis. We are desperate. We have tried everything. He seems quite discouraged and has no ambition to carry on his schooling. We have recently given him a chess set and this seems to have aroused his interest. What do you suggest?"

    I immediately started him playing chess by correspondence with other players in hospitals and small towns. I supplied him with all the requirements, score sheets, correspondence chess boards, instruction sheets, and entered him in a tournament with other beginners.

    Some time later, on one of my visits to a Veterans Hospital, I was checking with a paraplegic patient whom I had also entered in a correspondence tournament. I questioned him on a very interesting game which was far beyond the beginners stage. He replied that he was playing Frank Anderson. I immediately realized that his opponent was exceptionally gifted.

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    • #62
      THE STORY OF FRANK ANDERSON continued

      I notified Mr, Anderson, senior, and we decided that we would use chess as an incentive to make Frank catch up with his studies. It worked perfectly. In no time he was catching up with his scholastic work. He decided one day to phone one of his opponents, Cy Hutchinson at the Veterans Hospital. He had to use his crutches to reach the phone. It was quite a strain.

      His first efforts to get out of the house were made to visit a chess club where I instructed two of the strongest Canadian chess players, R.E. Martin and Charles Crompton, to take full charge of his chess education. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were elated. They would visit me and report of rapid progress in the boy's health and his ambition to improve his knowledge and make up for lost time.

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      • #63
        THE STORY OF FRANK ANDERSON continued

        His first trip out of Toronto was to participate in the New York state championship being held in Endicott, N.Y. I had made all the arrangements with their committee to give him all the assistance in handling his travelling bags, his tray at the cafeteria, etc., At the train station when we saw him off, I asked another of our Canadian players to watch and help him.

        Later he played in many Toronto tournaments where he distinguished himself. He was making rapid progress. He proved to be a very bright student. In 1948 I sent six Canadian junior players to the U.S. Junior Championship being held in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Frank tied for first place with Larry Evans, now a U.S. grandmaster.

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        • #64
          THE STORY OF FRANK ANDERSON continued

          At that time, while he still had difficulty getting around on crutches, he decided that he must enter high school that fall. Soon after, I secured a job for him as a chess instructor at Rose Avenue Community Center. I went with him for the first few sessions and arranged for weekly lessons as extra curriculum for which he was paid five dollars a lesson.

          This is what he wrote to me in a letter dated May 31, 1955:

          "Dear Mr. Freedman:

          I understand that you are trying to enlist aid in your promotion of chess among the youngsters of Canada. Perhaps the details of how chess helped me will aid interested people to appreciate the importance of this work. I taught chess for five years until University studies forced me to give this up. I saw twenty or thirty eager children come week after week to, first of all, enjoy themselves but without realizing it, learn some of life's most valuable lessons at this early age.
          "I believe that playing chess leads one to habits of the mind that once cultivated are invaluable - logic, patience and perseverance (never give up). I am now a second year student in mathematics and physics at the University of Toronto."

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          • #65
            THE STORY OF FRANK ANDERSON continued

            When young Frank entered the University I realized the great handicap he would have daily, going back and forth on crutches to his home. I knew that his application for a room at the new residence had been turned down. I appealed the decision to the proper authorities and explained the special circumstances. One of the directors happened to be a friend of mine and a chess player. Within a few days Frank's application was granted.

            I was Past President of the War Pensioners of Canada and life chairman of their Board of Trustees. I prevailed on our members and they unanimously agreed that our association pay Frank's residence and entrance fee for one year.

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