CHESS on the Inside

Max’s first introduction to the game of Chess in Dublin

was most bizarre indeed, to say the least. It was 1977, in Napoleon’s
Nite Club, the most notorious speak-easy of it’s era, situated on the
north-side inner-city, just off Parnell Square. This was no place for the
timid or faint hearted. Every week-end it served as a meeting place for
members of the Capital’s criminal underworld. A place where deals were
made, old scores often settled. Hookers got their fill up before the
nightly business commenced. Fights and riots were commonplace, but
this was their way of life, Napoleons their “O.K. Corral”. While Dublin’s
illegal drug trade expanded, various crime families were now
establishing their own manors into which they would tolerate no
intrusion. With violence epidemic, Napoleons often became the scene.

Working in the establishment as a bouncer for two

years, Max got to know most of the clientele. Unable to use his real
name he adopted “Max” as his alias and became known as Max the
bouncer to the punters. The name has stuck with him ever since. Many
times he had to use his Kung-Fu skills to ensure his own safety, often to
preserve life and limb of some beleaguered patron. A player for rough
diamonds, respected by the Hard Men of the streets. Napoleon’s, a nite
Club where bouncers often only lasted a week-end or just an hour. Some
didn’t even wait for their wages, they just disappeared into the night,
discovering there was nowhere to hide.

Among the many characters to frequent the upstairs

wine bar, two of the “oddest” were notorious in their own right,
members of the infamous “Bugsy Malone” gang. What made these two
stand out was their chosen means of conflict. While other confrontations
were taking place on the premises where more basic hand to hand
combat was the norm., for these two it was the “Royal Game”. Instead
of knives, knuckle-dusters or guns it was Board and Chess set. They
would bring their own Chess set to the club every week-end and engage
in their chosen battle, the “Battle of Minds”. They never got involved in
any of the chaos that surrounded them, they seemed oblivious to it all,
their total focus being the fight before them on the table, the Chess
game. Small wonder that their corner of calm would attract Max’s
attention: the conflict in that area very definitely in the realms of the
imagination.

Following the closure of Napoleon’s in late ‘79 by that

other means of Godly wrath - FIRE!, Max joined the Prison Service, this
time tending the felonious in our establishment of a more sombre
character. Posted to St. Patrick’s Institution, a detention centre for
convicted and remand prisoners between the ages of sixteen and twenty
one, Max was soon promoted to Class Officer, whose duty is to take
complete charge of the day to day running of a landing, where for thirty
two inmates it was a home from home.

Max’s class was D2. Affectionately known as

Coronation Street, as it was the only landing in the prison where the
walls were not plastered or painted. It still retained the old red and
brown bricks, and housed inmates from Dublin city. There was always a
waiting list for a cell on D2 landing, the brick walls reminding them of
home. “It was here that I met up again with the same two punters who
had frequented Napoleons, the two Chess players. Although one did not
call a prison officer by his first name, the lads always referred to me as
“Max”, that’s who I was to them. I didn’t mind, I understood, even
though my colleagues thought it strange at first”.

It was Max’s responsibility to delegate the post of class

cleaners, a job held by the prisoners themselves and a much sought
after position on D2. This job he now gave to the two Chess players,
who, having completed their cleaning duties, were allowed to retire to a
cell (in secret) where a game of Chess would invariably follow. “The
Chess set from the stores was not great, a small plastic set, but it was
adequate”. Following a request, Max requisitioned it from Mountjoy
stores.

With his interest aroused Max decided to improve his

own game. “I knew about a little about Chess at the time and could see
that it fascinated these two “Wise -Guys”. After buying a Master’s Chess
book and set, Max now took the more determined step of joining a Chess
club - “Phibsboro Chess Club” was the one he chose, just down the road
from St Patrick’s Institution, which is situated beside Mountjoy Prison on
the North Circular Road, Dublin 7 District. He could call in on his way
home from work after finishing his day shift at 8pm.

Playing against established players quickly improved

his play. “I discovered that there was more to this game than just
pushing pieces around the board”. However owing to the different shifts
he worked, found himself unable to attend as much as he would have
liked. He was hooked.

But on the other hand, he had learned more about the

openings, middle game and end game strategies and passed on
whatever knowledge he had gained from his reading and playing to the
lads. With interest growing, Chess books were proving popular from the
Prison Library, while some extra sets were requisitioned from the stores.
It was time for the first official tournament to take place, which Max now
set about organising. With 20 Prisoners taking part from the population
of 230 inmates, an unlikely Chess club was about to start up. A small
beginning.

After 11 years of being in charge of D2 (A long time for

a Class Officer), the landing finally closed down for renovations in 1991
and Max was put in charge of the landing above it, D3. All of the boys
from D2 moved up with Max , his faithful followers to their new abode.
To them Max was no ordinary “Screw”. He would always listen to their
grievances and try to improve their living conditions on the inside.

Following a request from an inmate who was keen on

learning the game, Max approached the Chief Officer with a view to
holding formal chess lessons during evening recreation. Having
established there was sufficient interest, permission was granted. 20
sets arrived from the stores and 10 of these were arranged in the (old)
Library room, in the main recreation hall for the first introductory lesson.
That evening in October 1992, the first official Chess tuition class was
held with 12 inmates presenting themselves for the occasion. Within
days the room was full to capacity (22 inmates). “It seems to provide an
“Oasis” for some kind of rehabilitation. “ Max was not to know the
impact this new activity would have on the day to day running of the
prison. “All of my landing were now playing, and studying chess books
in their cells at night”. Couples walking hand in hand along the canal,
beyond the boundary wall, could even hear the inmates shouting out
their moves to one another as they played against each other through
their cell walls ‘till the early hours. No doubt confused by what they
were hearing - “Hey Domo, what was that move again?” “I castled on
the Kingside - did you get that Snake”, and so it would go on. A new
entertainment that would help the boys get through what would
otherwise be an other lonely night locked up in their cold prison cells.
There are two officers detailed in charge of chess tuition every evening
to cater for the demand.

Max was now working on further improving his own

game, playing with fellow officers during the lunch hour, having
persuaded the officers Social club to invest in some Chess sets for the
staff. Also playing a lot of correspondence Chess, where one sends their
moves to an opponent by post. Such was the improvement in his own
game that he was chosen to play on the Irish International
Correspondence team. An officers team was also entered into the British
Postal Chess league, Max now the Manager and Captain of his own team.
“I was given money by the Governor to purchase some more chess
books as the library hadn’t enough in stock to cater for the increasing
demand, so on my rest days I would visit every second-hand book shop
from Swords to Bray, buying up every Chess book I could get my hands
on, if the price was right”. Chess had finally taken off in St Patrick’s with
Max now fully committed to his new adventure.

After holding another tournament for the boys, Easter

1993, this occasion thirty inmates involved, Max entered the Irish Chess
Championships, held in the Teacher’s Club, Parnell Square, winning the
Novice’s Section outright. He now became the first and only Prison
Officer to hold an Irish Chess title. The hard work had paid off. “I tried
my very best to win, to show the lads what was within their grasp, what
could be achieved with some effort, and as some of them could beat me
occasionally with the skills they had now acquired, they then realised
that they could also be successful at Chess when back on the outside”.

The Management fully backed this new and growing

pastime of the prisoners and on Max’s request purchased some
tournament size Chess sets and Chess clocks. These new additions were
an instant hit with the lads and for the first time they felt like real Chess
players. He also acquired a television set and video for his chess room
where he would show feature films like “Knight Moves”, “Innocent
Moves”, “Fresh”, “The Grass Arena” - (where John Healy, a wino and ex-
convict, takes up Chess in prison and becomes a Master at Chess - a true
story) and others where the main plot evolves around Chess. These
regular showings have become very popular with the inmates.

Two years on, Max decided to organise some outside

competition for his young players. Having considered the situation
carefully he now felt he had the next move. In August 1995, after
making contact with the Leinster Chess Union, he attended a secretaries
meeting in Doyle’s Pub, off Trinity College, where he expressed his wish
of entering a new team in the forthcoming Leinster League. St Patrick’s
Chess club were, in a manner of speaking, trying to come out from
behind the high walls.

With his proposal well worked out in advance, the idea

of a new Chess club was accepted in principle. All that remained was
final approval from the Governor. Aware of the effort and commitment
of Max and the other officers in establishing chess inside St Patrick’s, the
Governor’s decision was positive. But first there were some “friendlies”
to be played, an experiment in seeing how things would go. The first
visitors to play St Patrick’s were Lucan Chess Club and on Saturday 9th
September, 1995 a historical event in the Prison Service took place. “We
won many games but most importantly everyone had a great time.”.
With the match proving a great success, a small celebratory buffet
followed: tea, coffee and biscuits provided, compliments of the
Governor. A link had been established with the outside Chess playing
world.

One month later Ballymun Chess Club arrived and

played their “friendly” match, once again another success. The
refreshments during the games are now a regular treat, much enjoyed
by all. And so, having passed this opening test, St Patrick’s Institution
were accepted as a new team playing in the Bodley cup, North Section,
of the Leinster Chess League that same year.

Max had finally put together an unlikely Chess club

with tremendous talent - a club with potential. A team of misfits, those
rejected by society but rebuilt by Max, a team that he was extremely
proud of. “I have even seen hard core Junkies who have become
involved in our Chess programme discover that they easily exchange
one addiction for another once bitten by the bug”. For these prisoners
Chess had become their “Noah’s Ark” in St Patrick’s Institution.
With time largely on hold for most of these inmates
Chess provides an outlet, a pursuit with endless possibilities requiring
work and application. “The boys realise that Chess is one game where
Lady Luck plays no part in achieving success. the player with the most
knowledge of the game wins out. This encourages them to study their
Chess books in their cells at night-time, to equip themselves with the
knowledge necessary for this success”.

As the game manages to transcend time, place and

circumstances, it provides a healthy alternative to the desperate tedium
and boredom of ordinary prison life. Along with the game and its
associated skills, they also learn from their Chess training a renewed
sense of confidence and self esteem. It can only help restore some
order and balance to these chaotic lives. “ I have seldom visited a place
radiating more magic and mystery than our Chess room where twenty
two juveniles (joy riders, murderers, junkies, hardmen, winos, bank
robbers, thieves and misfits) studying Chess with the discipline of
Shaolin Monks, reflecting on the change that has come into their lives in
prison, since taking on the challenge of the Master Game”.

Most staff were sceptical at first They did not believe

that this change was possible, but Max knew from his own disciplined
training with his Shaolin Kung-Fu Master that anything was possible with
the right teacher. Max is now their teacher, their mentor.

As he sits in the room watching over his students he

reflects on those hectic nights in that seedy Nite Club up a dimly lit alley,
in the heart of the inner city, where he first set eyes on those two
“strange” Chess players, (where often he thought he would loose his
own life), that could if only for the night, forget the lives they lived but
would soon return to, as Napoleon’s closed its doors in the early hours of
the morning. “Contrary to popular belief most prisoners are not that
interested in watching television, videos, playing pool or cards but they
are not given any other meaningful activity to participate in during
recreation”.

Max has proven that the demand for something

worthwhile to learn and do when locked up in prison was always there,
lying dormant in the souls of the inmates. Chess has now fulfilled that
demand for most in St Patrick’s. With Chess now the principal form of
mental recreation for a large proportion of the prisoners in the Institution
- during the Summer Tournament of 1996, 107 inmates took part in the
programme, run on a daily basis and lasting six weeks - Max is quick to
point out, without the co-operation of the Governor, the Prison
Management and colleagues, Chess would not be so successful. The
work and effort put in by himself and other officers makes it happen. “I
think Chess should be promoted in other prisons, as it’s rehabilitative
values cannot be over emphasised. Inmates in St Patrick’s have
discovered that absorption in Chess helps them enjoy life regardless of
circumstances”. Having witnessed the change that this involvement
can bring about in some lives, Max’s great hope is that it would provide
a basis for a return to a normal way of life away from the nightmare
world of drugs and crime. “I only hope that these lads will make their
future moves in life as skilfully as they have manoeuvred on the
Chessboard inside the high grey walls of St Patrick’s Institution”.

His dream is that Chess activities would be set up in

Community centres around Ireland by Welfare Officers and others who
care for ex-prisoners, where their new skills and knowledge could be
passed on to those kids who otherwise would be on the streets heading
for that Nightmare! This involvement would be a real way of giving ex-
prisoners a sense of their own worth as human beings, and show them
that they have talents and skills which they can use for the advantage of
others”.

Max realises that one of the challenges he faces as a

Prison Officer is to minimise the damage which prison does to a young
offender. His Chess training programme is important for the personal
development of the inmates in his charge. It is also important in the
interest of society. “Prisoners who come out with a sense that they have
something to contribute to their community are less likely to commit
further crime than those who leave prison with a sense of bitterness and
alienation from the community to which they have returned”.

Max clearly sees that the community must play it’s

part also in the rehabilitation of released prisoners, that there is an
obligation on society to do so, to encourage this rehabilitation. “It is
neither difficult or expensive to set up Chess in Community Centres, so
these lads could have the opportunity to teach the younger ones the
“Art “ of Chess, - a skill, a social game that will stay with them forever”.
Max did not overlook the fact that keeping prisoners
positively and constructively occupied would lead to an improvement in
security. “The nature of the Prison regime itself can contribute greatly
to the reduction of the kinds of tensions that turn prisoners minds
towards self-mutilation, escape or riotous behaviour. Mental occupation
with worthwhile work, as Chess provides, has relieved this tension for
many inmates in St Patrick’s Institution”. The Governor, staff, visiting
committee, welfare officers and teachers have also realised the value
that Chess has brought into the lives of so many, that pass through the
gates of the Institution. The traditional public indifference to what goes
on inside prisons (except when prisoners are alleged to be pampered)
did not deter Max from his next move. He threw caution to the wind. He
now went about his next task.

Max felt that his boys deserved more recognition for

the work and effort they were making while doing their time in prison, so
he contacted the director of “Gaisce” - the Presidents Award Scheme
based in Dublin Castle. A Youth Improvement Challenge where
achievements are recognised and rewarded. After a meeting it was
agreed that Chess activity fitted into the Personal Skills Section of
“Gaisce” and furthermore St Patrick’s Institution could participate in this
Award - the first Prison to do so in the Republic. The reaction was
positive.

Max was now a PAL (President’s Award Leader) and

enrolled seventy eight prisoners who eagerly set about studying and
playing Chess daily. During this time St Patrick’s was visited by many
journalists accompanied by photographers, on the “Prison Open Media
Day” tour, on Friday 7th February 1997. They were very impressed by
what they came across in the Chess room. Inmates packed the room
hardly noticing this “foreign” invasion to their “Temple of Hope”. With
Joe Duffy reporting on the radio’s Daily Record programme that evening,
about the day’s events in the Prison, in reply to Myles Dungan’s (the
presenter of the programme) question - “Any success stories”? he had
this to say. “On the one hand we’re saying, maybe the lads are stupid or
they don’t want to learn, but there’s a Chess club in there and I’ll say it
to you honestly Myles, it was one of the busiest places we were in and
we’ve been in quite a few prisons, and it was not a set up, there was no
set up on these tours, and I have talked to a lot of the young fellows:
the Chess team in St. Pat’s, last Saturday they beat the Trinity Chess
team and last year they beat the U.C.D. Chess team.......

Max thought, at last some media announced

recognition for the hard work his boys had put in over the years,
although disappointed for them that the newspapers failed to mention
the chess programme in their follow up story on St. Patrick’s Institution.
But he remembered that this was not the reason he started out on his
innovative mission. He pressed on.

With their six month course now complete and the

presentation of their Award Certificates pending, Max now set about
organising the “Big Event”, May 20th, 1997 the day chosen. The Irish
resident Russian Chess Grandmaster, Alexander Baburin and his
manager Mr Michael Crowe of the Irish Chess Academy offered their
services for the big day, to present the “Gaisce” certificates to the boys
signed by the President, Mary Robinson. Five members of the
President’s Award board were present along with the Governors and
Chief Officers of St. Patrick’s, Teachers, Welfare Officers, Prison Officers,
Max and his Students. A freelance journalist who writes for the Sunday
Tribune was also there to cover the story but to date nothing has
appeared in this newspaper.

The boys were very excited to meet the Russian Chess

Grandmaster and all received their Certificates. A group photograph
was taken with the Chess celebrities, and presented to each player a
week later. The Award Certificate and photograph now hang proudly on
their cell walls.
 Mr Michael Crowe has now been signed up by the
Governor of St. Patrick’s to run a Chess course of twelve lessons for the
month of August. for the young deserving prisoners of this Institution, in
preparation for the forthcoming league, the 97/98 season which begins
in October and ends in April.

Having kept a journal since formal lessons first began

in October, 1992, to date more than 1,300 inmates have learned to play
the “Master Game” at Max’s Alternative Chess Academy. A record of
some distinction.

This is the Phoenix which arose out of the ashes of

Napoleons on that fateful night in 1979.

Max Brohan
Prison Officer/Chess Tutor.
St Patrick’s Institution,
N.C.Road,
Dublin 7.

1997.