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“Nice move.” “Checkmate!” “Good game, man.” These are all common phrases one might hear at any chess match. For a few moments, as I study the board, I forget that this is no ordinary match. On one side of the board stands an inmate serving multiple life sentences. Three feet across the board stands Kapil Chandran, a freshman member of the Princeton University Chess Club.
Loosely nicknamed the Inmates vs. Ivies program, this semi-annual event has become a highlight for students as well as inmates of the New Jersey State Prison, a maximum-security facility housing nearly 1,600 of the worst offenders in the state, located in Trenton. Chandran is one of five Princeton chess club members selected to participate in this event, now in its 17th year.
Despite the obvious, the match is really no different than one between two friends playing freely in a park or in someone’s living room. Like other recreational endeavors, chess is a great equalizer. It’s simply a game of strategy between two individuals enjoying themselves with an agreed-upon set of rules. On the surface, the opponents are polar opposites. However, a collective passion for chess quickly dissolves those differences.