Tom Murphy is one of the biggest names on the Dupont Circle chessscene. So, why does he use his passion to hustle for cash instead ratherthan compete for championship glory? Wells Tower talks to the King of Dupont Circle in this week's issue of Washington Post Magazine. Watch the video.

Wells Tower is a contributing writer for the Magazine.

The transcript follows.

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Wells Tower: Greetings, and thanks to all of you for writing in. I can see we've got a healthy stack of questions, and only one scant hour, but I'll try to get to as many as I can.

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Washington, DC: Great story and a fascinating character. I kept seeing your story as a film. It's always been a puzzle to me that homeless folks living on the fringe could also be gifted chess players - that the skills necessary for chess success would ensure a secure life. It is still a mystery - that one can be a chess savant yet have a life in chaos.

Wells Tower: I'm so glad you enjoyed the piece, and yes, I too, was amazed to discover that street players like Murphy and others I met had such a deep understanding of the game. And in a strange way, I think the fringe existence of a lot of these players mimics the all-consuming passion for the game you see across the board, no pun intended. If you really want to play chess on a high level, it's something that demands vast amounts of leisure time. Someone in the park, a homeless man, offered me a (possibly apocryphal) quote from Bobby Fischer, saying something to the effect of "No serious player should have a day job." It was also Fischer who said, "Chess is life," which I think is more to the point, that chess is a diversion as complex and consuming as life itself, a fascinating intellectual retreat, and a particularly needful one for folks like Murphy, whose material circumstances are not always a source of comfort and joy.

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Washington, D.C.: Are you planning on continuing to follow Murphy's story? And what do you think is next for him? More of the same-old-same-old or a Cinderella success story?

Wells Tower: I'd love to spend more time with Tom and to see where things wind up for him. He's a fascinating guy, and someone for whom I wish the very best. I'll keep my fingers crossed for him, and maybe someday I'll get to do a follow-up.

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Bethesda, MD: My spouse (not a chess player) read this article and came away feeling that "chess ruined -Tom's life". However, as a member of the DC chess community who knows Tom, I have a different view. Tom has a significant substance abuse problem, which is a (if not the) primary cause of his homelessness and joblessness. The enormity of this problem was not given an accurate weighting in this article. It's likely that Tom's chess talent, and the ability to hustle $$, may the only thing keeping him from falling totally into skid row right now.

Wells Tower: Well, I'd leave this one to Tom, who told me on a few occasions that had he not played chess, he'd be back in Philly, working for the city, married with children. That said, chess has brought him an enormous amount of joy in his life and has hardly "ruined" it. As far as his alleged drug problems are concerned, we felt we needed to acknowledge the issue, which we did, but ultimately, this was a story about the game, and his playing. To go on at greater length about the darker side of his personal life, I think, would have pulled focus from the chess narrative.

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Chicago, Ill: Recognizing that Mr. Murphy is in a cash and carry operation, but if I'm only going to be in DC for a few days during Spring Break is it possible to set up a time slot for a lesson?

Would it be customary to pay the $5 watching fee for my son to watch his Dad getting schooled?

Wells Tower: Good luck setting up anything ahead of time (Tom's got no phone, as far as I know), but if you go down to the park, I'm sure he'll fit you in. As far as the "open air contribution" Tom likes to charge spectators on his tutorials, my guess is if he's taking your money, your son will get to watch gratis.

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Camden, SC: Thanks for writing such a fascinating human interest story about Mr. Murphy. I very enjoyed it. However, I did notice several factual inaccuracies. You state that chess is the world's oldest board game. This is incorrect. The Chinese devised a strategy game know as go, many years before. The story is that a servant of Emperor Yao invented the game for Emperor's son sometime in the third millenium BC. There are written references to the game as early as the fifth or sixth century BC. You also state that chess is a perhaps the most complex board game. Game complexity can be quantified, and it turns out that of the commonly played board games, go is the most complex. (See Wikipedia). In fact, it is considerably more complex that chess. This does not take away from the considerable intellectual achievement of playing chess well, but just states the facts.

By the way, go is probably played by more people world-wide than chess, as it is quite popular in Asia.

Wells Tower: Thanks for the clarification. I found enough references to chess being the world's oldest game out there (see, for example, J.C. Hallman's 2003 book "The Chess Artist, Genius, Obsession, and the World's Oldest Game" [St. Martin's]) that it seemed like an established assertion. Ditto, the game's complexities. If we're off base there, my apologies.

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Washington DC: Many kids today enjoy chess, and many parents and schools are coming to realize what a valuable tool it can be in their children's development. Can parents bring their kids to DuPont Circle on nice days for lessons?

Wells Tower: Absolutely, and I couldn't recommend anyone more whole-heartedly than Tom Murphy for your tutor. There are a few others around who give lessons, but I think Tom's probably the best of the Dupont crew at putting the game into language even children can grasp.

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Washington DC: Great article!

I'm wondering if you were tempted to front Murphy the

money he needed to participate in the Philadelphia

tournament? I know I would have been. Or did you feel you

needed to step back and let the story play out naturally?

Sadly, it seem Murphy was going to sabatage his chances

anyway. It was very frustrating to see this happen!

Hopefully, he'll get another chance and capitalize on it.

Wells Tower: Glad you liked the piece. I was disappointed that Tom didn't compete in the World Open, but fronting him the money wasn't an option, given the Post's standards about that sort of thing. Even my offering to cash his victory check if he'd won in New York (which someone else asked about)was deemed by my editors as getting a little bit close to the line.

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Washington, DC: Hah! Camden, SC is criticizing you for not properly researching your references to chess as being venerable/complicated. And what research tool did Camden use to refute your claims? Wikipedia! Hah!

Wells Tower: Touche'! Take that, Camden!

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Chicago, IL: Greetings,

I'm trying to figure out which "New Chess Player" is the one Mr. Murphy says is his basis. Do you have an author or publisher or year of publication to figure out which one is the one he suggests?

Wells Tower: I tried to track that book down, actually, and couldn't find it either. It looked to me like a pretty old one, though, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's out of print. By the way, Murphy also recommends Pachman's "Modern Chess Strategy," and Soltis' "Pawn Structure Chess," which are easier to find, if I've got the titles right.

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Washington, DC: Mr. Tower, great article. I read it a couple of times because you had such interesting nuance and detail in there.

But there was one area where I felt you left the reader hanging: did you follow up with Tom about the job he'd been offered (and not followed up on) in Philly? It was an important moment in your article, and I was disappointed not to be able to read more about that issue.

Thanks, and I look forward to reading a follow-up piece some day!

Wells Tower: Glad you enjoyed the story. I think what you're referring to is the job Murphy was offered by the Chess Center in DC. According to the chess center staff, he was offered a position as a teacher but never submitted his resume. When I brought this up with Tom, he said that at the time, he was working a day job doing political work and too busy to pursue the teaching gig.

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Washington, DC: Whats a more complicated game, Chess or Checkers?

Wells Tower: I'd have to say chess. A few months ago, a university researcher definitively solved the game of checkers, that is figured out an unbeatable pattern. Much time and money has gone into computer chess programs, and so far, no one's figured out how to crack the game, which I think speaks to chess's complexity.

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Columbia, MD: A comment to the author: I was so engrossed by your article that I came to find the accompanying video on washpost.com. The video, while interesting, was nowhere near as revealing as your words alone. I almost wish it was a work of fiction so that the story could have gone on and on. Thank you for a great read.

Wells Tower: That's awfully kind of you to say, and in defense of Nancy Donaldson's excellent video piece, I know she was constrained to keep it brief for internet attention spans. Tom's a great, fascinating guy and tough to cook down to a mere couple of minutes. I wish Nancy'd had an hour or more for her video segment.

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Central Florida: Two questions. How much discussion was there between your editor and yourself about your offers to Murphy to provide transport and to cash his check in the event of his victory in New York? Some things in this story might not have happened without you as facilitator. Why weren't scores of some of his tournament games provided, so that we could see objective evidence of his skill as a player? Being told that he is brilliant is one thing, but the scores show that brilliance in black and white.

Wells Tower: Thanks for bringing this up. I did confer with my editor before Tom and I left for New York, and we discussed several precedents in which reporters had given rides to the subjects of pieces, and conversely, in which reporters tag along on road trips with people they're writing about. As far as my snap offer to cash his check for him in the event of his winning, please see the answer above. We didn't furnish scores of the tournaments chiefly because we felt as though only hard core chessheads would be interested, but if you'd like a closer look at his stats, check out his profile: http://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlRtgSupp.php?12396676

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Alexandria, VA: It has been a number of months since time of the article. Has Tom been able to get himself together?

In a nutshell, Tom is too irresponsible to make is very far in the chess world. He will have to grow up and mature before he really has a shot.

Even if he does become a Master or higher, who is going to take a lesson from a drunk and drugged-out bum?

-Charlie

Wells Tower: I disagree. Tom, in fact, in his more stable periods, has done quite well in the chess world. He's had a master rating at blitz, and earned a good deal of respect from players all across the east coast. It's true that he'll have to make some significant changes if he's going to turn things around for himself. I also take issue with the description of Tom as a "drunk and drugged-out bum." He's a far too intelligent, complex person to be characterized so simply and spitefully. And despite his troubles, the U.S. Chess Center thought his teaching talents outweighed his personal difficulties and offered him a job. Unfortunately, he didn't take them up on it.

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Arlington, Va: I couldn't help but notice similarities in this piece and one done last year on "The Great Zucchini". Both are absolutely gifted and a master at what they do, but cannot deal or handle with other aspects of their lifes. Both just need the right person.

Wells Tower: I'm flattered to have my story mentioned in the same breath as Gene Weingarten's fantastic profile of the "Great Zucchini," a professional entertainer of the kindergarten set. Gene does a phenomenal job of uncovering his subject's troubled past, his present demons and all of his poignant contradictions. Gene's story really made me wish I'd had more time with Tom, to tail him for longer than the few weeks I did, and to delve deeper into what makes him tick.

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Upper Marlboro, MD: I can't help but think this guys is wasting his life away. The skills he's developed playing chess could be very useful to him in pulling his life together, however, it seems he would rather waste time, energy, and intellect in the park drinking his life away.

Wells Tower: As we've discussed earlier in the conversation, Tom's clearly got his issues, and I think he's aware of the hard work it'll take to get out of the park and working toward stability. No argument here that someone with Tom's talents ought to be employed more gainfully than hustling $2 games at the Dupont tables. I, as one among many, am pulling for him.

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Washington, DC: Is Tom also a competitive poker player? Has he ever tried the WSOP?

Wells Tower: Tom's not a competitive poker player, as far as I know, just an extremely avid amateur. I don't think he's tried the World Series of Poker, if that's what WSOP stands for. I did talk with one of Tom's friends who bemoaned the fact that Tom hasn't devoted as much careful study to poker stragegy as he as to chess.

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Kingstowne, VA: Have you thought of any more chess articles? There are many other good chess stories in the area where the people are more personally responsible than Tom

The Kingstown Chess Club has a tournament every month and the club meets every Tuesday. Last week there were about 6 kids there. It was a very lively evening.

Chess clubs can be found at www.uschess.org

Wells Tower: I'd like very much to do more writing about chess, though admittedly, my interest in this story had more to do with the characters than it did with the game itself. Still, Tom's passion for the game has inspired me to do a good bit of playing myself, and I'd jump at the chance to do more writing about chess, whether it's a story on hustlers or school kids.

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Wells Tower:

Well, it looks as though we're about out of time here. I'd like to thank all of you who wrote in, or simply spectated today, and thanks, too, to Tom Murphy, for his patience, his candor and his time.

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