By Associated Press, 7/25/02

CHICAGO — Their kings may be cornered, but the Harper Court chess men insist they aren't in check mate.

In April, the board of directors for Harper Court, an outdoor shopping plaza in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood, removed the concrete chess benches some called their home away from home.

The center's director says the players littered, spent little or no money in the plaza's stores and harassed shoppers, especially women.

"They were loud, rude, insulting and lewd," said Richard Padnos, owner of a bicycle shop in the plaza.

But the chess players and their supporters call that hogwash.

"We looked at women, that's gonna happen if it's an attractive lady," said 53-year-old Philip Mitchell, who has been playing chess at the court for 10 years. "But nobody was slobbering, foaming at the mouth or saying anything nasty."

Some say they symbolized the spirit of Hyde Park, the eclectic South Side community that is one of Chicago's most racially and culturally diverse neighborhoods.

Debbie Lekousis said the chess men inspired her to move to Hyde Park 11 years ago. She said she felt safer on the streets and in her home when the plaza was under the players' watchful eyes.

Some neighbors are boycotting Harper Court shops and have collected 300 signatures on a petition calling for the benches to be replaced.