Librarian believes chess can move kids off the couch

Michael Sullivan is a 38-year-old librarian who thinks like a kid. It's a rare characteristic that's enabled him to pry children away from their Gameboys and Xboxes.

On a recent Saturday morning, when many children were at home watching cartoons, about 100 students sat at cafeteria tables at the middle school in Amherst, N.H., intently studying rooks and pawns on roll-up chess boards. A handful of judges paced between tables as parents hovered nervously nearby. It was so quiet you could hear yourself breathe in the cafeteria, decorated with ''Got Milk?" posters of quarterback Tom Brady and other celebrities.

''It's a delicate time. You have to learn how to lose," whispered Sullivan, a chess teacher and author as well as the director of the Weeks Public Library in Greenland, N.H.

A tall man with a well-trimmed beard, Sullivan was dressed casually in jeans and a white sweatshirt. He made the 50-mile trip on his day off to accompany one of his chess students, 10-year-old Griffin Mooers, as the boy competed in his second student chess tournament.

''Griffin has a lot to learn" about losing, Sullivan said. ''In his first tournament, he won all his matches, except for one draw."

Sullivan has been director of the Weeks Library for four years. He said he was drawn to the two-room, 19th-century library because it allows him to do a little bit of everything. In addition to teaching chess, he is a storyteller, author, and poet who does outreach to local schools.

''He's one of those people who never stops," said Susan MacDonald, the children's librarian at Weeks. ''He's a lot of fun because he goes right in and gets his hands dirty."

Sullivan, who was raised in the Lake Winnipesaukee resort town of Alton, N.H., said his father taught him to play chess when he was 6. ''I beat him for the first time when I was 8," he said. His father didn't play him again -- until he returned from college. ''I beat him then, too. He never beat me again."

Sullivan said he's a good enough chess player to defeat most casual players but not good enough to beat ranked tournament players. He teaches weekly sessions at the library and has also taught youngsters in Rye, N.H., and Everett.

He is an advocate of tough love when it comes to the ancient board game. ''He doesn't let the children win when he plays them," said Margaret Mooers, Griffin's mother, who accompanied the boy to the tournament. ''He says it encourages bad habits."

Griffin began taking lessons from Sullivan four years ago. His mother thinks he was inspired by reading the ''Harry Potter" books. ''Harry Potter made it safe to be an intellectual kid," she said. ''Griffin's a good kid. He feels bad when he beats other players."

Sullivan, an affable man with a ready laugh, graduated from Harvard College. He said he found himself drawn to library work while teaching at the Hampshire Country School in Rindge, N.H. He received a master's degree in library science from Simmons College in Boston.

Though he enjoys working with children, he has none himself. ''I like it to be quiet when I get home."

He prides himself on helping boys enjoy reading and has written a practical guidebook -- ''Connecting Boys With Books: What Libraries Can Do."

''It's important to let boys read what they want to read," he said. ''Volume is the key. And don't look down on what they are reading. Comic books are great. Boys love them because they have pictures, which helps them with comprehension."

Sullivan is a big fan of Dav Pilkey's ''Captain Underpants" series, irreverent novellas done in comic-book style. ''The humor may not be to a parent's taste, but that's exactly the point," Sullivan said. ''Young boys like things that drive adults crazy."

Sullivan also loves origami and is a storyteller who specializes in folk tales. ''I don't sleep," he said. ''I'm fueled by coffee."

Sullivan also is the author of the children's book, ''Escapade Johnson and the Mayhem at Moosilauke," the first in a series to begin publication next spring. The book features the exploits of ''the most feared fifth-grader in the country," Sullivan said.

Many are looking forward to the publication of Sullivan's series because, in the words of MacDonald, ''Mike's a man who remembers what it was like to be a kid."