Two weeks ago, Howard Stern, the New York radio shock jock, married his longtime companion, Beth Ostrosky. Reports about the wedding noted that Ostrosky ran 18 miles the next day as part of her training for the New York City Marathon on Nov. 2.

 

 

There was no mention of what Stern did, but the odds are he played chess.

In a phone interview just before the wedding, Stern said that he plays every day and prefers playing chess to doing just about anything else. Anything?

Stern said people who know about his interest often say, “ ‘You have this hot model girlfriend, you should be having sex with her.’ And I say, ‘I can have sex, too, and then go back and play chess.’ ”

Stern said that someone he knew when he was growing up on Long Island taught him to play, but that his father told him the guy was a jerk, and probably taught him incorrectly. “Turned out he was right,” Stern said.

A couple of years ago, he found the Web site of Dan Heisman, a Philadelphia chess teacher and master. He has been taking lessons from Heisman over the Internet since then and now regularly plays on the Internet Chess Club site. He has managed to get his ranking, called a rating, above 1,600.

Stern said he usually carried chess books with him. Among the current titles are “A First Book of Morphy,” by Frisco Del Rosario; “Chess Tactics for Students,” by John Bain; “The Chess Tactics Workbook,” by Al Woolum; and “The Dynamic English,” by Tony Kosten.

Another well-known New York radio personality, Don Imus, also plays chess and has been taking lessons on and off for several years. He and Stern, however, have never played each other.

Stern said he admired top players and often went to the Internet Chess Club site to follow the live analysis of big tournament games. His bride, he said, does not share his interest. Recently, while he was following the commentary of Larry Christiansen, an American grandmaster, Ostrosky walked in. “She was, like, ‘Oh my God, how dull.’ I’m, like, “Dull? No, this guy is brilliant.’ ”

Stern said he had a lot to learn about chess, but he was happy with the following games that he played on the chess club site. The first, where he was White, was against an opponent rated 1,600; the second, where he was Black, was against a player rated 1,900.