Sam Adler grew up hyperactive in Manhattan, learned chess from a Russian janitor at age five, and eventually decided that cannabis and the Royal Game belong together. His father used to write record reviews for High Times. His mother hosts a PBS cooking show. Neither is particularly surprised by where he ended up.
Sam Adler is a weed-loving chess teacher. Adler lived a real-life version of the hit Netflix miniseries The Queen’s Gambit, which told the fictional story of a chess prodigy who was taught to play by a janitor at a Kentucky orphanage. A Russian janitor taught five-year-old Sammy Adler to play chess — but at a private school in Manhattan.
“When I was little, I was hyperactive as hell,” Adler, 35, recalled. “I ran around. I didn’t understand why people walked. I could’ve been given medication and pilled out. I’m very grateful my parents didn’t go down that route.”
His parents, a hip-hop executive and a nationally renowned TV chef, marveled at their son’s mastery of The Royal Game. Adler was playing in chess tournaments at the age of seven.
A family with range
Both of Adler’s parents are quite proud of his unconventional career path, which includes teaching chess and running a small business that creates educational events for cannabis companies. They’re both 74 and their days of inhaling are long past.
Photo by Jon Kalish. Sara Moulton, in blue shirt and brown apron, poses with a guest chef on the set of her PBS TV show.
His mother, Sara Moulton, is host of Sara’s Weeknight Meals on PBS. His father, Bill Adler, was founding publicist of Def Jam Records. Bill Adler’s papers were acquired by Cornell University’s hip-hop archive. Photos from the father’s now-shuttered hip-hop photography gallery …
Read More
Author: Jon Kalish / High Times
