AJanuary 1951
West Virginia Chess, Bulletin, January 1951: Donald Smiley Burdick was born in Newark, New Jersey on February 08, 1937. When he was two and a half years of age, the family moved to Huntington, West Virginia. He attended Marshall Laboratory School.
During a siege with measles at the age of ten, and in response to pressure “for something to do” to ameliorate the tedium of convalescence, his father taught him to play chess. He did not feel it wise, however, to burden Donald's young mind with the intricacies of castling, not the subtleties of “en passant” or stalemate. Such errors of judgment on the part of Burdick Senior were soon evidenced by repeated and sound trouncings administered by the pupil to his parent or teacher.
Donald lived in St. Petersburg, Florida during the 1949-1950 school year. He was a student in the eighth grade at Mirror Lake Junior High, and the youngest member of the St. Petersburg Chess Club. The club has its own building in the recreation park and the membership is made up mostly of retired men from all parts of the country. There are usually several games in progress at any time during the day or evening.
The fact that Donald won the West Virginia Junior Championship and made a commendable showing at the resent Tri-State Tournament in Columbus, Ohio is naturally a source of pride and satisfaction to his parents.
