A poetic look at Owen, a middle-aged Union Square chess hustler, as he reminisces about his life and revisits his old haunts throughout New York.

At 55, Owen is a veteran of the Union Square chess circuit. Life has not always been kind to him; he struggles with poverty and lives on the margins. We follow Owen as he returns to his childhood neighborhood in Spanish Harlem, navigates the day-to-day grind in Union Square, and visits his distant son in the Bronx. Along the way, we see the many facets of his life. Notes from a Chess Hustler is a poetic odyssey through old-school New York—a story of how, even in the face of hardship and oppressive circumstances, the joy of the game still abounds.