“We have had people play here from every contingent except Antarctica, we’ve even had people from cruise ships pop in and watch”
A weekly chess group at 2 Royal Avenue is seeing people of all ages enjoying the ancient game in a friendly atmosphere. The social meet-up hosts chess players of all levels and is held for free from 2pm to 5pm on Sunday afternoons. Children under 16 years old must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Chess has been around for over a thousand years and is a strategic, two-player board game played on an 8×8 grid with 64 alternating light and dark squares. Each player controls 16 pieces — one king, a queen, two rooks, knights, bishops, and eight pawns — with the ultimate goal of checkmating the opponent’s king by placing it under inescapable attack. It is a turn-based, no-chance game, which can trace its origins in seventh-century India.
Paul O’Connor, 62, from Bangor, who is a chess enthusiast said: “If you can learn to ride a bike, you can learn to play chess.
“Chess is a great game because it is language independent, you don’t need to speak English to play it. There is an international language and it is chess. We have had people come and play from every contingent except Antarctica, from many countries around the world.
“Cruise ships come into Belfast and people come from there to watch us play. I wish I had a penny for everyone that told me there was nothing like this in their city. They are amazed to see it happening here, on a Sunday afternoon, for free.”
Paul added that the game sees people from all backgrounds, genders and ages play together for fun. He said it was a social experience that brings people together.
He said: “We’ve had six-year-olds come into play, we’ve had 96-year-olds come into play. Chess is far more simpler than people give it credit for, they think it is very complicated and you have to be intelligent. But, you really don’t, there are a few simple rules you have to learn and you just deal with what is in front of you on the board.
“It is almost a form of mindfulness because you can’t really think of anything else while you are playing a game. This experience gives people who play a lot on the phone a social element. Playing over the board, you play a real person, you can talk to them or not, it is up to you.
“For people who have social challenges, come in anyway, you don’t have to talk to people or it can also help you interact if you want, every chess player is a chess player. And this is regardless of your skill level, you learn how to deal with defeat and you learn how to deal with success. It is exceptionally good for mental health and helping young people develop their social capacity.”
