By Callum Ludwig
Upper Yarra residents are invited to join a Community Chess Day on Saturday 26 February for a casual afternoon of chess at Koha Community Space (25a Dammans Rd, Warburton).
The event running from 1pm to 5pm is welcome to players of all levels and experiences and was organised by East Warburton residents Shez and Warren Gibteath and their 13-year-old son Harry.
Harry and Warren have been playing against each other since Harry was only three years old, but the interest was reignited by the popular Netflix show The Queen’s Gambit.
The family looked into chess clubs in the area, only to find out the nearest one was in Croydon.
Friends of the family knew Harry was looking for a chess club, and Mrs Gibteath said she was inspired to organise a local chess day after she was tagged on social media.
“When we were driving home, someone had tagged me in a post on Facebook looking for chess around Warburton. We just thought we could probably put something together and see if there’s some interest,” she said.
“To start with, we just want a space to go and play some games against people who are interested. It’d be lovely to have an actual chess club in Warburton though.”
If attendance and support for the group is high enough, they are hoping to establish regular chess catch-ups.
All ages are welcome, but any 18-year-old plus attendees must be fully vaccinated to enter.
Chess is a bit of a family affair for Harry and Warren, whose dad himself was quite a keen chess player. Unfortunately, Mrs Gibteath said he passed away when Harry was young, but chess has still linked Harry with his grandfather.
“Harry’s got all of his old chess books with quite a few of his notes from the chess games that he was playing in the 70s. He spends a fair bit of time connecting with his granddad, whom he never met through those old books,” she said
Harry and Warren even organised and ran a chess club at Yarra Junction primary school while he was a student there, and he competed in a chess tournament through school during remote learning, which even encouraged Harry to start his own chess-related Youtube channel.
At the event, extra chessboards will be available, but residents are asked to bring one of their own if they have one.
Anyone interested in attending is encouraged to express their interest on the Facebook event.
https://www.facebook.com/events/4791347907567530/?acontext={“event_action_history”:[{“mechanism”:”search_results”,”surface”:”search”}],”ref_notif_type”:null}
