TWO friends who share a love of chess have teamed up to establish west Belfast's first's official chess club.
Craig Robinson, who works as a carer and Aidan Garner, a student at Queen's University, said the game had experienced a resurgence and it is believed there is a "pool of untapped potential".
The pair advertised the `West Belfast Chess Club' on social media and received a "brilliant response".
It is to hold its first `meet' on Monday night at Dans Bar & Lounge on Springfield Road. New members, who must be aged over 16, will meet, play chess, chat and discuss strategies and ideas.
Craig said he and Aidan play "quite a lot".
"I am a member of the Beechmout Residents Collective and spoke to them about promoting a chess club in west Belfast," he said.
"We made a page and put it on Facebook. It was a brilliant response. Every day, we get somebody messaging to say they want to join."
Craig said the first meeting would be friendly with members getting to know each other, adding that it is open to people both with or without experience.
"We have ordered sets and clocks," he said.
"We will have the boards set up and we will just meet and have a chat and play a bit of chess.
"Some will be better than others. Some might not want to play a game. We have got a number of books as well and we are happy to lend them out.
"It is about growing chess as a game in the community of west Belfast."
Aidan said many people found a new love for the game when they started playing online during lockdown.
"I fell back in love with the game," he said.
"Other people, who had never played before, have gotten really into it. West Belfast is a pool of untapped potential.
"There will be a lot more people playing chess now than a year or two years ago. We want to really capitalise on that."
He added: "Chess is the ultimate balance between art, sport and science.
"It is also just really fun."
