SHELBURNE FALLS — Chess players got to flex their skills at Bridge Street Bazaar’s courtyard last week, marking the first Full Moon Chess Tournament.
“Chess is the ultimate game,” David Norcross said.
Norcross and his son, Jessie, two of the contestants, were in Shelburne Falls for vacation and discovered the tournament on Facebook. Norcross said he brushed up on chess theory the day before the tournament and was excited to participate.
“This is a nice introduction into chess tournaments without having to travel to Boston,” Norcross said.
Event organizer Jesse Seaver said chess is a nice way to build community.
“Chess crosses barriers of age, gender, physical abilities and language,” he explained.
Seaver created the tournament as part of a larger project to form a Shelburne Chess Club. He started by donating tables to the owners of Bridge Street Bazaar. Seaver had them built by a local carpenter and painted chess boards on the tops of the tables himself.
“There are a lot of great little public areas that could be turned into micro-parks,” he said. While he only has tables in Shelburne Falls, he hopes to install more in Greenfield, Northampton and beyond.
Chess is currently growing in popularity, in part thanks to the Netflix show “The Queen’s Gambit,” according to Seaver. With this rise in popularity, Full Moon Chess Tournaments will continue and weekly matches at the Shelburne Falls location are expected to start soon.
More information about events and classes can be found at the Shelburne Chess Club’s website, shelburnechess.com.
Contact Bella Levavi
at 413-930-4579 or
blevavi@recorder.com.