Lunch-Break Chess: Surabaya Chess Cafe , East Java

By Barrie | September 9th, 2007 | No Comments

Didik S. Projo and Cholil gazed at the neatly arranged chess pieces in front of them on Thursday afternoon.

The pieces seemed to be waiting for commands from their “masters”, not wanting to be “killed” and moved out of the arena like the other 15 pieces.

Suddenly, Didik moved his Black Rook to the right near his opponent’s White King.

“Checkmate!” he shouted, while pressing down on the Jerger Schachuhr chess clock panel. Caught by surprise, Cholil pushed over his White King, accepting defeat.

Didik and Cholil can be found every lunch hour at the Surabaya Chess Cafe, which opened on Jan. 17.

Every day, dozens of customers drop by the cafe — which is located on Jl. Batang Wetan Surabaya — for an impromptu game. The cafe also offers a number of choices for food and drinks.

“There are many cafes in the country that offer the same concept of food, drinks and board games but the Surabaya Chess Cafe may be the only one that focuses on chess.”

“As befits its name, this cafe allows visitors to play chess even if they buy only one cup of coffee,” said proprietor Wijaya Rusli.

It cost Wijaya around Rp 3 million to convert a property owned by Antonius Harianto, the general secretary of the All-Indonesia Chess Association’s (Percasi) East Java chapter, into the cafe. He already has ambitious plans for the future, hoping to convince talented regulars to join his chess club.

The “top dogs” at the chess club will then be introduced to international rules and taught how to analyze their own games.

“Chess players will learn how the game proceeds, including why they make mistakes. The things that every tournament chess player should know Their skills will improve as they go,” Wijaya said.

He said a number of young people had already come to him, saying they wanted to be serious chess players.

The cafe holds two non-master chess contests a year. In the eight months of its existence it has also organized chess tournaments in Gresik and Sidoarjo.

“They were only amateur contests but hundreds of people took part,” Wijaya said.

The contest winners will be encouraged to participate in national competitions, he said.

The cafe is a home away from home for self-confessed chess addicts Didik and Cholil, both of whom work nearby.

“I play chess during lunch breaks,” said Didi, who earned his Master’s title during a chess contest in Surabaya in July this year.

ID Nugroho