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Spent the last month in Bali, New Zealand, and Australia. Bali is a fascinating place with many interesting sub-cultures - a real smorgasbord for the mind. Every where you turn, every where you look are interesting little details - paradise for passionate photographers. Seeing as this is chesstalk I'll stick to describing my chess experiences. Stayed at a traditional Balinesian resort which backed onto beautiful white sand beaches and the Indian Ocean. In between the beach and resort property was a boardwalk which stretched for miles in each direction. The second day we went on a discovery walk to the left and found our first giant sized chess set. The pieces were made of very old stone, the kings app. a foot high and the table was a huge stone, with tiles inlaid at the top (for squares), sunk into the earth. There were also two stone seats. About ten meters to the left was a shelter made from bamboo with a thatched roof which turned out to be a full service bar! I was all prepared for a game and was setting up the pieces when I noticed that the board was wrong (dark square on the right). I couldnt believe it (the moment was spoiled). The next day we took the boardwalk to the right and two resorts down we discovered a far bigger giant set. This was in the middle of the grounds of a large resort. The pieces were made of ceramic. The kings were a meter and a half high and weighed more than 20 kilos. The tiles were also of ceramic and were each over a foot square. Playing a game on these pieces was a surreal experience. It was a beautiful clear sunny day and in the distance in front of me (the next "resort") there were recruits for the Indonesian military doing brutal exercises in the 35 degree heat. To my right were the white marble walls of the resort "Dynasty", behing me was a 600 yr old Hindu shrine with statues made of blackened stone and garlanded with fresh flowers, and to the left was the beautiful beach and the Indian Ocean. Of course my girlfriend made me move her pieces as well so I was soon dripping with sweat, even so I enjoyed the game. The native Balinese are avid gamblers and play a variation of chess called "First Check". The game ends when you give the first check - makes for a very fast game and plenty of opportunity for betting. I was all set to try this variation until I realised that I was the big fish (with most of the money) and they were the sharks. The week I was in Bali went by too fast and I wish I had a month or two for further exploration. On to New Zealand. In Auckland I discovered another giant chess set in a shopping mall one block from the harbour. It was the same type of set as we have here at Kitchener City Hall and the mall manager (a lady) had it set up in the busiest section of the mall - on the main floor on the side of the main corridor. I had to watch an agonising game between a young couple (both didnt know how to checkmate) but I managed to restrain myself from giving advice and soon I held court for a couple of hours taking on all comers. In Australia I didnt see any kind of chess in public - not even concrete chess tables - the Aussies must be chess cultural primitives. I consoled myself with games with my girlfriends brother. He is a surgeon and university professor in Jakarta but maintains a summer house in Sydney. His passionate hobby was chess and of course he challenged me to a game. The first game I underestimated him - I sacked the exchange but he defended wonderfully (and should have won) and I managed a draw by the skin of my teeth. He turned out to be a good challenge. He was a determined and resourceful defender and my attacks often didnt work out and I had to resort to grinding him out in the endgame. Needless to say our evenings were filled with chess. My girlfriend also had a cousin and her husband in Gold Coast (beautiful area just south of Brisbane). Both the cousin and her husband were semi retired tour guides and they had time to give us an extensive tour of that part of Australia - wonderful! My favorite part was not the beautiful canals and luxury homes or Surfers Paradise but an out of the way 60's style village in the mountains called Mount Tambourine. The husband was also a chess player and I expected some games but he was too embarassed to play me. (apparently he didnt think his game was up to snuff) We spent time looking at some of the great games of the past and i added commentary at key moments. He did however have some excellent stories. In his younger days he was a top Indonesian journalist and was sent directly to report on the Karpov- Korchnoi matches and then later the early Karpov - Kasparov matches. So he was in the Phillipines, Italy, England, and Moscow and sent reports on every game. His newspaper even paid for chess lessons with top masters to improve the quality of his reporting! - why dont they do that here?
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Re: Chess in Bali (Indonesia) and down under
I've had opponents in New Zealand and Australia and can assure you they were quite good opponents.
Their opinion of Chess in Canada probably mirrors yours in their country. One of my opponents from down under told me he was warned to play me carefully. He was told I am one of the few good Canadian players. (His words, not mine.)
That was before computers became much of a factor in the game.Gary Ruben
CC - IA and SIM
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Re: Chess in Bali (Indonesia) and down under
I found "street chess" in Melbourne when I was there last year - on Sundays when Swantson St. was turned into a pedestrian mall, and on the riverfront walkway just outside the shopping complex directly across the river from Flinders St. station.
Friendly chess clubs as well - the Melbourne CC (a good walk or short tram ride from downtown), and the Box Hill CC (short train ride from downtown).
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...75.29,,0,-0.41
Sydney had a well-used giant chess set in Hyde Park.
Friendly chess clubs in Adelaide and Perth as well.Comment
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Re: Chess in Bali (Indonesia) and down under
I knew I should have gone to Melbourne (it also has a lot of very good used book stores). Instead of Melbourne we went to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. Oh well - next time. Thanks for the info Hugh.Comment
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Re: Chess in Bali (Indonesia) and down under
Hans,
I had a good time in Bali last year... ducked out of a museum tour to play chess in the park with the locals. They're very avid, as you noted. Giant chess set for the kids to play with. Wood chess sets for sale cheap everywhere.
DavidComment
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Re: Chess in Bali (Indonesia) and down under
Interesting,what a greattripping!
By the way 1e4 loses. By force to the Scandanavian.
1.e4 d5 2.ed Qxd5!
Cannot avoid the first check now -- wellallaby:)Comment
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Re: Chess in Bali (Indonesia) and down under
Hi Hans,
Awesome report! Thanks. New Zealand and Australia seemed worth visiting but... Indonesia here I come :)
Alex F.Comment
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Re: Chess in Bali (Indonesia) and down under
Hi Hans,
What no pictures?!!
And you took girl friend to Bali? Isn't that like taking a sandwich to a banquet?
Or coals to Newcastle? :)Comment
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Re: Chess in Bali (Indonesia) and down under
Hi Alex, Stick to Bali, the rest of Indonesia is risky (imo) HansOriginally posted by Alex Ferreira View PostComment
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Re: Chess in Bali (Indonesia) and down under
Hi Vlad! LOL! but she made all the arrangements (including sponsorship) and had all the connections. How could I not take her? (of course theres always next time) - HansOriginally posted by Vlad Dobrich View PostComment
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Re: Chess in Bali (Indonesia) and down under
Melbourne is fine if you're into chess, somnabulance and a soporofic experience. ;)Originally posted by Hans Jung View Post
I wouldn't skip Cairns -- we do have one and a half chess clubs and besides the Great Barrier Reef, it has many beaches, an interesting esplanade, and easy access to the tropical rainforest, the tablelands, dairy country and the savannah. You would be hard pressed to find such bio-diversity anyehere else in the world. Unfortunately, we can't offer you the minus forties and the snow but I am sure you could cope with the climate.
Cairns is also thirty minutes from the village of Kuranda which rival many of the aspects of Mount Tambourine (which is indeed is a magical spot). You will also find that the beaches north of Brisbane (the Sunshine Coast) and much better than those of the Gold Coast. Still it looks as hough you had a wonderful time and next time(!) you can pick up some of the other interesting places in Australia.Comment
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Re: Chess in Bali (Indonesia) and down under
Yes we enjoyed Cairns very much and explored a part of the Great Barrier Reef but I turned down a day trip to Kuranda (darn) probably because it was the end of our vacation and I was tired of day trips (again next time). Also I had no idea that Cairns had chess clubs. Thanks for the info Michael.Comment
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Re: Chess in Bali (Indonesia) and down under
Where were they? I visited Cairns last year around Xmas and did find the chess club that met at Billy's Coffee. Unfortunately the other stall owners told me that Billy was on holiday and the club wasn't meeting while I was there. Where was the other club in case I ever go back?Originally posted by Michael Byrne View Post"Tom is a well known racist, and like most of them he won't admit it, possibly even to himself." - Ed Seedhouse, October 4, 2020.Comment
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Re: Chess in Bali (Indonesia) and down under
Yes Billy's is the one I have counted as the one club (at 59 Sheridan Street on Monday evenings). You would understand that Christmas is our 'summer time' so things close a little then. The other near half a club is one organised by the chap in charge of the chess in schools program here. It is a bit of a moving feast of late sometimes even transmogrifying into Billy's. The last chess club which makes up the half is the U3A (University of the the Third Age) one which mets on the second Monday of the month but is closed for the Christmas- New Year period and its future is a little shady and is only open to oldies (50+).
Not perfect; but then there is so much more that Cairns has to offer. If anyone is visiting Cairns and wants to get a chess game, ;)let me know (zmtab at yahoo.com.au) and I'd happily try and put you in touch with any chess that is operating. At worst you could crush me, an 1800 player who played/directed some 35 years ago in Canada.
My main point was that if the answer to Cairns or Melbourne is the latter, then the question must be wrong. ;)Comment
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