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By Jonathan Lea
CALL your friends, renounce the arguments and pay up the bets – chess is a sport.
It doesn't get more official than the inclusion of the historic pastime in the Blacktown City Centenary Games.
While some researchers believe the game dates back to the time of antiquity (Mesopotamia 6,000 BC), the first modern international chess tournament took place in London in 1851.
The sport's history may be grand but it matters little this weekend with an epic junior showdown taking place at the Bowman Hall in Blacktown on Sunday.
Open to all school age children, the tournament has been supported by Blacktown City Council, which informed students at schools across the district of the competition.
Spokesman for the event and chess enthusiast, David Evans, is inviting both youths and the young at heart to come along and either support or participate.
"People coming to look might be surprised to find chess isn't just for old people to sit down and puzzle about," said David. "They will find it is about having fun."
"There will be lots of laughing and some kids even kicking the soccer ball around between matches."
With tactics and superstitions abounding, David believes there are a few players worth watching.
"One boy's secret weapon is a bowl of chocolate. He munches on it through the game and it seems to help him," said David.
Ranked as the third largest Chess Club in Sydney with 80 members, Rooty Hill RSL has been the focus of the sport in the Blacktown municipality for the past 30 years. Claiming juniors as young as nine and seniors in their seventies as members, chess clubs in Blacktown are thriving.
"We had six or seven people turn up as a result of watching the games being played last weekend in Westpoint shopping centre," he said.
"We have kids in this country who are so good. One boy in French's Forest dead-heated for first place in the U/10 World Championship. Absolutely anybody can play from the physically disabled to the very fit."
Juniors wishing to participate must pay an entry fee of $10 and register before Sunday at 9.30 am.