There aren't many sports you can play with a beer in your hand and a chicken parmi in the other.
It's just one of the great things about chess, players say.
Jonah Gear got into the sport in a common way for young people - by playing it online.
Growing up in Goulburn, the 21-year-old did not have many outlets for his hobby.
Now in the capital, he spends Saturdays at King O'Malleys pub facing off players aged six to 82.
"There's a degree of separation when you're playing online," Mr Gear said.
"[In person] you can see your opponent, you can see that they're like 12 years old [and] it's sort of stressful.
"But you don't have the same sense of community and you're not a part of something."
Fair fight
Mr Gear faced up against Miles Patterson in his first chess match on Saturday.
Mr Patterson has been playing for 60 years, and spent most of his competitor's life - two decades - attending street chess events in Canberra.
The Gungahlin resident learnt the game the traditional way - from his dad on a proper board.
"I think it's more fun seeing someone face to face, it's more of a social event," Mr Patterson said.
Perhaps considered by some a bygone game for a pre-internet era, chess skyrocketed in popularity during COVID-19 lockdowns.
The extra time spent inside happened to coincide with the Netflix hit show The Queen's Gambit.
The social game
Canberra's street chess has being running for 30 years, Shaun Press said.
"One of the attractions of street chess especially is that it is social [and] it's a little bit more relaxed than a normal serious chess tournament," Mr Press said.
"After the game we have a bit of a hat, discuss some strategies, explain why you've won, commiserate, why you lost or just talk about anything else."
On Saturday, about 55 Canberrans played chess to help win a Guinness world record.
They joined people from Albania to Zambia in trying to play the most chess games in 24 hours.
Mr Press said a million games of chess could be played on Saturday, with the Canberra event contributing about 200.
Old game for young'uns
Some of the attendees were very young, their parents watching from the sidelines in beanies and parkas.
Nivin Vinothkumar, 13, has been playing for six years.
"You have to think about your moves and what the other opponents going to do, that's what I really like about it," he said.
Nivin prefers playing online because "you can't see who you're playing, because if they're really tall you get intimidated".
The teenager was lucky to have a weekend off from soccer on Saturday so he could help attempt the world record.
Much like cold mornings spent on the sidelines of football, his parents came along to watch.
The only difference was they could buy a pint or two to help them along.
