'I keep returning to chess festival for my mates'

A Dutch chess player who first took part in a Guernsey chess tournament more than 45 years ago said friends he had made over the decades kept him returning.

Kees De Kruif, 68, from Amsterdam, first competed in the Guernsey International Chess Festival as a student in the 1970s and has competed at least 42 times since.

Mr De Kruif said he had "not really" heard of Guernsey when his university team decided to play an international tournament, but he fell in love with the "family atmosphere".

He said: "We sat at the board, we played some friendly games and we drank some beers. That was the attitude of our chess club back then and actually it's still my attitude towards chess today."

He is one of the competitors at the 48th Guernsey International Chess Festival which is taking place at St James.

Mr De Kruif said the biggest change he had noticed since his first visit was the relaxation of pub licensing rules, including the introduction of Sunday opening in 2003.

"Now I can have my beer at any time," he said.

Mr De Kruif said many of the regular players became friends over the years.

He said fellow competitors had become "like a family" and he felt "a warmth" when attending the festival.

"Unfortunately some of your friends they fall away, and that's happened recently, so I'm a bit sad," he said.

Mr De Kruif said his friend and Guernsey Chess Festival regular Alan Gravett, from Gibraltar, had died earlier this year.

"He was good chess player. He'd send me a message every year saying 'Are you coming to Guernsey this year?', and I'd say 'Oh damn, I also have to come.'"

Fellow player Steve Murray, 68, from Exeter said: "This tournament's really a memory for Alan. He played here 41 times."

Mr Murray first came to the festival in 1982 and this year was his 39th tournament.

"We love the place. Love the food, love the people, love the scenery," he said.

While many of the competitors are regulars it was the first time in the bailiwick for Sean Andrechak, 58, from Denison in Texas.

"To be honest I'd never heard of Guernsey, I could not find it on a map," said Mr Andrechak.

"So far I'm loving it.

"We're walking everywhere, doing the local shops, hopping to all the local pubs."

Mr Andrechak has been playing "serious" chess for 40 years, but said this was his first time at an international chess tournament.

"I'm very impressed. The venue is awesome," he said.

Jon Bisson, director of St James, said he offered to host the festival for free in 2022 when he discovered the organisers were "in a little trouble" keeping it going.

He said: "I grew up with the chess tournament. My grandfather founded it 49 years ago I think.

"It couldn't be allowed to die, it's got to keep going. As long as I'm here it will keep going."

Mr Bisson said he no longer played chess regularly because of his busy workload, but lived "vicariously" though the tournament, adding "sorry grandpa, I haven't kept the game up as well I could".

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