Other games would take place on the tables around the show court, and perhaps the quality of play was inversely proportional to the size of the board.

The players, usually all men, mostly migrants, the same combatants every day. Some chattering non-stop, some pondering in silence. Not much time for conversation; they communicated through chess.

The play was fast, but they weren’t operating on the clock. Instead, any delay in making a move would draw heckles, advice, and sometimes a helpful adviser actually moving pieces for you.

But this part of the city’s culture may be lost to public view. The players had to relocate during Wollongong City Council’s recent $19.4 million refurbishment of the Mall, but they have not come back. The new board is too small for the large pieces; the seating is too sparse and again, too small.  

They’re still playing, of course, and they’re still noisy. But they’re not happy about the board. Now the play is hidden away down the southern end of Globe Lane, small boards set up on tables, the contest more private, the spectacle diminshed. Many of the players were reluctant to give their names for this story, or be photographed. Various reasons were given, of varying plausibility.

One man who was happy to have a few words identified himself as Ace Patrol (formerly Patroli, he said, but the i was dropped). While the conversation with the Mercury may have cost him his concentration, and then the game, he didn’t miss his target.

“It’s a bodgy job – and it’s not complicated,” he said.

“They messed the pieces up. There’s no shelter. There’s no width to the chairs – they’re too small.”

Would they ever return?

“If they set it up properly, of course.”

Council’s director of Infrastructure and works Mike Hyde said players had been consulted during the mall design process.

“The chess board was constructed at its current size to ensure there was room for other elements such as tables, benches, stairs, railings, new street trees,” he said. “The chess players do have access to the current chess pieces.”

Did they consult with the right people? Who knows. But the players wonder what good was any consultation if the board is the wrong size and there is nowhere good to sit around the game. These would appear to be the most vital elements in an outdoor chess board.

The council did not say whether the board could be re-done at a proper size.