The Promenade Chess Club, of course, is not like any other chess club. To begin with, it is the virtual "child" of Hayden Lee, a veteran player who, by his sheer love for the game, has elevated himself from the status of "bobolee" to one of the country's foremost players.
Lee's personal emergence in the sport, however, is only part of his story. More uniquely, he is also driven by a desire to take the international mind game to the country's grassroots, to have more ordinary people enjoying and benefiting from the sport's disciplining influence.
How successful Lee has been after four years of effort on the Promenade may be questionable; indeed several of his contemporaries in the sport seem more inclined to pooh-hoo his mission rather than offer him any assistance or encouragement.
Their pessimism, however, may well be the result of a more practical view of the T&T society which seems to becoming more violent and amoral as the days go by, more impervious to the finer things that enhance our lives.
However, Lee remains unfazed, confident in his conviction that the mental benefits of chess can contribute to building a better society even at the grassroots level. "We can and we have to make a difference," he says, "We cannot just let crime and immorality destroy us. What we are doing on the Promenade is our contribution, our way of dealing with this struggle and we are inviting all concerned citizens to come and join us."
Lee is pleased to have just organised his PCC's fourth annual tournament which drew a total of 39 players and ran for 20 days and 20 rounds.
His aim is not only to attract more players into the Promenade action but also to obtain greater support from the business community sited in that part of the city.
In this respect he was particularly grateful for the sponsorship received from Robin and Roger Ramdeen, owners of the Payless Supermarket. He also thanked Minister of Sport Darryl Smith for donating the trophies and medals for the winners and the T&TCA for its assistance.
"With this kind of support we can grow the club, offering more and bigger prizes to participants in our tournaments and obtaining better facilities for players," he pointed out. "In fact, we hope that our next tournament in August will even be bigger."
The Promenade contest as devised by Lee is unique in its format, having two sections, one to accommodate rated players who participate regularly in open club competitions and the other for unrated players who love the game but hardly test their skills in regular tournaments, preferring instead the amiable informality of the Promenade action.
Winners in the rated section were Hayden Lee, Carl Archer and David Jones. Topping the unrateds were Neville Pierre, Lloyd Williams, Alvin Morgan, Jose Uzcategui, Marlon Theodore and Eon Rambally.
In addition, special medals were awarded to players who supported the event in different ways. They included Jamal Martin, the club's second vice president, Adrian Fraser, Lloyd Williams, Courtney Bartholomew, Eon Rambally who created the club's new banner and Bisham Soondarsingh of the T&TCA who arranged the pairings for the blitz tournament held at the Breakfast Shed, bringing the event to close. Not to be left out of the medal recipients was popular senior player Carl "Pops" Roberts whose generosity over the chessboard is matched only by his unruffled personality.
Seven time national champion FM Ryan Harper and current champion FM Kevin Cupid were joint winners of the blitz followed by Miguel Francois and FM Ravishen Singh.
Whether he succeeds in his crusade or not, Lee is the kind of determined exemplar our troubled country needs more of.