Chess on the Kalemegdan (now in English!)

This is a common sight in Belgrade: chess players and a crowd watching the game. When I was in Belgrade for the first time in 2003 there was quite a lot of chess-playing going on too, and always men – mostly past their ‘prime’. The chess players would then sit on a park bench with the game board between them, and lots of viewers around. Other people who wanted to take a walk in the park and perhaps sit down therefore had nowhere to go; all benches were already occupied by someone who did not intend to move on for a long time.

Today, however, things are different. Four years later there are, firstly, a lot more benches around in the parks. Not just here on Kalemegdan but also in other parks around the city. And secondly and most cleverly: local park authorities have set up fixed chess boards with accompanying chairs! Now the players no longer occupy all the benches, and there are also a lot more benches now around than there used to be. The effect is great, especially here on Kalemegdan. The park is widely used by all kinds of people all around the clock, regardless of what time you come here you will not be alone. And you will be safe. Security is tight, or at least very visible, and there are both security guards and policemen in the area all the time. The Kalemegdan has become one of my favourite recreational spots.

Below you can see a view from another part of the Kalemegdan, the people on the benches viewing the Sava river outside the right-hand side of the picture. In the background you can see pictures that are a part of the ‘World Seen from the Air’ exhibition, which travels the world and has visited Belgrade over the summer. It is fabulous, has one image from Norway (none from the UK!) and has attracted thousands and thousands of people over the summer. It has been one of the must-see’s in Belgrade this season, no doubt. I also saw the exhibition in Oslo in 2002, I think it was, but it has been updated with newer images since. Always worth seeing!