Chess Is Life In Union Square

Men playing chess in Union Square, NYC, April 2011

Here's my latest travel photo. This picture was taken in New York City in Union Square in the spring of 2011. I was in New York for a few days to visit a friend who was in town from Ireland. It was my first time in NYC. I stayed at a hotel a few blocks from Union Square. This pic was on my last day, a Saturday, before flying back home to Chicago. I was wandering around the neighborhood before taking a cab to the airport. There was a lot going on in Union Square that day--a farmers market, an anti-war protest, a few chess matches, the blooming of spring. If you look closely, you can see all these events on display in this photo.

The center of the photo is of course the men playing chess. The men are both deeply involved in their game, studying the board, while a woman looks on with her hand covering her mouth. I can't tell if the woman has her mouth covered because she's stifling a yawn or because she's deep in concentration about the game too. In the background there are a few other onlookers watching the chess players...or maybe watching me take their picture or watching the other goings-on in the park. They sit under a tree with pink buds forming--this was in early April, when things are just starting to bloom in the U.S. (I remember my friend from Ireland was surprised to see how late spring starts in America compared to Ireland--she'd been expecting everything in New York to be green and colorful already). Beyond the tree is a protest sign--you can just make it out. The protesters were just starting to arrive. Also in the background is a truck for one of the fruit sellers at the farmers market that was going on that day. The market was just about winding down. The chess, though? The chess went on all day, regardless of everything else that was starting and ending in the park. "Chess is life"--Bobby Fischer.