BANGOR, Maine — They call it Bughouse, and it drives Brian Hurst nuts.
It’s a form of chess you won’t find many grand masters playing. Two teams of two play each other using two boards. It begins as normal blitz chess, which is chess played on a clock for no more than 10 minutes, except that every captured piece can be passed to a teammate and dropped on almost any unoccupied space on the opposite board.
“The kids love that one, but it drives me absolutely bonkers,” said Hurst, the organizer of the Queen City Chess Club of Bangor. “It is not like regular chess. Pieces seem to come from everywhere.”
But Bughouse is part of his club’s charm, the 50-year-old church pastor says. A club with about 35 members, Queen City plays on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. at Books-a-Million bookstore near the Bangor Mall. Kids, elderly folks, grand masters and utter beginners — all are welcome to join the club and play in an atmosphere that is relaxed, Hurst said.
“The great thing about this club is that there is no structure,” Hurst said. “This is a lot more relaxed.”
Yet the club has some powerhouse players. Bill Hartt, a state-ranked junior high school player, won the state championship in his class last year. He loves the game, he said, because it hones his critical-thinking skills.
“You get a sense of accomplishment when you sit down at a board for 5½ hours and you win a game just based on the moves that you make,” Hartt said. “Nobody can make them for you.”
The club, he said, features “just casual chess playing. We play in a cafe so it’s not the quietest place to play. You just come to play, meet new people, and try to improve your skills.”
Anyone who wants to join the club or learn more about it can visit the bookstore on Wednesdays or visit the club’s Facebook page.