A Bermudian chess player has been crowned champion of the inaugural King of Kings Bermuda Chess Tournament.

Michael Webb beat stiff local and international competition to take the $1,000 first prize at The Fairmont Hamilton Princess event.

“It was a big deal,” the 37-year-old said. “I found the entire thing very exciting. Half the people I played against I had never even seen before.”

The passionate chess player competed against players from South Africa, Russia and the United States.

“To see this open nationality melting pot here in Bermuda was beautiful,” he said.

The Smith’s resident was taking a break from chess and was shocked to hear about the upcoming chess championship in Bermuda.

“It’s been far too long since Bermuda has seen a championship,” he said.

But Mr Webb knew the organisers, knew they were serious about creating something special and “definitely wanted to be a part of it”.

“I’m so glad to win the first ever King of Kings tournament.

“What made it extra special was that I had to be at my best consistently, round after round after round in order to prevail as champion.”

Between 25 and 30 people attended the event, organised by Lyle Butterfield, and Mr Webb played four games in one day.

“I was physically drained at the end of the day,” he said.

Mr Webb now hopes to become an ambassador for the game in Bermuda.

His vision is having others develop a passion for chess and seeing how “far Bermuda can actually rise in the international world of chess”.

“I would love to see more youth get involved. I’m looking to create something brand new here, something exciting and powerful.

“I would love to be able to show up at the next Olympiad with a brand new team of powerful players ready to represent our country.”

But because Bermuda’s chess club has been inactive for some time, Mr Webb would like to see a space organised for players passionate about chess to come together and play.

Mr Webb started playing chess when he was about fifteen years old, after some friends introduced him to the game.

But he said: “No one knew that I played. It was my way to escape the world.

“Anytime things became top hectic, things weren’t going right at school or I didn’t want to deal with someone, whenever I felt that the world is becoming too big, I was always able to loose myself in a chess game.”

He developed his chess skill alone and did not realise how good he was until he decided to play a few people and qualify for the Olympics — his very first tournament.

Mr Webb not only qualified, but beat a master to be crowned champion.

“It takes a lot, it’s deep,” Mr Webb said of the sport. “The emotional rollercoaster, the butterflies; if you’re playing chess it’s your passion. It’s a deep game period, it’s a game of the mind — there’s a lot that goes into the way a chess game plays out. It’s almost like a work of art.

In order to become a chess master, Mr Webb said players have to be emotionally balanced, intuitive, of sound mind, focused, intense and “you’ve got to want it”.

Mr Webb said he cannot wait to represent his country at the Olympiad next year and thanked chess legends Nick Faulks and James Dill for carrying “the torch in their time”.

“I respect that and I do think that I can do the same now,” he said.