Vancouver Island hosted a special guest from the world of chess, a chess grandmaster.

There are fewer chess grandmasters in the world than billionaires and one of them was in Nanaimo to play against some of Vancouver Island’s top chess players Saturday.

With a handshake and opening move Samy Shoker, one of just 1,230 chess grandmasters in the world, starts playing nearly 20 of Vancouver Island’s best chess players of all age categories.

Now living in San Diego, the French born, Egyptian player, has been the French, Arab, and African champion and devotes five to six hours every day to the ultimate game of strategy.

“I’m excited. I’m going to totally lose but I’m going to have fun,” said Kalen Leech-Porter, who’s taken chess seriously in the past few years.

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“When I heard that Samy was coming I had to sign up and get involved,” said Rachel Williams, who’s been playing chess since she was a child.

And even though a grandmaster he’s not guaranteeing he’ll win all the games today

“Twenty boards at the same time is not so easy and this is what I always say to chess players. Don’t underestimate your opponent. Don’t overestimate your opponent. You can win or lose against anyone,” said Shoker.

The tournament moves quickly with each player showing their move to which Shoker quickly responds. The room is mentally intense. While a challenge, it’s also meant to be a great learning experience.

“The greatest thing we can do when we’re learning from our games is have someone who knows the positions very well analyze it for us and show us, what we might have missed, what we did well, what we could improve on,” said Finn Lynch, the tournament’s director from Oceanside Chess Club.

“These chess grandmasters are kind of built a little differently. They’ve got these photographic memories and he’ll be able to remember every move of every board that he’s played and sit down with each player and discuss,” said Mike Blakey, president of the Oceanside Chess Club.

Eventually the players lose one by one and Shoker gives his advice.

Until Shoker concedes a draw against Rachel Williams.

“Draw? Good job. You played well. You played a good game and you were almost winning. I was lucky to draw this position,” said Shoker.

“I’m thrilled as you can tell probably,” said Williams, who called it a chess life highlight, while choking back tears. “I love the game so much and to have an experience like this. You put a lot into it, a lifetime, really.”

Just playing Shoker is a highlight for all the players.

“The chess match was two hours. It’s just so hard to stay focused for the whole game,” said Jonah Kolen-Lee, from Parksville, who ended up with either a draw or three-fold repetition against Shoker.

“I just play for fun. I’m very pleased with how I played. It was very close the entire time.”

Shoker says when he got the chance to play the best French player as a child it propelled his love of the game and he hopes his involvement today will do the same for others.

“It’s very good to see that there are very involved players and I really hope a great future for chess on Vancouver Island,” said Shoker.