In a silent school hall on the Isle of Wight the air is thick with tension.
Faces twitch nervously, feet shake vigorously under tables, and several heads are clasped in hands.
Every so often a chess piece is moved from one square to another, a hand strikes a clock and the action is recorded in a notepad.
This is the Isle of Wight Chess Tournament - which welcomes hundreds of players from around the world to Ryde.
And perhaps even more striking than the atmosphere is the number of young faces in the room.
Not so long ago, chess would have been considered quite far removed from a "cool" activity.
But a lot can change in a few years.
A combination of boredom during lockdown, successful online platforms, celebrity endorsements and Netflix's The Queen's Gambit has helped make chess one of the fastest growing games in the world.
"When I was in primary school, chess was like the nerdy sport," said 17-year-old Shreyas, who is hoping to win the tournament.
"But nowadays a lot of people my age are quite fascinated and they want to get into it."
Shreyas is Britain's youngest Grandmaster - part of a growing wave of young people competing at the game's highest level.
"By becoming a Grandmaster at 15, I broke the UK record," he said. "There were lots of ups and downs, but in the end I pulled through.
"There are fewer Grandmasters in the world than billionaires. So it is pretty weird to put into perspective."
Shreyas learned the game when he was six years old and within a few months had won his first junior event.
Now he is among the world's best players - but being a king in the world of chess can make you a target.
The fact that young players are already vying to take Shreyas's crown is testament to the game's growing popularity among young people.
Rami, 12, is also competing in the tournament.
Like many other young players, his first ambition was to beat his dad at the game.
Now he says he wants to become a grandmaster "quite soon" and beat Shreyas's record.
"I like the feeling when you win," he said. "And you can keep learning. You can never be too good at it. You always have to improve."
And even Rami is far from the youngest player taking part.
Eight-year-old Sofia has swept through the event like a force of nature, leaving children and adults alike in her wake.
"I played one kid, three grown-ups and then the other one was a grandpa," Sofia said after emerging victorious in five games.
And do the adult players ever feel hard done by to be beaten by someone so young?
"The grandpa just resigned," she said. He went to the tournament director and he said: 'Oh my gosh, she's so good. She has a talent.' And then he just walked out and didn't set up his pieces."
Like Rami, Sofia sees endless possibilities in the game and has an attitude towards loss that shows wisdom beyond her years.
She said: "I don't care if I lose because I always learn."
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Since the Covid lockdown interest in chess has surged.
People left bored and isolated turned to the game for solace and connection - and the release of The Queen's Gambit accelerated its growth.
The United Nations estimates that 605 million adults play the game regularly, and much of its recent rise has been driven by young people.
It was the most watched game on the streaming site Twitch in 2021.
And for a month in 2023, a chess game became the most downloaded free game on Apple's App Store after reaching the number one spot in 28 countries.
With celebrity fans like Anthony Joshua, Madonna and Lily Cole, the global phenomenon looks set to continue.
So with all this going on, is it now fair to say that chess is cool?
"Chess has gained a lot of traction. It's become a lot more popular," says Shreyas.
"We're getting there."
David Lightfoot is the founder and director of the Isle of Wight Chess Tournament.
He started it as a small event in a pub in Ryde just two years ago.
Now the Masters section includes players from more than 30 federations, several of whom hold the game's highest title.
"It's definitely absolutely booming," said Lightfoot.
"Chess playing numbers in general have gone from maybe 400,000 pre-Covid to 200 million players around the world on Chess.com.
"Social media definitely boosts it. It's getting more mainstream. It's acceptable to play chess. That's the thing."
Lightfoot said: "You go to tournaments and you've got 11-year-old kids playing against 85-year-old men. There's just no boundary at all between the generations.
"It's really exciting to see what English chess will be even in five years or in 10 years, because there are just so many more players."
Back in the tournament hall, the atmosphere remains intense and silent, with players locked in concentration.
On the surface, it may look like nothing much is happening.
But if the scenes on the Isle of Wight are anything to go by, the game, and the generation embracing it, are very much on the move.
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