A pawn grabs a knight, followed by a frenzy of blows and the end of the game.
The loser leaves a banknote there, and the game pieces are immediately returned to the tired chessboard.
"Chess is a very difficult game," said with a sigh Andrei Volokitin, 35 years old and reigning Ukrainian champion.
This grandmaster won his title thanks to the qualities specific to gifted players: "You need memory, calculation, strategy, an overview of the game", he explains.
But as for the Russian invasion of his country, he does not see the outcome: "I'm afraid it will continue for a few months, maybe more, I don't know", admits- he, "this is the new reality for all people in Ukraine".
Lviv, -in western Ukraine and just 70 km from the Polish border-, has so far been largely spared the violence unleashed with the Russian offensive launched on February 24.
Lviv is also known as the "chess capital".
The former USSR, which included Ukraine until its collapse in 1991, overwhelmingly supported the playing of a game whose dominance was meant to illustrate its strategic superiority.
Relative calm
This past explains the influx of curious people, mainly men, attending the games played by amateurs on the central promenade of the city, despite the biting cold.
Lviv would have no less than 20 to 30 chess grandmasters for some 700,000 inhabitants, according to Andreï Volokitine.
For this community of game enthusiasts, the invasion of their country is not without consequences.
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has canceled scheduled tournaments in Russia and banned raising the Russian flag in international competitions.
The Ukrainian federation for its part demanded a ban for all Russian players to participate.
Andrei Volokitin has signed an open letter from players refusing to meet possible Russian opponents.
As in the Individual European Championship scheduled for next week in Slovenia.
Chess game on the central promenade of Lviv, Ukraine, March 20, 2022 Aleksey Filippov AFP
He received an exemption to go there, despite the ban on all Ukrainians of fighting age, 18 to 60, from leaving their country.
His wife and daughter have already taken refuge in Poland.
The relative calm enjoyed by Lviv since the start of the conflict three weeks ago was shattered last Friday by a Russian strike against an aircraft repair factory near the airport.
Without causing any casualties.
mind game
Along the central promenade, chess enthusiasts all have an opinion on the situation.
Oleh Chernobayev, 52, humbly accepts his defeat, awarded in less than ten minutes to Andrei Volokitin.
On the other hand, he is more optimistic about Ukraine's chances against Russia in this conflict.
"We will win without a doubt. Our people are brave, unarmed people are stopping tanks," he said.
According to him, the Russian army "cannot take kyiv. Our guys are very brave."
Chess game on the central promenade of Lviv, Ukraine, March 20, 2022 Aleksey Filippov AFP
For Olexander, the self-proclaimed mainstay of the Lviv chess benches, "it's a difficult game, a game of the mind".
He is challenged by a young man wearing a baseball cap in a raised game, in which the time gradually lengthens between shots, before winning by abandonment of the opponent.
"We have to fight for Ukraine the same way we fight in chess," he said sardonically.
© 2022 AFP