Rainbow Chess comes to Rainbow Beach this May when Team Rainbow Inc presents the inaugural Rainbow Chess Competition. Besides the chess, visitors can view the famous coloured sands, grab a selfie at the Rainbow Stairway or take a vehicular ferry to World Heritage K’Gari (Fraser Island).
The day-long event on 29 May offers an opportunity to witness or participate in some great chess. But it’s also a chance to take in some of Queensland’s most spectacular scenery. The Rainbow Chess Competition takes place just a few hundred metres from the majestic local beach.
The Coloured Sands
Rainbow Beach takes its name from the rainbow-coloured sand cliffs south of the town. The rich mineral content of the sands creates glorious ochre rainbows on the towering wind-swept cliffs. A palette of over 70 different coloured sands enliven the landscape.
Local Aboriginal lore tells of a spirit in the form of a rainbow that fell onto the cliffs during a fight and infused the sands with rainbow pigments.
The Rainbow Stairway
In 2018, Team Rainbow obtained state government funding and commercial sponsorship to paint the Rainbow Stairway to the beach. The idea came from Team Rainbow secretary Dr Darryl Gauld OAM who said, “Hey guys, why don’t we put the rainbow back into Rainbow Beach.”
Although the subject of some local controversy, the Rainbow Stairway became instantly Instafamous.
To snap your selfie at the Rainbow Stairway, head down to the beach on the northern side of town. The stairs lead from the Lawrie Hanson Park down to the patrolled beach. And to learn more about the controversy, keep an eye out for Caroline Layt’s film Is this Queensland in the 20s? due out later this year.
The Rainbow Chess Comp
The Rainbow Chess Comp will work by the Swiss system. Players are listed in order of their rating with unrated players ranked alphabetically. After splitting that list in two, the players at the top of each list play each other and so on down to the bottom rated players. The winners of the matches play each other until a final champion is crowned.
Team Rainbow Inc
Team Rainbow is a vibrant community organisation that aims to make Rainbow Beach the Daylesford of Queensland. Despite the small population of Rainbow Beach, Team Rainbow took more participants to the 2018 Gay Games in Paris than Japan and Singapore combined. A full member of the Federation of Gay Games and InterPride, Team Rainbow welcomes new members via Facebook or the Team Rainbow website.
Register for the Rainbow Chess Comp here.
For the latest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) news in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
No Comment