Cameron Brandmair already knows it won’t be easy.

The 17-year-old has read more than 50 books and logged an estimated 2,000 hours of study time since the age of 10. He recently played nine consecutive hours without a break, and he spends many evenings charting his every move through a computer program.

In the world of chess, it takes dedication to become a grandmaster.

“I got beat, and I want to beat everybody,” said Brandmair, of Silverdale.

Sitting alone next to a stack of books and a playing board full of pawns, bishops and rooks, Brandmair was the first person to arrive Sept. 16 for the Bremerton Chess Club’s weekly meeting at the Subway on Bucklin Hill Road in Silverdale.

The club was founded in 2003 by Noel Dizon of Bremerton and is free and open to players of all ages and skill levels. It also meets on the weekends at Barnes & Noble at the Kitsap Mall.

Brandmair, who is a student at Northwest University in Kirkland and plans to enroll in business courses at Olympic College, is a regular at the group’s meetings because he wants to reach the pinnacle of a game that dates back about 1,500 years.

It’s an activity that requires critical thought and a firm understanding of tactics and strategy, so players don’t become great overnight. Instead, the best competitors are those who study the game — by reading books, charting their moves and playing “up,” against better opponents.

Although Brandmair dedicates more time to chess than most, he wins about “33 percent” of his matches against Bremerton Chess Club players.

Most of his competitors are older — two, three times his age — and have spent their lives learning the game.

Brandmair’s earliest matches came at the age of 10 against his father, who doubled as a competitor and instructor. After the son received the book “Chess for Kids,” he couldn’t stop thinking about chess.

He began playing the game everyday, talking about it all the time.

“I like meeting people, I like playing people, I like teaching people,” he said.

Bob Struble, 67, a lifelong player and a member of the Bremerton club, also learned from his father.

Although he eventually went on to coach an Our Lady Star of the Sea club to the Washington state chess championship in 1993, Struble remembers losing and losing and losing during his younger years.

It wasn’t until his freshman year of college — after reading books — that he defeated his father.

“If you study the books, you have such an advantage,” Struble said.

From a coach’s perspective, however, Struble believes players must face opponents stronger than themselves to improve their game.

For some, it can be an uphill battle.

“That’s the agony of it,” Struble said. “The only way to get better is to play players who are superior to you. Especially for a competitive person, to lose all the time, it can be discouraging.”

The Bremerton resident, whose wife is a supporter of his hobby, spent his honeymoon in Eastern Europe and used chess to break the language barrier and meet people.

On the trip the retired history teacher played 13 matches against foreign opponents, many of the bouts coming in dining carts aboard trains traveling though the former Soviet Union.

Struble attracted opponents by holding up a sign made by his wife, who is fluent in Russian.

“I do not speak Russian, but I do play chess,” the sign read. “Would you like to have a game?”

Struble’s only loss came in a card room in Kiev, where the games were fast-paced — five minutes from beginning to end — and the players were “like machines.”

He may have returned home undefeated had his wife not known the language.

“She blurts out, ‘There’s an American chess champion here,’” Struble said, remembering the night in Kiev. “The next thing I know, some guy coaxes me into a game and blows me off the board.”

The Bremerton club’s weekly meetings are more social than cutthroat — don’t be fooled, score is kept — because they are designed for players of all ages and abilities, a way to get players involved.

Last week’s seven-person gathering included a student, a retired teacher, a captain in the Navy and a retired police officer, among others.

For three hours, they exchanged tips, referenced history and challenged one another to match after match.

“Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy,” Struble said, quoting the German chess-master Siegbert Tarrasch.

Join the club

The Bremerton Chess Club meets at least once a week, sometimes more. Their games are played at the Subway on Bucklin Hill in Silverdale from 7 to 10 p.m. Thursdays and at various times on weekends at Barnes & Noble at the Kitsap Mall.

For additional information, contact Noel Dizon, (360) 373-7438 or psyche2@comcast.net.

More options:

There are United States Chess Federation-sanctioned tournaments from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays at the downtown Bremerton branch of the Kitsap Regional Library, 612 Fifth Street. The tournaments are hosted by the Kitsap County Chess Club and are open to chess federation members, with a suggested donation of $5. Non-members are welcome to watch or practice for free. All players are encouraged to arrive early.

For additional information, e-mail theknight@myway.com or visit http://www.nwchess.com/clubs/kitsap.html.