The Bizarre House of the "Chess Master"

I was casually chatting with a coworker and he was asking me about what I like to do in my free time. I mentioned chess and he perked up, immediately getting excited and telling me he knows a "chess master". He was so excited that he asked when I was available to meet him; if it was tomorrow, he'd come by and pick me up to take me to his house. He explained that this guy was "his mentor" and he was quite old, had a French club, and enjoyed chess. These details are enough to intrigue to arrange for a meeting.

I told him I was available the next day and sure enough, he picked me up. We went to this guy's house, which was a typical set of rooms in a larger compound. I was immediately shocked by the amount of chess boards and chess paraphernalia that was scattered throughout his house. It was somewhat organized though the sheer volume of chess boards made the place feel a bit claustrophobic and certainly bizarre. I'll let the pictures do the talking to save you a thousand words.

This is the first room when you enter the house. There are a few chess boards you can't see pictured to my left and right. 

There were two rooms (to the right) and the hallway was full of chess boards and chess paraphernalia. 

Room number one had stacks of books on all sides, along with random chess boards and chess pieces. 

Room number two had chess board boxes stacked in all corners of the room, as well as chess boards in seemingly every crevice.  

Ana looks on as I play my coworker in chess. 

The strangest thing about the whole event was that the "chess master" was actually not very good at chess. I'll admit that I lost the first game but I blame the distraction of being in a bizarre chess-fun house. I'm not an expert chess player by any means but I know that if I play anyone that is very skilled, they usually beat me in 10-15 moves. Ana and I played quite a bit in Spain and Uganda, but ever since she started studying and regularly beating me, I've become a bit of a sour opponent to play against. Thus, we were both happy to find a forum to play chess, albeit a surreal and strange venue. Hopefully next time I can be a bit more focused.