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midst the screeching and honking of cars and the rattle of trains passing by, dozens of men sat on benches under a South Jakarta overpass in Tebet. Oblivious to their noisy surroundings, the men were lost in thought, contemplating their next move in a game of chess.

One would think that the noisy lot under the overpass would be the last place for people to concentrate on a game of chess. But for these die-hard chess fans, who work and live near the Tebet train station, the lot is their unofficial outdoor chess club, which even International Grandmaster Utut Adianto and Haryadi Sucipto have frequented.

Artists Saleh Hussein and the art collective Kudaponi, which consists of Yusmario Farabi and Aprillia Sari from the indie pop band The White Shoes and the Couples Company, have for a long time noticed this unlikely hang-out place.

The area is not a designated park. The city administration had fenced the area to prevent street stalls from occupying this area that has both high traffic and pedestrian activity.

There is no gate to enter the fenced lot. Two missing bars from the fence are the entry to the "chess park".

Living in Tebet and frequently visiting the RuangRupa gallery in the same area, the artists noticed people playing chess on run-down wooden benches inside the iron-fenced lot.

This, in addition to Saleh and Yusmario's love of chess, inspired the artists to refurbish the area. Collaborating with local residents, they built new wooden chess tables and painted murals with pictures of pawns on the overpass pillars.

"We've always noticed this place and we think it has character and a potential to be a great public space," Sari said.

The three artists did this as part of the Jakarta Biennale 2009. Titled ARENA, the festival this year highlights the issue of public space and aims to bring art into public places.

After participating in workshops during November on site-specific art, Saleh, Yusmario and Sari immediately thought of the chess place.

"There are so few park spaces in Jakarta. It's weird how the city administration has never noticed this area's potential as a park and instead fenced it in," Sari said.

They started working on the murals last week.

On Thursday, the chess tables were ready. The three artists designed the tables to be easily disassembled, as local resident Taufik Hidayat said that the city's public order officers do still conduct raids.

"As people are not supposed to be inside this lot, we would have to clear up this place when the officers come," he said.

Sari said that by refurbishing the chess park, they hope that local residents can make use of the city space more comfortably.

Taufik said that people started to play chess there when the construction of the overpass was completed, in 1992.