A junior chess tournament in Worcestershire got an unexpected guest on Saturday, Robert Plant turned up and ended up playing a 17-year-old fan.

The Led Zeppelin frontman was at St George’s Hall in Bewdley for the town mayor’s Charity Junior Chess Tournament.

George Walker, from Kidderminster, said he was a “big fan” of Plant and never expected to face him in a game.

“He was really decent,” Walker said. “I won by resignation because he had to quickly go, but it was a good game.”

Walker, who attends a local chess club, entered the tournament after one of the organisers asked him to take part.

Talking about Plant, he said: “I couldn’t recognise him off the face because he had his back down.

“I was shocked at first because he is one of my favourite music artists… Seeing him there was shocking.”

Plant had to leave before the game ended, and Walker was declared the winner.

Walker said he hoped they might have a rematch in future.

“I’ve been a fan of Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin for many, many years. My mum [and] sister like him as well,” he said.

“The odds are tiny, I didn’t even know he was in the area at the time.”

The charity tournament and Worcestershire Junior Rapid-Play Championships were held at the venue, with more than 30 taking part, most of them from Worcestershire.

Competition organiser John Wrench, president of Kidderminster Chess Club, said: “We were really delighted to have [Plant] along and it adds a bit of prestige to the event.”

Wrench said many of the adults and organisers “instantly knew who he was” when he walked in.

“We couldn’t publicise the fact that he was going to be there, but we were aware that there was a strong chance he was gonna show.

“Some of the youngsters, remember this was an under-18 chess tournament, they thought ‘Robert who?’.

“It seems strange to people of a certain generation, but once you make them aware that he’s a rock legend, I think they get it.”

Asked if Plant was any good at chess, Wrench said: “I think he has the potential to be, with a bit of practice.”

Wrench said Plant’s appearance came about after Bewdley mayor Sharon Harvey asked him to organise a junior tournament, then told him “she had a meeting arranged with Robert some time after that”.

“She had a list of charitable events that she was running, placed them on the table, about six different events, and said ‘Robert, which of these do you fancy getting involved in?’.

“Straight away, he said ‘Oh, I like the look of the junior chess, sign me up for that, I’ll come along’.”

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