ChessBar

For me, there’s a massive overemphasis on competition. When I go to a bar to play chess, I’m not trying to sign up for a swiss tournament. The magic of bar chess is in discussing and analyzing live over a beer or two. At the meetup I attend regularly, no one pays any attention to what the chessbar app says we’re supposed to be doing. It’s effectively useless, except that, to its credit, the meetup might not exist without it.

There aren’t many advertised chess nights in my city. This has been the first way I’ve met strangers to play over the board! Great friendly games with a bit of friendly competition.

It was just so fun to meet other chess players while traveling and to play in person. I tried it out in Brussels and I can’t wait to have it in the US.