{"id":840002,"date":"2025-12-03T12:26:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T09:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=840002"},"modified":"2025-12-03T12:26:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T09:26:00","slug":"its-self-consciously-cool-inside-the-chess-club-boom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=840002","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s self-consciously cool\u2019: Inside the chess club boom"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pieces Chess Club 1st Birthday<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Gallery \/ 25 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It\u2019s a Friday night in Lisbon\u2019s Marvilla district, and there\u2019s a queue piling up outside Pieces Chess Club \u2013 a mashup of social chess and music \u2013 for their first anniversary block party. Outside the repurposed factory that houses taco and music venue Duro de Matar, rows of chess games are already underway under a blaze of neon red. Dance-ready beats are blaring, a DJ setup and packed dancefloor at the centre of the chequered sprawl. Margaritas and beers are flowing thick and fast; this is not one of those sober, \u2018board games night\u2019 type of events \u2013 it\u2019s a veritable night out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the last year or so, chess has had a major rebrand. Once confined to hushed rooms and town halls, the game has broken out of its box into more high-energy social spaces. I\u2019ve noticed a growing number of portable boards brought out to parks and bars for a casual play with friends, as well as chessboards popping up on Instagram stories. Celebrities are getting in on the action too: <\/span>Tyler, the Creator<\/span><\/a> has been sharing chess content online and recently launched a \u2018<\/span>chess box<\/span><\/a>\u2019 collaboration with Louis Vuitton, an indication of the game\u2019s growing social and cultural capital. And with events like Pieces and Knight Club (a similar London-based music-chess hybrid night), chess is increasingly cultivating a diverse, fashionable scene. It\u2019s no exaggeration at this point to say that chess, once regarded as a pretty geeky hobby, has become cool.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The crowd at Pieces \u2013 which has thrown events from London to Oslo and Berlin \u2013 certainly think so. \u201cIt’s become kind of trendy to play chess,\u201d Alyssa, 24, tells me over the music. She explains that she \u201ctaught the girls [to play] chess\u201d, bringing her group up to speed on the ancient game. \u201cI think it\u2019s cool,\u201d Yana, 23, concurs. \u201cEspecially with events like this, it really shows the diversity of people who are interested in chess.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So interested, it seems, that I find it hard to get in a game \u2013 the fight for a chessboard at Pieces is real. Even on a cold night like tonight, \u201cthe dedication to chess is strong,\u201d notes one of the founders, Charlie Yaw. The trick is to find a game nearing checkmate and pounce. I\u2019m with a friend, and we spot our opportunity, snagging a board amidst a table of other chess games in full swing. Most people here are casual chess players, with a smattering of serious players in the mix, chess timer apps on the go. Then there are the non-chess players, caught between the smoking area and the dancefloor, here for the music and the scene of it all. \u201cChess is kind of boring,\u201d one woman even tells me. But she\u2019s still here, thanks to Pieces\u2019 growing hype. It really does feel like this is the place to be in Lisbon tonight \u2013 I start bumping into more and more people I know as I push my way through the crowd to get a drink post-game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Growing up, I only saw a few types of people play chess, but coming to these types of events, I\u2019m like, \u2018okay, they\u2019re welcoming everyone, anyone can play\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On the lineup tonight are Jossy Mitsu, Gayance, and a smattering of other up-and-coming DJs, with sounds from garage to jungle and house creating a high-energy atmosphere. It\u2019s music to dance to. \u201cWe wanted to create this juxtaposition between the game and the energy of the music outside of it,\u201d says Charlie. \u201cWhen you add that energy and that sound, it allows more playfulness\u201d. Pieces\u2019 Instagram draws heavily on cultural references too, from Wu-Tang Clan to PinkPantheress; it\u2019s something of a visual archive of chess through pop culture and memes present and past, tapping into the game\u2019s cult status (it also helps that a chessboards are generally beautifully designed). \u201cWe want to try to make people feel like they can connect with [chess] in other ways, whether that\u2019s through music and culture, or through just understanding that it\u2019s not that deep, really,\u201d says Charlie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A big appeal for people here tonight is the vibe Pieces have created around the game, and the diverse space that atmosphere has fostered. \u201cI think growing up, I only saw a few types of people play chess, but coming to these types of events, I\u2019m like, OK, \u2018they\u2019re welcoming everyone, anyone can play\u2019,\u201d says Yana.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Charlie, the idea for Pieces, and a more accessible chess space, really came to fruition following a negative experience. \u201cI\u2019d gone to a chess club that started close to my house. […] I\u2019d never thought I\u2019d be the person who would go to a chess club, really. And I went, and I tried it, and I didn\u2019t enjoy it at all,\u201d she recalls. \u201cIt was a really bad experience. Everyone was really serious about the game, and it was just mostly old white men. I played about three games, got completely destroyed and then no one would play with me.\u201d Cofounder An-Tim Nguyen adds: \u201cThey\u2019re so intimidating, these spaces, and they\u2019re too serious.\u201d It\u2019s not the first I\u2019ve heard of chess club trauma; Josh, 35, whose \u201cElo in rapid is about 1200,\u201d tells me of another club in Lisbon: \u201cI think the guy who runs it doesn\u2019t create a very welcoming or inclusive place […] Somebody needs to stop them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There is something that really works about having a focused game to play amid the music. It breaks up the night, creating different rhythms of interaction, bopping between dancefloor and the absorption of a play. And I\u2019m not alone in enjoying the concentration that chess demands. \u201cI think that the fact that chess is tactile and requires attention is a very nice antidote to scrolling on your phone,\u201d says Josh. \u201cWhen you play chess, you actually have to learn<\/em> how to play it,\u201d Millad tells me. There\u2019s a sincerity to the game, he says, and \u201cpeople are becoming more sincere and appreciating sincerity more\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The more focused, intellectual hobby is increasingly also something of a status symbol. \u201cI think it\u2019s become a bit self-consciously cool, hasn\u2019t it?\u201d notes Josh. Chess demands a healthy attention span \u2013 an increasingly sought-after trait in a smartphone-addicted world. \u201cI think it is naturally an attractive quality in somebody else to see that they\u2019ve invested time in becoming really good at something,\u201d says Millad. Sometimes this comes with some pretension and one-upping; during my next game, mid-play, a man lingers to watch, leans over my shoulder post-move and utters, \u201cOh, I wouldn\u2019t do that\u201d. Mansplainers get everywhere, it seems.<\/span><\/p>\n

But overall, I\u2019m a firm believer that the reappreciation of such pastimes is a great thing. Spaces such as Pieces, which clearly have all the right intentions: in the last year, they\u2019ve raised \u00a315,000 for charity, created a culturally vibrant chess scene in a number of cities, and no doubt brought in scores of new players to the game. I\u2019ll be there for the next one \u2013 what\u2019s not to love? <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Source URL: https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69194\/1\/pieces-chess-club-isnt-playing-checkers-lisbon-first-birthday-party-gen-z-hobby<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pieces Chess Club 1st Birthday Gallery \/ 25 images It\u2019s a Friday night in Lisbon\u2019s Marvilla district, and there\u2019s a queue piling up outside Pieces Chess Club \u2013 a mashup of social chess and music \u2013 for their first anniversary block party. Outside the repurposed factory that houses taco and music venue Duro de Matar, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-840002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=840002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840002\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=840002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=840002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=840002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}