{
 "title": "Social Chess Clubs in 2026: A Data Report",
 "publisher": "Checkmate IRL",
 "report": "https://checkmateirl.com/blog/social-chess-report-2026/",
 "report_de": "https://checkmateirl.com/blog/schach-in-zahlen-2026/",
 "license": "CC BY 4.0",
 "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
 "credit": "Source: Checkmate IRL, Social Chess Clubs in 2026 (checkmateirl.com)",
 "snapshot": "2026-10-23",
 "coverage": "253 listed social chess clubs; events from 2026-08-31",
 "method": "Counts from Checkmate IRL's directory of social chess clubs, its casual events feed (collected from public listings and club pages) and its map of places to play. Figures and percentages are rounded down; shares carry Wilson 95% confidence intervals. A club's start year is when its earliest public page or account was created, not its founding date. Our totals describe what we have catalogued, not all chess.",
 "charts": [
  {
   "id": "online-since",
   "title": "Most clubs started since 2023",
   "subtitle": "Social chess clubs by the year their earliest public page or account was created",
   "n": 205,
   "labels": [
    "2017 or earlier",
    "2018",
    "2019",
    "2020",
    "2021",
    "2022",
    "2023",
    "2024",
    "2025",
    "2026"
   ],
   "values": [
    12,
    3,
    4,
    2,
    21,
    22,
    28,
    43,
    38,
    32
   ],
   "note": "Clubs we could date, of 253 listed; 2026 to 23 Oct",
   "chart_svg": "https://checkmateirl.com/charts/online-since.svg"
  },
  {
   "id": "clubs-by-weekday",
   "title": "Tuesday and Wednesday are chess night",
   "subtitle": "Share of social chess clubs by their usual weekday, with 95% confidence intervals",
   "n": 143,
   "labels": [
    "Mon",
    "Tue",
    "Wed",
    "Thu",
    "Fri",
    "Sat",
    "Sun"
   ],
   "values": [
    11.19,
    23.08,
    25.17,
    14.69,
    4.9,
    12.59,
    8.39
   ],
   "ci95": [
    [
     7.0,
     17.4
    ],
    [
     16.9,
     30.6
    ],
    [
     18.8,
     32.9
    ],
    [
     9.8,
     21.4
    ],
    [
     2.4,
     9.8
    ],
    [
     8.1,
     19.0
    ],
    [
     4.9,
     14.1
    ]
   ],
   "unit": "%",
   "note": "Clubs with events in our feed since 31 Aug 2026",
   "chart_svg": "https://checkmateirl.com/charts/clubs-by-weekday.svg"
  },
  {
   "id": "clubs-heatmap",
   "title": "Weekday evenings, weekend middays",
   "subtitle": "Social chess clubs by usual weekday and start hour (local time)",
   "n": 143,
   "rows": [
    "Mon",
    "Tue",
    "Wed",
    "Thu",
    "Fri",
    "Sat",
    "Sun"
   ],
   "columns": [
    "09",
    "10",
    "11",
    "12",
    "13",
    "14",
    "15",
    "16",
    "17",
    "18",
    "19",
    "20",
    "21",
    "22"
   ],
   "values": [
    [
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     1,
     0,
     4,
     7,
     4,
     0,
     0,
     0
    ],
    [
     0,
     1,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     3,
     9,
     15,
     4,
     0,
     0
    ],
    [
     0,
     1,
     0,
     1,
     0,
     1,
     1,
     1,
     1,
     17,
     13,
     0,
     1,
     0
    ],
    [
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     2,
     0,
     11,
     7,
     1,
     0,
     0
    ],
    [
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     2,
     2,
     2,
     1,
     0,
     0
    ],
    [
     1,
     3,
     3,
     2,
     3,
     2,
     1,
     0,
     2,
     1,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0
    ],
    [
     0,
     0,
     1,
     4,
     3,
     0,
     2,
     0,
     1,
     1,
     0,
     0,
     0,
     0
    ]
   ],
   "note": "Each club counted once",
   "chart_svg": "https://checkmateirl.com/charts/clubs-heatmap.svg"
  },
  {
   "id": "start-hour",
   "title": "Most clubs start at 18:00 or 19:00",
   "subtitle": "Social chess clubs by usual start time (local time)",
   "n": 143,
   "labels": [
    "09",
    "10",
    "11",
    "12",
    "13",
    "14",
    "15",
    "16",
    "17",
    "18",
    "19",
    "20",
    "21"
   ],
   "values": [
    1,
    5,
    4,
    7,
    6,
    3,
    5,
    3,
    13,
    48,
    41,
    6,
    1
   ],
   "chart_svg": "https://checkmateirl.com/charts/start-hour.svg"
  },
  {
   "id": "cadence",
   "title": "Chess night is a weekly habit",
   "subtitle": "Clubs by the usual gap between their events",
   "n": 117,
   "labels": [
    "More than weekly",
    "Weekly",
    "Fortnightly",
    "Monthly",
    "Irregular"
   ],
   "values": [
    9,
    72,
    10,
    6,
    20
   ],
   "note": "Clubs with 3+ event dates; partly projected from stated weekly schedules",
   "chart_svg": "https://checkmateirl.com/charts/cadence.svg"
  },
  {
   "id": "duration",
   "title": "A chess night lasts about 3 hours",
   "subtitle": "Clubs by the usual listed length of their events",
   "n": 125,
   "labels": [
    "Under 2 h",
    "2 to 3 h",
    "3 to 4 h",
    "4 to 5 h",
    "5 h or more"
   ],
   "values": [
    3,
    25,
    51,
    33,
    13
   ],
   "chart_svg": "https://checkmateirl.com/charts/duration.svg"
  },
  {
   "id": "venue-types",
   "title": "Bars are the home ground",
   "subtitle": "Venues used by social chess clubs, by type",
   "n": 225,
   "labels": [
    "Bar",
    "Other (breweries, libraries...)",
    "Café",
    "Chess club rooms",
    "Park",
    "Unknown"
   ],
   "values": [
    88,
    56,
    46,
    19,
    12,
    4
   ],
   "chart_svg": "https://checkmateirl.com/charts/venue-types.svg"
  },
  {
   "id": "bar-share-by-country",
   "title": "British pubs, German cafés",
   "subtitle": "Share of clubs that play in a bar at least sometimes, with 95% confidence intervals",
   "n": 133,
   "labels": [
    "UK (35 clubs)",
    "US (76)",
    "Germany (22)"
   ],
   "values": [
    54.29,
    43.42,
    18.18
   ],
   "ci95": [
    [
     38.2,
     69.5
    ],
    [
     32.9,
     54.6
    ],
    [
     7.3,
     38.5
    ]
   ],
   "unit": "%",
   "note": "Clubs linked to a venue",
   "chart_svg": "https://checkmateirl.com/charts/bar-share-by-country.svg"
  },
  {
   "id": "announce-channels",
   "title": "Instagram is the noticeboard",
   "subtitle": "Share of listed social chess clubs with a link of each kind",
   "n": 253,
   "labels": [
    "Instagram",
    "Own website",
    "Meetup group",
    "Eventbrite page",
    "Linktree",
    "No link at all"
   ],
   "values": [
    71.15,
    18.97,
    14.62,
    7.51,
    3.95,
    6.32
   ],
   "unit": "%",
   "note": "A club can have several; we find clubs mostly via Instagram",
   "chart_svg": "https://checkmateirl.com/charts/announce-channels.svg"
  },
  {
   "id": "clubs-by-city",
   "title": "London lists the most clubs",
   "subtitle": "Social chess clubs in our directory, top cities",
   "n": 253,
   "labels": [
    "London",
    "New York",
    "Los Angeles",
    "Chicago",
    "Berlin",
    "Manchester",
    "Charlotte",
    "Munich",
    "Dubai",
    "Hamburg",
    "Philadelphia",
    "San Diego"
   ],
   "values": [
    31,
    21,
    14,
    12,
    10,
    6,
    5,
    5,
    4,
    4,
    4,
    4
   ],
   "chart_svg": "https://checkmateirl.com/charts/clubs-by-city.svg"
  }
 ]
}