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Where to play chess near you

Checkmate IRL maps 4,600+ places to play chess over the board in 1,470+ cities across 100+ countries: chess clubs, cafés with boards, pubs that run chess nights, and public tables in parks. Every venue listing shows what is actually there, so you know before you go.

Finding a chess club near you

Open the map and it centres on where you are. Filter by what you want: a club night with rated games, a café where you can sit for three hours, an outdoor board you can walk up to. Listings are kept current by the people who play there, and anyone can suggest a venue that is missing.

What counts as a chess venue

• Chess clubs: regular meetups, from casual to league play.
• Chess cafés and coffee shops: boards on site, no membership.
• Chess bars and pubs: weekly chess nights, usually free to join.
• Parks and public tables: outdoor boards, open whenever you are.
• Board game cafés: chess sets alongside everything else.

Chess cities with the most venues

New York (118) · London (96) · Berlin (87) · Warsaw (84) · Munich (71) · Hamburg (62) · Budapest (59) · Kraków (48) · Łódź (45) · Paris (42) · Buenos Aires (41) · Vienna (40) · Gdańsk (39) · Poznań (38) · Toronto (36) · Wrocław (35) · Moscow (35) · Amsterdam (33) · Belgrade (33) · Stuttgart (32) · Helsinki (31) · Cologne (31) · Cape Town (31) · Chicago (30)

Nothing listed near you?

Suggest a venue and it goes on the map for everyone else. If you would rather start something, a weekly chess night in a café needs a board and a time. Running a chess night covers the rest.

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