How about some coffee house chess!

[Vlad Dobrich]

Lets bring back coffee house chess! When I think back to the Yorkville Cafes of the 60’s I think “Why have we lost such a great chess culture which goes back 200 years to the chess cafes of London and Paris”. Why did we ever lose the Café de la Regence where Philidor, Napoleon and Ben Franklin are known to have played? Has computer chess killed over-the-board play? Initially perhaps so, with the convenience of having a game available at the click of a mouse. But then with the computers outplaying the world champion, perhaps the pendulum will swing the other way. If we concede that we won’t outplay Houdini, perhaps we should go back to play just for the fun of it – in other words lets embrace coffee house chess.
And I’m not just talking about it – I’m doing something about it. I hope to find several coffee houses around the city willing to host a chess night on a weekly basis. We’ll start with the first one ………….. The Toronto Coffee and Tea House, 685 Lansdowne Ave …. Just steps from the Lansdowne station. And for those driving there is ample parking just behind the station at $2 for the evening. The owner of the Café is quite keen to make this work – he’s invested in one chess set on permanent ready-to-play mode and will procure more if we get a good turnout. We’re advertising on Toronto chess meetups >>>>> http://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Chess/events/153973242/
Which has been a good source of players for our Saturday Rapid at the Legends Sports Lounge. But most meetup players are not ready for tournament chess nor do they have any inclination in that direction – they just want to play for fun and meet new people.
So why not mark your calendar and come help reintroduce coffee house chess in Toronto.

[Ken Kurkowski]

Re: How about some coffee house chess!

My Toronto chess memory 'only' goes back to the mid-seventies, but I never recall a big coffeehouse chess scene here, unlike what I've read about in Montreal. I remember hearing a story about some guy trying to start a chess 'program' at a coffeehouse here, but failing because the players were too cheap to buy any food or coffee! Anyway Vlad, I wish you success in your endeavour. From the point of view of formal chess clubs, these casual chess sites might be a good way to ease (some) adult players into more serious competitive chess...

[Erik Malmsten]

Re: How about some coffee house chess!

My Toronto chess memory 'only' goes back to the mid-seventies, but I never recall a big coffeehouse chess scene here, unlike what I've read about in Montreal. I remember hearing a story about some guy trying to start a chess 'program' at a coffeehouse here, but failing because the players were too cheap to buy any food or coffee! Anyway Vlad, I wish you success in your endeavour. From the point of view of formal chess clubs, these casual chess sites might be a good way to ease (some) adult players into more serious competitive chess...

Chess was played in Yorkville cafes during the hippie era. In the early 1960s the police saw men going in and out of 99 Yorkville late at night, as Pierre Berton reported in his Toronto Star column, the police raided the place but all they found was them playing chess. Neil Young mentioned chess in his autobiography. My only encounter was the attempts by two teams to break the world record for continuous playing. Lemonade was very expensive. I never went to the place that sold fried ants.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: How about some coffee house chess!

Chess was played in Yorkville cafes during the hippie era. In the early 1960s the police saw men going in and out of 99 Yorkville late at night, as Pierre Berton reported in his Toronto Star column, the police raided the place but all they found was them playing chess. Neil Young mentioned chess in his autobiography. My only encounter was the attempts by two teams to break the world record for continuous playing. Lemonade was very expensive. I never went to the place that sold fried ants.

This is interesting on several levels. You would think that the police would have better things to do than to interfere with people playing chess. On the other hand a successful chess related enterprise in the 1960s might bear a resemblance to a drug operation. Seedy looking individuals coming in and out at all hours with the vacant looks that can only come from the use of drugs or many long hours of blitz play or analysis of particularly complex positions.

[Vlad Dobrich]

Re: How about some coffee house chess!

Neil Young mentioned chess in his autobiography.

Yes there was a lot of folk/rock music there. At Club 71 where I would go for chess Joso Spralja sang a medley "Around the Mediterranean" in all the languages from Spanish to Hebrew. And at the other end of Yorkville, there was always Gord Lightfoot at the Riverboat Cafe.
Those were the days!

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: How about some coffee house chess!

This place might be a good choice :) Though it is in Richmond Hill (ON), close to Yonge & Major Mac.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: How about some coffee house chess!

And at the other end of Yorkville, there was always Gord Lightfoot at the Riverboat Cafe.
Those were the days!

I seem to recall also going to Steeles Tavern to see Lightfoot. We used to chat with him between sets. Probably around 1965/66.

With coffee house chess the games you lost (dumped) were as important as the ones you won.