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Anyone who has been to the Big Apple knows that Washington Square and Thompson Street is where you can get your chess fix. I read on Susan Polgar's blog that the Village Chess Shop has closed. This is very sad to me.
The Village Chess Shop has been at 230 Thompson Street since 1972. Chess'n Math has been supplying them with chess books & equipment since the late 1980's. At some point one of their managers opened up a chess shop called "Chess Forum" across the street! Yes in NYC...competition is the name of the game! You can google that and I am sure you will be able to get the scoop :). You can also look at this site for hints:
http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.ca/...hess-shop.html
We sold goods to both locations and to be honest the owner of the "Chess Forum" was more hands on while at the Village Chess Shop I dealt with a Manager (a fellow by the name of Larry... great guy:) who had to go higher up to make decisions. There was a great tradition at the original joint in the village...I loved their T-Shirt and all the folks playing blitz night after night into the wee hours.
A few years ago the Village Chess Shop was sold. The new owner has not been a fun person to deal with. He refused to pay for goods received from a Canadian distributer and when I dealt with him, I also had a bad experience....fortunately we did not lose any money :)
After 9/11 I was speaking to the owner of Chess Forum and obviously business was suffering as they depend big time on tourists to buy chess sets that are expensive but...that the tournament chess player would not even look at! So at some point he said to me...I am going to sell! Wow...now I was REALLY interested!! Imagine...having a shop in the Village! He was asking a reasonable price...the only problem...well the Canadian dollar was worthless in those days! so you had to add 40% to the price!
So today with the closing of the Village Chess Shop obviously he is probably less interested in selling...although I will see him in February 2013 when I go to the Big Apple for my annual trek...who knows :). On second thought... I think I will give him a call tonight :)
In closing, I am truely sad to see the closing of the Village Chess Shop...it was a must go to place for chessplayers and tourists...and the staff cared about the chessplayer for most of those 40 years!
When I played chess night and day...I went to "Cafe En Passant" on St. Denis in Montreal...it was a special place and one I will cherish forever! Probably why the CMA head office is located less than 100 metres from their former location...they were at 3619 St Denis and we bought at 3423 St Denis...and I bought my home on St. Denis...I guess I have never left home :). The new President of the FQE...Bernard Labadie...was a regular at Cafe En Passant in those days...great experiences in life always inspire us to give back! Thank you Bernard for taking on these responsabilities at the FQE after an awesome 3 years with Marc Poulin!
Bernard tells me we played in those smokey coffee house days..my memory...or the smoke...has blocked out the results :)
Today in Montreal, thanks to Mr. Arpad Kiss we have "Cafe Pi" on St. Laurent. He is doing a great job of providing a home to chess fans!
Coffee House chess is what memories are made of!
Good Bye Village Chess Shop...your memories will live forever!
Larry
The Village Chess Shop has been at 230 Thompson Street since 1972. Chess'n Math has been supplying them with chess books & equipment since the late 1980's. At some point one of their managers opened up a chess shop called "Chess Forum" across the street! Yes in NYC...competition is the name of the game! You can google that and I am sure you will be able to get the scoop :). You can also look at this site for hints:
http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.ca/...hess-shop.html
We sold goods to both locations and to be honest the owner of the "Chess Forum" was more hands on while at the Village Chess Shop I dealt with a Manager (a fellow by the name of Larry... great guy:) who had to go higher up to make decisions. There was a great tradition at the original joint in the village...I loved their T-Shirt and all the folks playing blitz night after night into the wee hours.
A few years ago the Village Chess Shop was sold. The new owner has not been a fun person to deal with. He refused to pay for goods received from a Canadian distributer and when I dealt with him, I also had a bad experience....fortunately we did not lose any money :)
After 9/11 I was speaking to the owner of Chess Forum and obviously business was suffering as they depend big time on tourists to buy chess sets that are expensive but...that the tournament chess player would not even look at! So at some point he said to me...I am going to sell! Wow...now I was REALLY interested!! Imagine...having a shop in the Village! He was asking a reasonable price...the only problem...well the Canadian dollar was worthless in those days! so you had to add 40% to the price!
So today with the closing of the Village Chess Shop obviously he is probably less interested in selling...although I will see him in February 2013 when I go to the Big Apple for my annual trek...who knows :). On second thought... I think I will give him a call tonight :)
In closing, I am truely sad to see the closing of the Village Chess Shop...it was a must go to place for chessplayers and tourists...and the staff cared about the chessplayer for most of those 40 years!
When I played chess night and day...I went to "Cafe En Passant" on St. Denis in Montreal...it was a special place and one I will cherish forever! Probably why the CMA head office is located less than 100 metres from their former location...they were at 3619 St Denis and we bought at 3423 St Denis...and I bought my home on St. Denis...I guess I have never left home :). The new President of the FQE...Bernard Labadie...was a regular at Cafe En Passant in those days...great experiences in life always inspire us to give back! Thank you Bernard for taking on these responsabilities at the FQE after an awesome 3 years with Marc Poulin!
Bernard tells me we played in those smokey coffee house days..my memory...or the smoke...has blocked out the results :)
Today in Montreal, thanks to Mr. Arpad Kiss we have "Cafe Pi" on St. Laurent. He is doing a great job of providing a home to chess fans!
Coffee House chess is what memories are made of!
Good Bye Village Chess Shop...your memories will live forever!
Larry
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