Is Hookah Chess the Next Big Thing?

As yet the signs are few and far between, but if you have a trend-spotter’s sense of what’s around the bend, you may be able to discern the early signs of a confluence between hookah lounges, which seem to be the rage these days, and chess, a tony and dignified form of leisure that some apparently see as consonant with upscale smoking.

As it was with steak joints and cigars a few years ago, there may be a marriage of convenience in the works between an emerging, popular trend angling for respectability and a marginally popular but age-old game with respectability to spare.

Among the evidence for this trend is a plan by the Chicago Chess Meetup Group to hold a meeting at a hookah bar tomorrow at noon.

Is this a real trend or a blip on the screen? Is it good for chess? Vote in our poll in the right-hand column.