Chess in the Churchyard: Toronto

I can’t resist the bonhomie of street chess, so when I found myself in Toronto for the day last Thursday, I made sure to visit the one spot in town where I knew there to be a lively version of it generally in progress: the courtyard of the Metropolitan United Church, on Queen Street between Church and Bond.

The churchyard has four chess tables located a piously appropriate distance from and building’s entrance. Still, if you enter the church from the front you can’t avoid walking past the chess boards.

From about 3:30 in the afternoon on there were five or six games going on at any time, the woodpushers having appropriated not just the chess tables proper but some of the assorted picnic tables that also dot the yard. The scene was mostly male and slightly raucous though perfectly friendly. Five-minute blitz appeared to be the game of choice, though some clock-free games were under way. No money changed hands at the table where I played (won 1, lost 2).

I also stopped by the incredible plaza at Yonge and Dundas to see the irrepressible chess entertainer Raul, who holds court on the corner. He charges five dollars a game (“a donation, not gambling”). I didn’t have time for that. Maybe next visit.

Raul

Raul photo by Danielle Scott via flickr

Street Chess By the Bay

As I think I've said before, I'm a sucker for street chess. Here's an excerpt from a documentary on the game as it's played in San Francisco. Is that Market Street?

And, yes, money is changing hands. It happens.

Chess Straight Up & the Longest Game

So sue me: I'm a sucker for street chess. This video from the Washington Post featuring chess expert Tom Murphy takes place at Washington, D.C.'s Dupont Circle, but it could have been Hyde Park, the North Avenue Chess Pavilion, Washington Square Park in New York, or any one of hundreds of places around the country where blitz is played fast and sharp and loud. . . . Question of the week: Where have all the chess clubs gone? Glenn Panner wants to know. . . . Did you know that there's a league of professional chess teams in the United States and Chicago is not a part of it? No, I'm not happy about it, either, but I mention it because this week Robert Hess of the New York Knights and Mikhail Zlotnikov of the New Jersey Knockouts played one of the longest chess games you'll ever see, a 114-move draw. If you've got some time to kill, get a cool drink, pull up a chair, and watch:

Whew!

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