In Praise of Brick and Mortar Chess Clubs

Chess Life, the magazine of the United States Chess Federation recently ran an article praising the rise of online chess while lamenting ever so slightly the decline of the "brick and mortar" chess club. I have belonged to several brick and mortar clubs over the years and I also play on several online chess playing sites. While the game is the same (at least the rules are similar), the environments are completely different. You typically don't see your opponent in online chess although he may taunt you (courage behind a keyboard is truly something to behold) and you aren't always sure exactly who you are playing. This is especially true on the slower sites. Before we fly into a Luddite rage about computers, I might point out it was not uncommon to gather at the local chess club to analyze postal games in the pre-computer era either. At a brick and mortar club you get to meet your opponents, learn from them or teach them and socialize with them during and after the meeting. Chess used to be the province of "gentlemen" something to do when sports weren't available or age had robbed one of the ability to anchor the defensive line. Later it became more egalitarian. The friends I made at my local chess club have been my friends for almost 35 years now. Sadly, the club has declined but not because of online chess. Brick and mortar clubs take organizers. They also need places to meet. In our case, because of changing demographics, a lot of the members had moved a good distance from the club and the price of gas has taken its toll. Fortunately we all found a new club and reformed our relationships there. The old club is still going but will probably not last much longer. Had we brought in new and younger players and found more people to help run the club, this probably wouldn't have happened. So it isn't online chess that is doing in the brick and mortar club, it's people. Still, 50 years is a pretty good run for any kind of club and maybe, just maybe someone else will come in the door.