Chess Centres

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Chess Centres, as opposed to Chess clubs, are established premises where chess-related activities take place, (especially coaching for children), and which often contain a chess shop, tournament hall, coaching areas, library, internet cafe and offices.

Modern Chess Centres are often owned and run by private enterprise. They may host a particular chess organisation or club, or have several such organisations sharing the premises, yet this is increasingly giving way to such centres being run as part of a chess business. This type of centre is usually buzzing with activity and provides an atmosphere more akin to a children's sports gym than the traditional, quiet chess club.

Examples of some well known Modern Chess Centres within the international chess community are:

  • The Polgar Chess Center; Queens, New York, USA.
  • The Gardiner Chess Centre; Mudgeeraba, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
  • The London Chess Centre, Euston, UK.
  • The US Chess Center, Washington D.C.
  • The Atatürk Chess Centre, Ankara, Turkey.

The famous Russian Central House of Chess (also known as the Moscow Botvinnik Central Chess Club), is a prime example of an old style Chess Centre that revolves around chess club-style activities for adults and elite junior players (i.e. mainly just tournaments), and which regularly run at a financial loss, usually propped up through government or philanthropic sponsorship. If a centre of the old style can somehow meet its financial obligations, then it can be a wonderful and important environment for the serious chess player, especially if the centre includes a museum and library. However, centres of this type are declining in number.

At the start of the 21st century, various new, ambitious centres have opened worldwide, especially in the USA. This is partly as a result of a rapid growth in the interest in chess as an educational tool, and steadily increasing momentum in chess-in-schools programs. These centres are not only being called upon to supply professional chess coaches to schools, but are also generating a lot of business in the after-school activities market, as many parents are reporting myriad developmental and academic benefits for children involved in these programs.

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