Chess Forum is a retail store with a community-serving mission. The income we generate from the store goes towards keeping the playing and learning chess section of the store.
We are proud to be able to provide New York City and Greenwich Village with a community center where people of all ages can come to play or learn chess.
Seniors pay $1 per hour and children under 18 play free.
Chess Forum is the place where Bobby Fischer used to come to play chess and where number 2 chess player in the world, Fabiano Caruana, started his illustrious chess career. And in between these two world-class chess players thousands of children and adults played chess and came to learn the game from its basic rules to its advanced strategies and tactics. And all in a simple, warm, welcoming and supportive environment where the true democratic spirit of chess is at full display. People of all ages, economic and social and linguistic backgrounds gather around our chess boards and engage in very interesting, intellectual conversations without the need to say a word. Chess, music and math are their own languages and can bring people together when nothing else might seem to be in common between them.
We aspire to give the world more American and New Yorker world champions, but our real mission is to create an intelligent and thoughtful human being. It's more important than creating world champions to help shape decent human beings as well as intelligent and discerning citizens who think before they move and who,as Grandmaster Emanuel Lasker recommended, look for a better move even if there is a good one available to them. We aim to shape a new generation that takes action after thinking deeply about all their moves because thinking helps spare us all many mistakes and action is necessary for the game on the chessboard or the game of life to continue and to move forward. It is important to think before making a move and also to be ready to live with the consequences of our moves and not to try to shift blame or walk away from the responsibility of our own decisions. And it is important to remember that making mistakes is part of the any game we play as well as of all our life decisions, but like chess which evolves and changes with every move we make so are our life decisions with all the good and the not so good ones we make because as Grandmaster Savielly Tartakover once said “Some part of a mistake is always correct”.
Once we think hard and play the game by the rules and with our full attention and commitment, we need to accept the results of our game. We need to win graciously and lose gracefully. And that's the sportsmanship of the game of chess, it being a science, an art and a sport.
We discipline ourselves to study and work hard, learn to develop an instinct and a style as well as the courage to innovate, think and play outside the book like great artists do or as former world chess champion Bobby Fischer once said
“You have to have the fighting spirit. You have to force moves and take chances”. Finally we need to learn how to win with modesty and lose with our heads high, smile and shake hands and wish the best to the opponent because tomorrow is another day and every loss is a precious lesson in how to improve and do better because as Bobby Fischer said, “That’s what Chess is all about. One day you give your opponent a lesson, the next day he gives you one”.
These important life lessons are what Chess Forum is about and we hope with your support and the support of City Lore to be able to bring this message of thoughtfulness, hard work and dedication to many new generations of New Yorkers and people from the US and around the world.
And remember, as Lloyd Tevis said: “When in doubt... play Chess!”
