The right moves: How Bangalore Chess Club is making the game fun

Bangalore Chess Club been organising chess matches at Lahe Lahe, a cultural and community hub and café in Indiranagar, twice a month

Amey Sirdeshpande, 16, got hooked to chess largely because of Samay Raina’s online streams.

Raina, a stand-up comic and chess enthusiast, was one of COVID-19 lockdown’s greatest hits, with his YouTube channel becoming a rage. Laced with comedy and banter, it helped the game shed its studious image and appeal to an audience beyond the sport’s traditional fraternity.

The Bangalore Chess Club (BCC) is trying something similar — a dedicated set of volunteers led by techie Tarun Mittal have been organising chess matches at Lahe Lahe, a cultural and community hub and café in Indiranagar, twice a month.

The setting is informal, with players cutting across all age groups revelling in an environment that is far removed from the cut-throat world of competitive chess. Generally considered rude to talk while others are playing, the atmosphere out here is chatty but not loud. There are no referees, players keep their own time and are guaranteed seven rounds (Blitz format). Amey, naturally, is a regular here.

“We don’t target those who are serious about chess, but rather those who are flirting with the game,” says Tarun. “To them, we offer a fun variant. It is ultimately about how much value you put for a win. The value we are assigning here is very low. We are not rewarding the winners, but give lucky draw prizes in the end. So people are not really competing.”

The idea to start a chess club was born in 2015 when Manish Simon, an architect from Bengaluru who has since moved to Berlin, put out a post on Meetup asking those interested in playing chess to come to Freedom Park.

Around five or six people turned up and it gradually grew from there. Tarun got involved with the community during the pandemic, and has been one of the mainstays ever since he moved to the city for his full-time job. BCC now averages 100 people per event, with a promise of more.