The Portland Chess Club is celebrating its 100th anniversary. However, it is NOT the oldest chess club in the US. Can you name the oldest chess club in the US?
Bonus question: Can you also name the oldest chess club in the world?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
oldest in USA: Mechanics Institute
oldest in world: Schachgesellchaft Zurich
US- Marshall club in New York
World Wide: Schachgesellschaft Zürich,
Mechanics’ Institute San Francisco
My guess is 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5!?
Ah no—it’s a place I should have thought to visit while presenting my chess research here earlier this week! But also unlike 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5, it doesn’t have a variation named after it…
I guess the Manhattan CC (is it still alive?), Memphis CC (Tennessee), Marshall CC (New York) or the Mechanics Institute CC (San Francisco). The Memphis Chess Club opened in 1877 (closed due to city wide illness), then reopened in 1901.
Does the club need to be continuous? The Kansas City Chess Club (Missouri) is old, but not continuous.
The oldest chess club in the US is:
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 a6
4. Ba4 Nf6
5. 0-0 Be7
6. Re1 b5
7. Bb3 0-0
8. c3 d5!
Mechanics’ chess club in San Francisco
Just a guess:
Oldest in USA: Marshall Chess Club
in New York City
Oldest in world: Cafe de la Regence
in Paris, France.
The oldest US chess club is the Post Street chess club in San Francisco, while the oldest in the world is the one in Zurich, Switzerland with a very long name.