Gariahat Chess Club, the famous open-air chess club under the Gariahat flyover. Photo: Lennart Ootes

The Gariahat Chess Club: A Hotspot for Chess Lovers in Kolkata

JARVIS_SL

Oct 11, 2023, 12:46 PM | 5

Hello everyone, welcome to JARVIS_SL's Blog. I hope you all are good.

How do you think a chess club should be? Many of you will answer that it should have a beautiful building, there should be a very calm environment and if there are a few chess grandmasters then it's fun. Anyway, today in my blog I will talk about a chess club that does not have any of these three things. Neither does it have a building, nor does it have a calm environment.

That chess club is the famous Gariahat Chess Club of Kolkata. Here you need a lot of focus to play the game. This is not because chess requires focus, it is because of the distractions. Here you need to deal with the traffic noise, honking, chattering pedestrians, screaming hawkers and so on. That's why playing chess here is more challenging than indoors.

Gariahat Chess Club

Formation

In mid 1980s, people who love chess played in the Golpark-Gariahat area as an informal hangout. In 2006, the Gariahat Chess Club took shape and the members were shifted to under the Gariahat flyover. In August 2018, the Kolkata Police officially inaugurated this chess club. GM Dibyendu Barua, the city-based grandmaster and the 2nd Grandmaster of India, was also present at the time of inauguration.

Description of the club

As this is a chess club, it's necessary to make it as comfortable as possible so that people can concentrate properly. So, the club decided to install some awesome concrete benches and tables for the members to enjoy a comfortable spot to play the game. And guess what? This club is open almost 24×7. Some fantastic lights were set up to keep the games going even after the sun sets. The club is located in a place where buses, taxis, auto-rickshaws and even other vehicles pass by on both sides. So, safety railings were also added to provide extra protection. Because of the railings, the members can play their games without any worries.

In the club, there are more than twelve tables, cute arched lamp posts, and comfortable benches where people can sit and enjoy watching a game of chess. The club also provides laminated chess boards and chess pieces. The chess boards and chess pieces are kept in a box. Members can use them whenever the want to play and place them back in the box when they are finished with their game.

1.The chess board and the chess pieces. Photo: Lennart Ootes
2. Members can play their games even after the sunset because of the arched lamp posts. Photo: Photosticlife
3. Concrete benches and tables are there for the members. Photo: Sudipto Biswas

Members and Membership Fee

This club is a home of almost 200 chess lovers. For just Rs 200, anybody can become a lifetime member and enjoy all the perks that come with it. If someone is not ready to become a lifetime member, he/she can become a registered member by paying a small fee of Rs 10. First-time visiters can compete without any fee.

The money collected as membership fee is used to buy new chessboards and keep premises of the club clean and tidy. The club want to provide the best possible environment for the members to enjoy their games.

Chess is just like an addiction for me. Once I start playing, I can't stop. Sometimes, the games continue till midnight.
— Abhijit Saha, secretary of Gariahat Chess Club

Some Renowned Visiters

In 2018, GM Wesley So visited the Gariahat Chess Club. He played some games against various club members. He also signed autographs, took selfies with fans.

A selfie with fans. Photo: Bishwarup Dutta

In 2019, GM Ding Liren and GM Hikaru Nakamura visited the club. They played a friendly game against each other and against some club members.

I have visited a number of countries, but I never came across a chess club on such a busy road. I heard that people, many of them without any formal training, gather here to play chess. This shows how passionate this city is about the game.
— Hikaru Nakamura

Ding Liren(Right), Dibyendu Barua(Middle) and Hikaru Nakamura(Left). They were almost mobbed by fans and players. Photo: The Times of India

IM Sagar Shah, an Indian chess player and YouTube content creator, also visited and played a game against a chess lover at this club.

In 2019. WGM Tania Sachdev played a chess game against GM Dibyendu Barua at Gariahat Chess Club during a meet and greets session of Tata Steel Chess India.

I hope you enjoyed my this blog. If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to leave a comment below. And if you're ever in the Gariahat area don't miss out the chance to visit this fantastic club. Trust me, you won't regret!