The Los Angeles Chess Social will mark 10 years Saturday, Sept. 26, at the South Pasadena Masonic Lodge.
The club, founded in South Pasadena in 2016, says the night will bring social chess organizations from across Los Angeles together for open play, live music and a grandmaster exhibition, with profits going to the LA Food Bank.
The main event runs from 8 p.m. to midnight at the lodge, 1126 Fair Oaks Ave. Admission is a $20 suggested donation, parking is free and the event is limited to those 21 and over, the club said.
Two optional sessions come first. International Master Levon Altounian will give a chess lecture from 7 to 8 p.m., and from 5 to 8 p.m. players can take on Grandmaster Arman Mikaelyan in a simultaneous exhibition with space for up to 40 participants, the club said. Registration for the exhibition is on the club’s website.
Inside, the club said, the evening will carry six live music acts, chess puzzle tables, live painting, local art vendors, three projection-based visual artists and open play throughout the venue. Brews Brothers is providing adult beverages and The Hoot Cafe is providing coffee.
Karl Grant founded the group in South Pasadena in 2016 on the premise that chess did not have to be quiet or tournament-bound. Over ten years it has held hundreds of events at more than 35 locations across Southern California and featured dozens of local musicians and artists, according to the club.
“Ten years ago, I wanted to create a place where people could simply walk in, sit down, and play chess with other people without needing to join a club or enter a tournament,” Grant said in the announcement. “There are now social chess communities all over Los Angeles, and we wanted to celebrate that entire movement alongside our own anniversary.”
The anniversary doubles as a gathering for the LA Chess Collective, an alliance of 20 social chess organizations that Grant started with Aron Rivin of the Highland Park Chess Club and that was formally ratified June 3, the club said. Rivin’s club meets Wednesdays at Belle’s Delicatessen & Bar in Highland Park.
Co-hosts named for the anniversary include the Burbank Chess Social, NoHo Chess Social, Long Beach Chess Club, Highland Park Chess Club, The Rookie Chess League, Boyle Heights Chess Club, The Chess Maidens, Chillhop Chess Club, Larchmont Chess Club, DTLA Chess Club, Los Feliz Chess Club, Inglewood Chess Club, Hollywood Chess Social, Chess in the City and Jefferson Park Chess Club, with other regional groups also taking part.
Last year’s ninth anniversary filled Der Wolf at 72 N. Fair Oaks Ave. in Pasadena, across two floors and a back patio.
