St. Louis Chess Center
The new $1,000,000 St. Louis Chess Club held a “pre-opening” gala event for the media and local chess afficionados Wednesday evening; the official opening is Thursday, July 17.
Report and pictures by Steve Goldberg here and here.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
I believe Susan’s old chess club in Queens cost $1.3 million.
A $1,000,000 chess club using $5 chess sets :-).
Someone please answer the obvious: HOW IS THIS PAID FOR!?!?!?! No way $80 annual dues would pay for even a sliver of the utility bill. Who’s bankrolling this?
I was going to ask that obvious question but you beat me to it, anon 8:18.
Why I am, of course!
.
Who paid $ to make this club happen, you asked?
ANSWER is “Rex Sinquefield” at…
http://scholasticchess.blogspot
.com/2008/07/
more-photos-from-new-st-louis-chess.html
Click here
.
It looks like an awesome club and opens during a time when most chess clubs are dying because of the Internet. I hope to see more clubs like this in the future but I will not hold my breath. If they hold International events I would even travel to play there. Bravo!
If only $1million had been pledged to save the old Manhattan Chess Club when it was located at Carnegie Hall!
The Idea counts, not the money. Hopefully the new club will stimulate some good chess culture…
The Idea counts, not the money. Hopefully the new club will stimulate some good chess culture…
Wooden Chessboards & Pieces would fit better.
It’s funny that in chess often most important stuff – the actual board and pieces etc. are neglected. (Fischer would agree…)
Reminds me of the World Championship 1978 in Baguio/ Phillippines when there was also a lot of money invested and a new Congression Center built but….there were no suitable chesspieces for the start of the world championship!
(Had to be brought in from Manila in the last second)
A agree with the last anon about the boards and pieces. If you have $1,000,000 to spend on a chess club, at least you could get some decent sets.
Just one of the picture frames on the wall probably cost as much as all four of those sets!
State-of-the-art would be Electronic DGT-boards that are in use for World Chess Championships and the major tournaments. They are full-sized wooden tournament boards and give you the option of broadcasting games live on the shiny big flatscreens ….
I don’t think most club games need to be broadcast live or projected on a big screen. And the sets that come with the DGT boards are pretty low quality.