Business
Official opening of World Chess Club Berlin
Official opening of World Chess Club Berlin.
About this update from World Chess Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n22 May 2023\nWorld Chess Plc\n(\"World Chess\" or the \"Company\" or the \"Group\")\nOfficial opening of World Chess Club Berlin\nWorld Chess Plc (LSE: CHSS), a leading chess organisation seeking to promote the mass market appeal of chess globally through the commercial offering of different chess-related activities, is pleased to announce that World Chess Club Berlin (the \"Club\") has now officially opened.\nThe opening marks the launch of World Chess' ambitions to reinvent the chess club culture in its entirety. The aim is to modernise the concept to fit more readily into mainstream society and function more as a social and collaborative centre. World Chess sees Berlin as an obvious location to debut this new and revised approach, given the cumulative factors of the substantial popularity of chess within Germany, and its vibrant café and bar scene. \nThe Club is located in the centre of the city on the popular street of Unter Den Linden, which starkly contrasts traditional chess clubs that have lately functioned out of multipurpose rooms. It will operate as a bar, event space, concept chess shop, coffee shop, and café and is hoped to set a new standard for the whole industry. \nWorld Chess Club Berlin will also act as a hub, hosting chess events for the respective city as well as the rest of Europe. In addition, it will operate as the Armageddon Chess Series' headquarters, with the 2023 series already being staged and filmed from its bespoke, purpose-built studio.\n \nAs the Berlin Club is part of the World Chess ecosystem, members of the FIDE Online Arena will get additional discounts and member-only access to a limited number of events. In keeping with World Chess' aim to grow the sport and encourage people from all backgrounds, the Club is open to all with no need for a membership. \n \nThe Club will not only operate as a symbolically significant space for the chess community but is also visually captivating, standing to act as a physical landmark for the sport going forward. World Chess believes this is only the beginning of the chess club renaissance and intends to open further clubs around the world in the future. \nIlya Merenzon, Chief Executive Officer of World Chess, said:\n\"To date, chess has suffered from a lack of dedicated clubs and those that do exist are often very traditional...