Your Tuesdays and Wednesdays are quiet anyway. We come with our own people, and it costs you nothing
We're a chess club. Our evenings are adults who sit down to play after work and spend two to three hours at the table: they order, talk and stay to the end. These evenings usually take place in coffee shops and bars, and the venue gets a full room on a day when it would otherwise be empty.
You don't need to organize anything or pay anything: the boards, clocks and host are ours, and guests pay for themselves. All we need from you is the room, tables and light.
Simple math you know better than we do: Friday and Saturday carry the week, while Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday sit idle. The room is open, the staff are on shift, the rent is ticking, and there are no guests.
Meanwhile, we're looking for a place to hold our evenings, and we bring people with us. It's an exchange where nobody pays anybody: you get guests, we get a venue. After that, it's all down to your place: if people like the food, the service and the atmosphere, some of them will come back on their own, and not just on our nights.
We're not an agency, and we're not selling you an event. We're a club that needs a room on Tuesdays, and that's more honest than any sales pitch.
Tuesday and Wednesday are the quietest evenings of the week for almost everyone. We fill the room at a time when it would be standing empty anyway
A chess evening means two to three hours at the table. Not a takeaway coffee or a quick dinner: guests have time to order, finish and order again
Our crowd goes to places they wouldn't have found on their own. Someone who likes it comes back with friends, without us
Your venue is named in the announcement: the address, photos, what you do well. For part of our audience it's their first introduction to your place
You get real photos of your room full of people, not of an empty interior. You're welcome to use them too
Chess doesn't bother your other guests: no host with a microphone, no music, no shouting. The rest of the room carries on as usual
All we need is tables, chairs and light. No stage, no sound system, no projector, no moving furniture
If the first evening works, it becomes a fixed night of the week, the very mechanism venues use to pull their weeknights up
We bring our own: people who come to play and have dinner while they're at it. How many to expect on your date, we'll tell you honestly when we discuss it
Boards, clocks, score sheets: all ours. We arrive early, set everything up ourselves and take it away after the evening
Explains the rules, runs the pairings, keeps the standings and announces the winners. Your staff aren't involved in any of it
Your venue features in the evening's announcement and in the posts afterwards. We also hand over the photos
Usually from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Part of the main room, an upstairs floor or a separate room all work
Rectangular tables work better than round ones, and ordinary overhead light is fine. Nothing else really matters
People stay two to three hours and order at their own pace. If you have strict table time limits, it's best to tell us up front
A discount on the first drink or a set for participants. Not required, but it makes a noticeable difference to the average order
Venue requirements in detail: what a tournament needs. In short: rectangular tables and ordinary lighting matter more than size or decor.
We arrive and set out the boards and clocks. Your staff aren't involved
Guests arrive, order and get to know each other. Registration takes a minute in the app
The rounds begin. Between games people order again, and it's the calmest part of the evening for the kitchen
Results, prizes, photos. Some guests stay on afterwards, without us
We pack up the equipment and leave. The room is exactly as we found it
The timing adapts to you: for a coffee shop that closes at nine, we start earlier and play fewer rounds.
One weeknight to get to know each other. No strings attached: if it doesn't work for you, we part as friends
A regular evening once a week or every other week. Guests get used to it, and the room starts filling up on its own
Tied to a date or an occasion of yours: a season opening, the venue's anniversary, a new menu launch
Your prize for the winner, your name on the tournament, your own twist built into the evening. Discussed separately
It's almost always worth starting with a pilot: one evening tells you more than any presentation. If what you need is not this but a turnkey event of your own, see chess evenings for restaurants and a tournament in a restaurant.
Bright, quiet, the right kind of tables. The best option of all, especially if your evenings are nearly empty
Works if there's an area without loud music. The bar takings from an evening like this are noticeable on a weeknight
You need a separate room or an upstairs floor. Guests arrive hungry straight from work, which is exactly what you want
Plenty of space and a crowd of their own. Good for bigger evenings
And to be clear about who it doesn't suit: places with very loud music, strict table time limits, or round tables on a heavy pedestal. We'll tell you that honestly up front, not after a spoiled evening.
Send us three things: your neighborhood and address, how many people you can seat, and which night is your emptiest. We'll reply the same day, suggest a date and tell you honestly how many people to expect at your place.
No contract and no commitments to start with: one evening doesn't tie either side to anything
In the basic version, nothing: we come with our own guests and our own equipment, and guests pay for themselves. If you want a turnkey tournament as your own venue's event, that's a different conversation with different terms, and there's a separate page about it.
It depends on the neighborhood, the day of the week and the time of year, so we don't quote impressive numbers in advance. When we discuss a specific date, we give you an honest estimate, and it's better to start with a pilot evening than with promises.
People come to the evening after work and stay for two to three hours, which usually settles the question. Naturally, we can't and won't guarantee how much they'll spend.
Quite the opposite: a chess evening is quiet, with no host on a microphone and no music. Regular customers often come over to watch, and sometimes sit down to play.
Tuesday or Wednesday: those are usually the quietest days for venues, and people still have some energy left. Monday and Thursday work too. Friday is the worst choice for this format, since your room is full without us.
Hardly anything. We need tables at two people per table and normal lighting. Sometimes we ask to push a couple of tables together and turn the background music down a notch, and that's it.
Then the format gets shorter: we start earlier and play fewer rounds. Coffee shops are actually even better suited for this than restaurants, since they're quieter and brighter.
Yes, and that's the whole idea. One evening brings one-off revenue, while your own night of the week builds a habit: people start coming to you on their own, including on dates that aren't ours.
We are, but to be upfront: the farther from the center and the metro, the fewer people will make the trip on a weeknight. Sometimes it makes sense to start with a weekend or to lower expectations on headcount in advance.
Message us on Telegram with your neighborhood, capacity and which night is your emptiest. We'll reply the same day and suggest a date for a pilot.
What our evenings look like from a guest's point of view: chess evenings in Moscow. Your venue's own event: chess evenings for restaurants, a tournament in a restaurant, a tournament in a bar. If a corporate client is coming to you: corporate tournaments in Moscow.
