Chess evenings in Tashkent
An evening that has moves in it, not just a bill
Vibe Chess is an evening over the board in a cafe or a chaikhana, and we are now starting it in Tashkent. We run amateur chess tournaments: a few short games, a new opponent after each one, and time for tea and conversation in between. A city that raised two world champions is as good a place for this as any on earth.
How well you play decides nothing here. If you remember how the knight moves, you qualify. The evening does the rest.
A chess party in a city cafe, not a scheduled class in a sports section
Where can you play chess in Tashkent over the board?
If what you want is a classic adult chess club with a rating and a schedule, Tashkent has the national federation, the International Chess Academy and the district clubs: the addresses are collected further down this page. But if you simply want to play chess in the evening, somewhere alive and without qualifying norms, that is us. A cafe, boards straight on the tables, four or five opponents in a night.
In summer the pieces come out on the open-air tables too - by the NBU stadium on Akkurgan Street, on Bratislava Street in the Yakkasaray district. Our version works in any weather: lit, at a table, with an opponent already sitting opposite. The format has been road-tested in dozens of cities, and now it is Tashkent's turn.
For anyone whose evenings have started to look alike
A clear order of play in which nobody feels out of place
All you have to do is turn up. After that the evening runs itself: a game, a break for tea, a new opponent, and so on to the final round.
Get to the venue
A cafe or a chaikhana in Tashkent. The exact address comes with the announcement in Telegram.
Give your name at the door
Come a quarter of an hour early: look around, order tea and pick a table.
Sit down for the first game
The time control is short, so a round does not drag. After it the opponent changes.
Take a breath between rounds
The right moment to go through a mistake, or to talk about anything except chess.
Stay after the last round
The final round rarely ends the evening: somebody plays an extra game, somebody arranges the next one.
Six reasons not to come, and why none of them holds
Nobody here is examining you. The board is there for something else - to make it easier for strangers to end up at the same table.
You can come alone, and any level of play will do.
One thing is required: knowing how the pieces move. The rest we explain on the spot, before the first round.
“I play badly”
Almost nobody here is counting. Over an evening the opponents vary a great deal, and one of them is certain to be your match.
“Everyone will be a master”
The city really is a chess city, but our evening is not a selection trial for the academy: people come because they feel like playing.
“I do not know anyone there”
Neither does almost anyone at the next table. By the third round the question answers itself.
“It will be awkward”
For ten minutes, maybe. After that you are calculating a line, and there is no attention left for awkwardness.
“I have not touched the pieces in years”
The rules are the same as they were. Two games and your hands remember everything.
“I do not know how it will go”
Look at the announcement in Telegram: it has the place and the time. The organizer explains the order of rounds on the spot.
This is about the evening, not about sport
Warm light, boards on the tables, a teapot and a piala beside them. One player is calculating a line, another is already going through a game he lost. Outside it is an ordinary Tashkent evening, and inside it has clearly worked out.
A tournament for the thrill, not for a title
The frame of the evening is a tournament: rounds, pairings, a table. But it is there to hold the tempo, not to create drama. Winning is pleasant; losing here costs almost nothing.
Four to six games in an evening
Enough to get into it, few enough not to tire. You leave wanting to come back.
A new opponent every round
The pairing introduces people for you. Even if you arrived without saying a word, by the final round you have company.
Blitz and rapid
We start with rapid and go by the mood of the room - fast chess holds the tempo best.
The bot has all of it: the announcement and the reminder the day before
Open it, choose Tashkent and see the next events. The bot collects the chess announcements for the city, signs you up in two taps and reminds you the day before that your evening is taken.
The channel shows how the format lives in other cities. The bot signs you up for a particular evening.
We are starting chess evenings in Tashkent
The first meetup has not happened yet: we are choosing a venue and gathering the people who will come. Sign up in the bot - when we announce the date you will hear it before the rest and still have a seat.
A chess community grows through a series of city events
Evenings for newcomers
Tables of their own for those just starting, and tables for the experienced. Nobody is bored and nobody is dismantled in one move.
A soft rating
Everyone builds up their own history of evenings and wins, without the sporting bureaucracy around it.
Photo reports
After the first Tashkent meetups the shots and the guests' stories will appear here. For now the way to find out is to come.
What people ask before their first evening
Where can I play chess in Tashkent over the board?›
At Vibe Chess evenings: we gather in cafes and chaikhanas around the city, set the boards out on the tables and play for two or three hours with breaks for talking. The venue is different each time and the address arrives with the announcement in Telegram.
Can I come on my own?›
Yes, and most people do. Your opponent is decided by the pairing, so the company finds itself - coming alone is exactly what this format is built for.
Where do the chess meetups in Tashkent take place?›
In venues around the city: a cafe, a chaikhana, sometimes a restaurant. We pick the place to fit the number of players and publish the point on the map in advance through the Telegram bot.
What is Vibe Chess?›
Vibe Chess runs city chess evenings for adults - an amateur tournament with no rankings and no qualifying norms. The project works in dozens of cities, and it is now starting in Tashkent.
What if I play badly?›
Play as you can. The range of strength at these evenings is wide, and weak play has never yet spoiled anybody's evening. Adult beginners are half the room.
Is it a tournament or a chess party?›
Both. There are rounds and a standings table, but nobody here worries about the points for longer than one change of table.
Do I need to bring a board?›
No. Boards, pieces and clocks are ours. All you bring is the wish to play.
Do I need a rating or a title?›
No. This is an amateur tournament: no FIDE rating, no paperwork, no entry through the federation. Registration is one tap in the bot.
How do I register for the tournament?›
Open the bot, choose Tashkent and tap to join the next meetup. The bot reminds you the day before. That is all.
What if I lose every game?›
It happens, especially at a first meetup. By the second one you already know how people play, and you take your share.
Is there a chess club for adults in Tashkent?›
The classic addresses in the city are strong - the International Chess Academy, the federation, the district clubs - and they are collected further down this page. What we do is different: a chess crowd for one evening, with no membership and no fixed schedule.
What is the time control?›
Fast chess: blitz or rapid, depending on the turnout. A game fits into half an hour, and an evening holds several of them.
Where can I go in the evening in Tashkent if the usual places have worn thin?›
A chess evening is an unusual night out in the plain sense: thinking, living people at the table, and a plot that does not repeat. It is not a bar with music and not a cinema.
Does it work for networking?›
Yes, as a side effect. Over an evening you change four or five opponents and get to talk to each of them - meeting people over a game is easier than at a conference with badges.
How much does it cost?›
Entry is inexpensive and the exact figure is in each announcement. What you order in the cafe is up to you: playing over the board does not require buying dinner.
How do I hear about chess tournaments in Tashkent?›
The bot keeps the schedule by city and writes to you when a meetup appears in yours. The channel is worth following to see how the format lives in other cities.
Where people play and learn chess in Tashkent
Tashkent has given the chess world two champions. Rustam Kasimdzhanov, born here in 1979, became FIDE world champion in 2004; Nodirbek Abdusattorov, also from Tashkent, won the World Rapid Championship in 2021 - the youngest world champion in the history of the event. In 2022 the Uzbekistan team took gold at the Chess Olympiad in Chennai, and the core of that team came out of Tashkent schools. At the centre of the system is the International Chess Academy, created in 2019 on the base of the national youth sports school.
- International Chess AcademyLabzak Street, Shaykhantakhur district · founded in 2019 on the base of the national youth chess sports school; under the Ministry of Youth Policy and Sports since July 2023; national championships, including junior events, are played here
- Chess Federation of Uzbekistan98A Islam Karimov Street, Shaykhantakhur district · the national federation: tournament calendar and national teams; the city has its own branch at poytaxtchess.uz
- Sehrli Shahmat chess club, Mirzo-Ulugbek districtMusavvirlar Street, school no. 225 · children and adults alike - the club writes about students from 5 to 70; phone +998 90 808-09-58
- Sehrli Shahmat chess club, Yakkasaray district28 Bobur Street, school no. 73 · the second venue of the same club
- City ChessTaras Shevchenko Street, Mirabad district · per OpenStreetMap; the source gives no house number, so check on arrival
- Outdoor chess tablesNBU stadium on Akkurgan Street and the tables on Bratislava Street · open-air boards for a summer game: Mirzo-Ulugbek and Yakkasaray districts
- Rustam Kasimdzhanov was born in Tashkent on 5 December 1979 and won the FIDE World Championship in 2004, taking the knockout event while ranked 54th in the world.
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov was born in Tashkent on 18 September 2004 and won the World Rapid Championship in Warsaw in December 2021, beating Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi along the way.
- Uzbekistan won the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai in 2022: Abdusattorov, Yakubboev, Sindarov, Vakhidov and Vokhidov.
- The International Chess Academy was opened by a decision of the federation conference on 16 February 2019; together with the federation's city branch it runs the municipal and national calendar.
Solve a chess puzzle
Mate in one - a real position from a chess database. Solve it and see if you're a fit for us.
Турнир in Tashkent: приложение берёт на себя всю арифметику
Пока вы следите за временем и настроением зала, приложение считает очки, коэффициент Бухгольца и порядок мест. Бесплатно, без тарифов и лимитов.
- 1Создаёте событие в приложении
- 2Открываете запись и зовёте участников
- 3Запускаете туры и вносите результаты
- 4Забираете итоговую таблицу и отчёт TRF
- Швейцарская. число туров - на ваше усмотрение, состав может быть каким угодно
- Круговая. каждый с каждым, идеально для клубного или семейного круга
- Свободная встреча. формат без жеребьёвки, когда важнее общение, чем результат