Introduction: We’re thrilled to share a personal account from one of our esteemed club members, Dr. George Chressanthis. As he traverses the globe, his love for chess finds its way into the heart of every city he visits. Dive into his recent journey through Europe and discover the universality of the game we all love.

I’ve been very fortunate in my life to travel to many places around the world outside the US. And as someone who loves to play chess, I always seek out places in foreign venues where the locals play. Playing chess with locals is a lot of fun and I’ve always found it’s a great way to meet people. No matter the language or culture, chess allows us to connect with others, to bridge our differences, and to achieve mutual understanding.

A few examples. London players gather in pubs, but to play, you must buy beer as a way to compensate the pub owner for the players to occupy tables. In Switzerland, Zurich and Berne players gather around large-scale outdoor ground-level chess sets. In Australia, a similar outdoor setup exists in a Sydney park, while in Melbourne, players gather in the main library downtown. A memorable moment for me was to play chess in a West Berlin tavern in the late 1980’s before The Wall came down, drinking beer, and talking geopolitics way past midnight! There are many other places I can mention.

But hands down, my favorite place to play chess is in The City of Light, known as Paris. I just returned from a London-Paris trip. Paris has many iconic views.

Notre Dame Cathedral, which will hopefully be fully renovated in time for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

There of course is the Eiffel Tower.

The Arc de Triomphe is famous for the place hosting many Parisian celebrations.

And of course Paris has great art to view, like Starry Night Over The Rhône by Van Gogh, in the must see Musee d’Orsay.

But for chess, Paris is a great city to play. There are many clubs that dot the city. I’ve been to a few clubs, some are upscale where you need a letter of introduction (I had one written up on a previous trip from my friend the late GM Arthur Bisguier) and others that are more low-key and open to all players with a wide range of playing strength. But my favorite place to play is to join local Parisians in Luxembourg Garden located in the Latin Quarter.

The park has a large area of outdoor tables. You can see part of the setup in the photo. I’m the gray-hair old dude with the tinted glasses! There are other rows of tables. On a nice day, a large number of players will show up.

Oh, and how did I fair against the local Parisians? I went 7-1, my lone loss was on time with a winning endgame. But more importantly, I had a lot of fun!

So my advice to everyone who loves to travel and play chess, don’t be afraid to mix it up with local players. I have so many fond memories of the people I’ve met on my chess playing foreign trips.

Yours in chess,

Dr. George Chressanthis