Photograph courtesy of Atlanta Checkmate Club: @Slickdaflicka
On a Wednesday night in July, chess boards and timers crowd tables at Ladybird Grove & Mess Hall. About 50 people play chess elbow to elbow, and conversation drowns the room. Chess is usually a silent affair played in concentration, but through the Atlanta Checkmate Club, the game finds life at loud, crowded bars instead.
Two players in their early 20s sit opposite a board on a tan leather couch. It’s their first date, and they’ve turned to chess to break the ice. In another corner of the room, club founder Seth Dousman, who dons a tattoo of a chess piece—a rook—under his left eye, laughs over a game with Corey Coleman, a club regular who has played chess for the past 25 years.
“Sometimes we get comfortable talking to the same people, but here, everybody’s got one thing in common,” says Coleman. “We’re all different but we all love chess. So you will find something to talk about.”
The Atlanta Checkmate Club was started by Dousman in 2021. After watching Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, Dousman rediscovered his love for chess and convinced friends at The Anguished Barber, a since-closed barbershop and cocktail bar in Midtown, to host casual chess nights.
In those early days, there were only four people, including Dousman. The club
grew steadily—attracting interest through word of mouth and social media—and set itself apart by meeting at a unique venue for chess: bars. Today the club hosts chess nights each week at Ladybird, Politan Row, and Park Tavern. Dousman says that events can draw up to a hundred players per night.
“You go to a club, you want to meet people, or drinking is the main focal point,” says Dousman. “This [club] has become a great way for people to interact and build relationships in an intellectual way over the boards.”
The Atlanta Checkmate Club welcomes experts and newcomers. Some people have been with the club since the beginning, while new faces filter in each week. If people are confident in their chess skills, there’s a tournament with cash prizes for the winners. For novices, there’s also casual play before the tournament kicks off.
Matt Thomas, a world chessboxing champion and friend of Dousman, helped the club get off the ground in its early days. Thomas has been playing chess since he was a kid. He competed in martial arts as well, which led to his career in chessboxing, a hybrid sport in which opponents square off in a boxing match, then over a chessboard between rounds (either a checkmate or knockout ensures the win). As interest in chess and chessboxing grows, Thomas believes younger generations are seeking more humanity in an increasingly digital world.
“We’re in a more disconnected generation where you can just lose yourself scrolling social media,” says Thomas. “Or you can get out, be social, and play a game that people have been playing for thousands of years.”
As Dousman looks to expand the club, he hopes to share his love of chess with each new player who sits down at the boards one night at Ladybird or Politan Row.
“I want more people to play chess,” says Dousman. “The more logical thinkers we have in the world, the better.”
This article appears in our December 2025 issue.
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Joe Reisigl
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