National Cask Ale week - an opportunity for chess?

[J T Melsom]

Many chess players like a decent pint, and many pubs are looking for activities to fill quiet evenings. Why not combine the 2 and generate publicity for your local club, and sustain the dying breed of traditional pub?

29 March - 5 April is National Cask Ale week an industry wide initiative supported by CAMRA (and local branches also run their own weeks along similarly lines.)

Last year I was asked to do an ad hoc chess evening at my local, this year I tentatively intend 're-locating the club' on the relevant night. Why not see if you can do the same.
One other idea might be to donate/loan an old set to the pub, and visit occasionally to ensure it gets used.

I am aware that a number of clubs already meet at facilities with a bar, this is really about tapping into the mass of people who know the rules and have either given up or never thought about playing 'properly'

[Ben Purton]

Drunken Knights do this As do Kings Head

[Eoin Devane]

Here in Oxford we take a couple of sets down to a Pub every Friday evening. You get the odd comment along the lines of "You know you're in Oxford when they're playing chess in the Pub!", but I'd say we get a greater number of people who are actually interested in the games.

Almost every week we end up with someone watching, and sometimes even playing! Indeed, last Friday one of the barmen came up to us just as we were leaving and demanded that we stay and let him play. He proceeded to sit there for over an hour playing games against different members of our club. His mates even came over as well, and while some of them were rather disparaging, a few were enthusiastically following the games. One of them even commented that he had won some sort of junior tournament in Manchester a few years back! These were locals, not University students.

So yes, from my experience I'd say that this would be a good potential way of attracting people (back) to the game.