Message from the Club President
Greetings Chess Players,
In the Spring of 2012, I was getting tired of playing chess on my Windows Vista Laptop. I wanted to go out and play a real person, over a real board. So, I decided to do a search on the Internet for a chess club to which I could go.
I found Juan Jauregui’s chess club, which was in a very old house that had been converted to an art gallery in Downtown Las Vegas. Come to find out, my chess strength was very weak, and I was no match for my opponents, but I was playing a real person over a real board, so I must have found what I was looking for, right?
One day, Juan mentioned going to Panera Bread to meet on a casual basis. He even had an online presence on Meetup.com, in which he used to advertise the thought of meeting at the said Panera Bread for casual chess.
Paul McGaugh was, at the time, the organizer of the Vegas Chess Club on Meetup.com, and eventually he lost interest in it, so I became the new organizer of the Vegas Chess Club on Meetup.com.
I was the one in control of scheduling new meet-ups at Panera Bread; and voila, I renamed the Vegas Chess Club to Casual Coffeehouse Chess Club (shortened to just simply Casual Chess Club in 2017). Like a few sports teams in Las Vegas, Casual Chess Club joined them as being “Vegas Born”.
Come April 2020 will mark the 8th year that Casual Chess Club has been established. The club has come a very long way since those beginnings at the Art Gallery. Thanks to several supporters of the club, it has become an incredibly popular spot for chess in Las Vegas!
Also, it has come to my attention, that doing a Google search for “Chess in Vegas” reveals the Jersey Mike’s we currently play at.
I welcome you to join me for a game at 1772 S. Rainbow Blvd, Ste 110, Tuesday nights starting at 5pm
May your King get to the center and your Pawns reach the 8th rank!
— Chris Watkins, President – Casual Chess Club
