I’m approaching the council about installing outdoor chess tables in Dublin city centre.

Ideally I’d like a culture and community to grow around it, similar to Washington Square Park in NY.

So from that perspective the criteria are as follows:

Central enough so accessible by public transport from anywhere in the city.

A quiet public space, with not too much antisocial behaviour.

But with enough footfall and visibility to attract passerbys and to market itself to the public.

Large enough space for at least two tables.

Ideally a bit of shelter would be nice, but aware that’s probably not realistic.

In time I could organise a Meetup group and tournaments.

Can people make suggestions of suitable locations please?

EDIT: here’s a list of suggestions so far:

Iveagh Gardens, St Stephen’s Green, Merrion Square, Wolfe Tone Square, Foster Place, Smithfield Square, Barnardo Square, Wilton Park, Blessington Basin, Botanical Gardens, Trinity College, Parliament Street, Capel Street, Portobello, Along the canal somewhere, Dartmouth Sq, gazebo by the pond in St Stephens Green.

Here’s a link to Barcelona Superblock Chess tables to give people an idea:

https://archello.com/story/79060/attachments/photos-videos/6

EDIT: something similar in London I’ve just come across.

https://www.instagram.com/fourcornerclub/

43 comments

  4. I like to play chess with elderly men in the park at the weekends, but it’s becoming increasingly harder to find exactly 32 of them..

  6. There was a story in the examiner a few weeks ago about this being done on a small scale in Cork City centre. Might be of some use to you.

  10. Always wondered how these worked. Do people bring their own pieces? I presume any communal pieces left unattended would unfortunately be robbed

  15. Bit out of the way, but there was one in Easpoint Business Park, might be gone now as they’ve been doing renovations to pedestrian footpaths.

  18. Smithfield would probably be a good bet (don’t ask me about antisocial behaviour) and it genuinely feels like the council is dying to find quirky features to add to it.

  23. At the back of the Central Bank office (the new one on North Wall Quay) there’s chessboards engraved into the wall seating

  24. Ahhhh the photo you linked is my street in Barcelona, C/ Parliament…mad

    Anyways, they are great, such a good idea 👍🏻

  28. I’d suggest St. Stephen’s Green or Merrion Square Park as the best options, but if you don’t want to have it in a park, maybe Wolfe Tone Square or Smithfield Square.

    You lose some of the tranquility if you do it in the squres, but you’d have a lot more people seeing them and using them.

    Definitely not Temple Bar Squre though! That would be a nightmare.

  29. “A quiet public space, with not too much anti-social behaviour.”

    Good luck with that. Where do you think you are, Zurich?

  30. Dun Laoghaire has a bunch of them! Down the seafront entrance to the Peoples’ Park, between the Park and Teddy’s Ice Cream shop there’s a little plaza with maybe six picnic tables all with chess boards bolted into them. Very chill atmosphere there too – you do get noise from skateboards and from people bringing Bluetooth speakers down to have a few cans, but it’s definitely not anti social behaviour or anything close to it. Not city centre but literally around the corner from Sandycove Dart Station and a stone’s throw from the 46A or 7/7A bus from the city centre.

    Have fun!

    EDIT: Street view with map:

    https://www.google.com/maps/@53.2906049,-6.1279223,2a,49.9y,327.84h,82.56t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sbA2eekFYzEqBcid5ao3eQw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DbA2eekFYzEqBcid5ao3eQw%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D67.90891%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu

  35. I tried getting them in St Anne’s by emailing my local td and the council. I was really hopeful they would, as they’ve installed a number elsewhere. The council flat rejected it and sent a really disappointing email which the td forwarded to me. They said there’s plenty of picnic tables, bring your own boards and pieces. Was disappointed, thought it was a fairly narrow view on something that could be so promising.

  36. Father Collins Park, D13, has them. Only problem is they were installed wrong… white to the left! 🙄

  38. As much as I’d love this to come to fruition.

    I do really think your asking alot in regards to the council entertaining the idea, They have alot of things to do and are great at can kicking.

    Lots of little rats love running a muck and destroying everything nice in town that they can.

    Starting up a chess meeting at a bar that has a beer garden would be much easier.

    Its the same council who won’t install more bins in busy spots.

  40. This would be great in St. Anne’s Park (if it hasn’t already been suggested)

    Plenty footfall, influx of people on the weekends, nice family friendly vibe.

  41. Hi traveling to Dublin from Chicago in October. This would be awesome. Hope this works out and I would be down for a game.

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