Where to play chess in Vienna 73

A visitor with an evening free has more choice in Vienna than the club lists suggest. Chess Unlimited, an initiative that keeps a calendar of open meeting points, lists boards in bars and cafés: Thursday nights at the Debakel in Josefstadt, on large wooden boards inside and in the garden; Wednesday evenings at the Open World gaming bar in Döbling; afternoon tables at Café Spezial in Mariahilf; Sunday evenings at the Blue Box in Neubau. Twice a month the main library at Urban-Loritz-Platz turns its foyer into a chess café.

Neighbourhood centres and pensioners' clubs add quieter tables, such as the Thursday afternoon at the Salvatorgasse club in the Innere Stadt. Beyond them come the clubs and their club nights, the women's evenings of Frau Schach at Café Schopenhauer, and the rated opens, blitz series and championships that fill the Viennese tournament year. The three leagues of the Wiener Schachverband, for clubs, for works teams and for schools, are listed here too.