Chess has been added as a game option for the 2020 Olympic Games, after campaigners pointed out that is has 600 million players in the world.
Russell Chapman, manager of Draughts cafe in Haggerston, thinks playing requires a great amount of mental talent. Mr Chapman said: “I think, at the moment, the trouble is that the Olympics is seen as a physical competition, whereas chess is very mind heavy.
“However, the Olympics is about displaying the very best people in the world at doing a sport, and someone who is good at chess could show one of the very best side of humans.
“There are over one thousand new board games released every year, and there is bound to be one that could be classed as a sport… I think there is definite potential for it to be a sport, just as video games have evolved into one. They started as entertainment media but now they are classed as an e-sport.
“The demand for board games is high so I can definitely see it becoming a sport and being added to the Olympics.”
Draughts cafe was set up on 14 November 2014, and its popularity has grown rapidly. The owners have recently opened a second branch in Waterloo, spotting a gap in the London market. There have been other board game cafes opened in other parts of the UK, but Draughts was the first in London.
The owners wanted to offer a non-technological activity for people, and decided to start in Hackney due to its trend-setting nature.
Selma Glasell tweeted “Draughts is heaven”. With another customer, Keith Evans said “It is great. You can go and sit in a nice cafe with nice coffee or a beer, it’s good fun.”
The business hosts a chess event every Thursday, which has a consistently good turnout. As well as chess, the cafe hosts other events to promote new board games that are gathering popularity. Once or twice a month they showcase a ‘draughts and dungeons’ evening – the business version of Dungeons and Dragons.
Chapman said: “We run the event for people who have never played it before or are looking for a fix. The game started 20-30 years ago, and it has grown in popularity ever since. We received interest in starting an event due to videos being produced on YouTube.
“We have staff members who are dungeon masters. Unlike most other board games, D&D requires a host role who oversees the game.”
The cafe currently boasts an impressive collection of 900 board games. Mr Chapman said of his cafe: “we are quirky, the popularity does not seem to be dropping.”
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