Lisbon Gambit - chess café in Portugal

Coincided with Pope Francis' trip to World Youth Day in early August to the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, a meeting took place not far from the city center in a café called Malabarista, which is open during the day as a normal café. Every Thursday evening from 6PM, the doors of Malabarista café are also open to chess players from all over the world - it functions as a chess café during that time.

The café Malabarista turns into a chess café on Thursday evenings in the center of Lisbon!

Even during the visit of the Pope, the weekly meeting took place with numerous visitors, who sent a clear signal and made clear their priority for chess!

Your reporter has already learned in advance via social media that a weekly meeting is being held in Lisbon, which was launched by 46-year-old Italian founder "Beppe" July 2022.

Lisbon Gambit founder Beppe (on the right) with your reporter

Beppe is since he is twenty himself a passionate chess player and enjoys playing chess every day. For him, chess brings some advantages, which he also advertises in the weekly invitations to the chess meetings: The most important thing in chess is to face your mistakes and live responsibly. In chess there are there are no excuses and both there and in life, one should follow a well-planned strategy, which can also be useful in professional life.

With this philosophy, the initiator held the first meeting in July 2022, where eleven participants were on site and since then the group has been growing. In the meantime, the Meetup group "Lisbon Gambit," an allusion to the Netflix success to the Netflix hit series The Queen's Gambit, boasts 710 members, of which more than twenty were present at the beginning of August.

meetup.com/lisbon-gambit & instagram.com/lisbongambit

The atmosphere in the chess café itself is very relaxed and familiar - on entering the café you were greeted directly in a friendly manner by Beppe and got into conversation pleasantly.

Mostly, chess is played with cell phone chess clocks, which meanwhile have as many functions as usual chess clocks - this also saves space and acquisition costs.

Playing with a chess clock app

Another big plus is the relaxed café atmosphere, where you can enjoy a drink or have a snack while playing chess. In general, the group is quite international; one group member, for example, has recently taken up chess because of the Queen's Gambit series and he could also integrate himself through the chess group.

Chess everywhere

Remarkable during the visit was the openness of all the players to talk to each other in order to meet and get to know new people and exchange ideas. The group description correctly referred to #networking, i.e. networking with others. This was even intensified after the chess game: Together they met for a pizza to round off the evening.

In addition to the relaxed atmosphere, there is also something for the more ambitious chess players; group tournaments are also organized more often. All in all, one can speak of a successful concept, which also creates a friendly atmosphere for women in chess. The proportion of women was clearly higher compared to chess clubs. So whoever plans a trip to the Portuguese capital, it can only be suggested to drop in on Thursdays at the chess café Malabarista to visit the "Lisbon Gambit" chess group. The visit is worthwhile!