DURHAM, N.C- On Wednesday evenings, the tables at Bull McCabe’s Irish Pub fill, not just with food and drinks, but with chessboards. By 5:45 p.m., players of all ages gather for the weekly meeting of the Durham Chess Club, a free and open group that has quickly become a place for connection, learning, and community.

The club meets every Wednesday from 5:45 to 8:30 p.m., drawing a crowd that ranges from children and college students to retirees and longtime Durham residents. Some players come to compete, others to learn, and many simply to spend time with people face to face.

The Durham Chess Club was founded by Logan Retamoza, who moved to Durham about a year and a half ago from California, where he taught chess through the U.S. Chess Academy. Before coming to North Carolina, Retamoza was part of a chess club in Santa Barbara started by a friend. This experience left a lasting impression and led him to start a similar group in Durham.

“When I got to Durham, I was playing chess a lot, but there wasn’t really anything organized,” Retamoza said. “I started the club so I could teach more, play more, and get people in Durham playing more so that we can all just hang out and have fun.”

Starting the club required more than just a love of the game. Retamoza supplied the boards, promoted the meetings, built a website and worked to attract players. At first, all of the equipment came from him, but over time, members began bringing their own boards and sets, reflecting the collective effort the group has developed.

Since launching in September 2025, the club has grown rapidly. More than 200 people are now on the email list, and Retamoza estimates that only about half of the regular attendees have even signed up. On an average Wednesday night, around 35 people attend, and the club’s tournaments, which are also free, regularly fill up.

What stands out most about the Durham Chess Club is the range of people it brings together. Parents bring their children, students play alongside retirees, and beginners sit across from experienced competitors.

“There are kids, adults bringing their kids, retirees, people in school — people of all ages, every cohort of life,” Retamoza said.

That diversity is one of the reasons longtime Durham resident Cal Coetzee was drawn to the club. Coetzee has lived in Durham for about 20 years and attended one of the club’s very first meetings, which was held at the Motorco Music Hall.

“I really like the variety of people who come,” he said. “You get all kinds of players.” 

Coetzee has since participated in several tournaments and also takes chess lessons from Logan, showing how the club supports both casual and competitive players.

For Hans Brückmann Flores, the club has been a way to reconnect with chess and people. Brückmann, an international student at Duke University, learned to play chess at age 5 from his father and was part of a neighborhood club in Peru. After moving to Durham seven months ago, he hadn’t played chess in person for nearly two years until he found the Durham Chess Club.

“I’ve come every week since I found out about it,” Brückmann said. “It’s my chance to meet people outside of Duke.”

Retamoza is passionate about teaching. In addition to working with adults at the club, he also teaches children and serves as the chess coach for an after-school program at Holt Elementary School. Retamoza believes chess offers more than just entertainment.

“It’s good fun,” he said. “It builds self-esteem. It builds community.”

He also sees chess as a shared experience. With its virtually unlimited number of possible games, no two matches are ever the exact same.

“Every time two people play a chess game, it’s the first and last time that specific game will ever be played,” Retamoza said. “It’s like a unique journey that those two people are going on together.”

For Retamoza, the club is about more than just playing and teaching chess; it’s about creating space for real-life interaction in a digital age.

“The invention of the smartphone had some good consequences,” he said, “but also some unintended negative consequences, separating us from each other. I’m just trying to be a tiny little node in the network, giving people the chance to hang out.”

On Wednesday nights at Bull McCabe’s, that goal is clearly being met. As games unfold across the tables, conversations flow easily between moves, and strangers quickly become familiar faces. The Durham Chess Club continues to provide a place for people to grow, both in chess and in community.

Edited by Kyle Oliver