in 2026 we celebrate the great tradition of chess that happens in shelters, the streets and homeless settings with a big cup and a regular chess meet-up

what is it?

We are organising are a new chess social - the abolitionist chess club every Friday 12.30-4.30pm. Back in July we also had the inaugural Street Legends Chess Cup!

About the Abolitionist Chess Club:

New for our open season, we are hosting a new abolitionist chess club to tie in with the themes of our exhibition Criminal: An Untold History of Homelessness, Resistance & Survival. Come and enjoy a game, hang out and check out the show. It’s on each Friday during our open hours (12.30pm - 4.30pm) and boards are setup in our garden. All are welcome!

What was the Street legends chess Cup:

For those interested in learning more about the game, brushing up on chess hustling technique or simply hanging we hosted starts at the Street Legends Chess Cup with support from AlphaChess and the ECF. A team tournament was held on 17th July and an open tournament for individuals on the 18th July. The teams tournament was won by the mighty Yas Queen Chess Club with runners up from the 999 Club & the museum. The brilliant Sahib Salehoqlu after a tense tie-breaker with Zak Gomn. We were also joined by the brilliant International Master Jack Rudd who took the Street Legends Masters Crown!

You can find out more about this years registration process here! The cup will most likely be back in 2027.

What was on offer for the Street Legends Chess Cup?

We were open as usual on both 17th and 18th July, but had boards and spaces set aside for people who wanted to get involved. We welcomed over 30 contestants and many casual players. Here was what we offered:

Hang out and play: Not into competition? That’s totally fine, we had boards, free drinks and spaces where you could hang out.

Street Legends Chess Tournament: The tournament has cash prizes and goodie bags and we even attracted two master level players. Expect something similar in 2027.

Wanna play but can’t come on the day?: We now have a chess social in our garden space each Friday running during our open season (see info above)

What’s the deal with chess and homelessness?

Chess in prisons, shelters and in hostels has a long history. John Healy’s searing account of being street homeless in the East End in the 70s and 80s ends with chess – and how chess helped him. The book (The Grass Arena) became a penguin classic. He also became a seriously strong player publishing Coffeehouse Chess Tactics later in life. 10 years ago Slide Martin became a feature of local news in Cambridge for thrashing university students on the streets and challenging passersby’s to a game, with his dogs Check and Mate watching on. There are many others and chess has became a feature of museum life as well, with games regularly played on our community days. Quite a few people enjoy a game and so we’ve even included a regular chess club as part of our current exhibition Criminal: An Untold History of Homelessness, Resistance & Survival. Check out our long read for a deeper dive on the radical history of chess and homelsssness.