The Last Chess Shop in New York City
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- Опубликовано: 2 дек 2018
- “I came here to get a PhD in American literature, and here I am, with pictures of American writers on the wall-a chess vendor.”
That’s Imad Khachan, owner of Chess Forum, the only remaining chess shop in New York City. A Palestinian refugee with no family of his own, Khachan has become “the father of everybody” to a community of chess enthusiasts, those curious to learn more about the game, and those whom Khachan describes as the city’s “invisible people.”
“When no other place will welcome you, you have a seat [here],” Khachan says in Lonelyleap's short documentary, King of the Night. The film depicts the chess shop as more than a home for chess players; Khachan’s open-door policy has provided refuge for many patrons with difficult lives at home. According to Molly Brass, one of the film’s directors, some Chess Forum regulars have no home at all.
“There are very few places in New York that accept and welcome anyone-really anyone-to sit and spend as many hours as they want to, at negligible or no cost,” Brass told The Atlantic. “It's almost a revolutionary idea at this point.”
"King of the Night" was produced by Lonelyleap. It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.
Subscribe to The Atlantic on RUclips: bit.ly/subAtlanticYT 
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Next watch a short doc on one of the last video stores: ruclips.net/video/RFTJWTmYkTM/видео.html
I didn't expect to be feeling all these things from a video about a chess shop
It is not so important what you do, it is more important how you do it.
@@aknopf8173 context and intent are important
@@@Matt-od1do
Yes, of course context is important. But the context was in this case that I answered to JohnnyWatches and I think that makes the intent very clear.
@Some Guy
Good one! Wouldn't it be funny if JohnnyWatches wrote about being attracted to the shop owner?
... 😂😂😂😂 me too
This is clickbait. There are many other shops in USA. I been shopping at the one that runs the ChessUSA website since 2006 and it's still there. Real physical store as well.
My wife and I visited this shop last summer in search of a chess set for my cousin’s teenage boys having been directed there by one of the regulars in Washington Square. We spent an hour talking less about chess and more about the immigrant experience in America. He told me his story and I told him of my family’s history. A moving connection!
It's the one right at Washington Square Park, right? One block away? I think I visited it a few years ago.
ha noice pun at the end!
“Maybe the lack of not having got married and have children, you become the father of everybody.”
Such a wonderful and wise man...inspiring!
RosstaFloss not having a wife is the wisest thing any man can do 🙏
@@georgestobbart4894 facts!
yeah no lmao
Wow. I cried a little. I don't know why. I guess when the owner cracked up, and disclosed that he knows how it feels to be mistreated, to be an outcast. That hit me right in the feels. I live some blocks south from this shop in Manhattan. I just sent a link of this video to a good friend and neighbor. We just started playing chess at a chic lobby of a new SoHo hotel that has some chess boards. Now we will go to this shop instead.
Please say hi to him from me, a random internet stranger on the other side of the world, who was deeply moved by his story.
I am glad to hear that Luboman. If I was local, I would do the same thing.
For those wondering if they survived covid: I shopped there last month and they seem to be doing well! I bought my first board and pieces of quality from these guys and it was worth every penny! If you’re in the area you need to check them out!
I was scrolling down to try to find comments on their covid situation. Makes me happy to find out they’re doing fine. Thank you
Thanks for this update. Like others, I was also wondering the same thing.
That's awesome! I wonder if chess' resurgence in the last year or so had anything to do with it.
Hello! What brand were the items u got? I really want a chess set they sell but I live in cali 😢
"At night, this,
whatever this material that
gives us this blackness around,
it's a nice companion.
In a city like New York,
when it's hustle and bustle,
and millions of people.
Here you are the king of the night,
in the store.
Outside you are the king of the city.
And now you see
each street
has its own double life.
A curtain is raised,
and you see
the homeless,
the Con Edison guy,
the garbage guy,
the rat,
the bat.
All the creatures of the night.
And 5, 6 o'clock in the morning,
and somebody pulls a curtain,
and all that theater of the night
is gone.
That theater, I find,
this is my place.
These are the people that-
you become invisible like them."
-- Imad Khachan
He tickled my feelings.
He did, after all, go to America to get a Ph.D in literature. He knows his way with words.
stunning
A poet and a philosopher and a hell of a decent man. Just lovely.
Viceroy Duskren Exactly my thought. Thank you for doing this. He is a poet and a beautiful man.
What a warm, philosophical man. Great video.
This is a great example of a special interest piece. It finds an entire new world hidden away in a small corner that most people are entirely unaware of.
It wasn't that long ago that a wonderful mini documentary like this would've been limited to a NYC based film festival or maybe shown in some art theaters in the greater NYC metro area. I'm glad this made it onto RUclips as it was a very touching documentary. I never really knew about chess culture until I visited St. Louis and interesting to see a small part of that culture still living in NYC.
Read up on Bobby Fischer's story. You will be greatly impressed, and hopefully motivated. :)
Living in St. Louis I thought all cities had Chess Shops. I am mistaken, but that is life.
I wanted more, but it was so concise I know that it was perfect.
I don't know how you packed so much emotion into a video like this, but you did. When I was a kid I read books on chess, memorized famous games, watched Searching for Bobby Fischer, entered school tournaments, and despite having very little money I saved up and bought a chess clock from a shop just like this one.
For me it was computers. When every computer could beat every human, I felt the game lost an element of exploration, magic and allure. And this wasn't even that long ago. To think of a time when there was a market for a 24-hour chess shop saddens me greatly.
My 6 year old brother taught me how to play chess when I was 7, he had just learned that day. We didn't know about castling or en passant yet. I taught my kids how to play when they were little.
I think I was at this shop some decades ago, I didn't go in, I talked to some people playing chess outside on the sidewalk. One of the guys was a chess master. He described his handicap when playing in competition, he gets 2 minutes on the clock and the opponent gets 40 minutes.
I beat a chess hustler once. Got him good, and believe me he didn't lose on purpose.
A lot of good chess players hung out at a bar called, "The Grass Roots" on St. Marks Place. Could always get a game there. These guys were good, chess teachers even. I don't remember winning but I recall being congratulated by a chess master for giving his best student a hard time winning.
Open for 24 hours at one time, pre internet chess, maybe pre chess computers, maybe pre cable vision. Nighthawks at the diner.
Well chess isn’t random enough. Plus it’s so a human can beat a human. Internet chess is a joke. It’s about beating the human across from you.
Chess Engines are improving everyday. It was just recently released that Deepmind's AlphaZero, a machine learning chess engine, completely crushed Stockfish the current champion of chess engines. There is a lot of life in this game, and it's not going anywhere.
@@timhua6936 It beat an older generation of stockfish, running on subpar hardware lol. Stockfish 10 would destroy alphazero
I don't think chess has anything to worry about for us humans yet though. There is more to chess than any human can ever come close to memorizing, no matter how good computers get, so the games between regular and even good players will still be just as random and unexplored for us as they were before computers. Computers aren't for us to really play anymore and try to beat. They are to show us where we went wrong so we can improve.
Damn! We need more people like Imad in today’s society.
I’m gonna go to his shop just to shake his hand and thank him for what he does.
doubt it!
@@barrydebois5390 it's funny, I check your channel and it reflects you perfectly: "This channel doesn't have any content"
@@Novazon2 and?
Well buy something too while you’re there. Give the man some business .
I’ve passed by this shop probably hundreds of times when I used to work in the area. It always seemed like a lovely neighborhood place. I’m not a chess player myself but I always thought it was awesome that such a place existed for those who were. I’ll def recommend it to people I know!
And we shall play a game of chess,
Pressing lidless eyes and waiting for a knock upon the door.
-- T.S. Eliot "The Waste Land"
As someone who works graveyard shifts, that ending monologue is absolute poetry.
I feel the loneliness in his heart. New York city has a way of doing that to you. Next time I go I will have to visit that shop.
Played one game here, they let me just walk in and play for free. You could really feel the community: kids running around and playing chess against the adults. And there’s only 4-5 boards there. It’s amazing, really.
Gross
Man this dude hit the nail right on the head. I always had this strange feeling whenever i was out at night in a big city (i'm from a small town so i'm not used to it), like you are seeing something special, that no one else has seen or will ever see. At night, you find the special people, and you somehow feel like you are all conected, because you are all still out there, even at the late hour. But i could never explain it...
Imad put that feeling into words perfectly. Amazing.
This right here is quality journalism. Absolutely we need to know what's going on in the world, but the 24/7 spit spewing over race, gender, sexuality we usually get has made people so tired, so angry, and so alone. I dream of a day we turn on CNN or Fox News and see stuff like this. Stuff that keeps us in touch with our common humanity. Thank you, The Atlantic.
4:34 That happy smile with a bit of melancholy at the end of the conversation. This is a guy I want to have a cup of coffee/tea with. Seems really grounded.
I hope this store is doing alright during quarantine.
I'm with you. I just saw this video and we need more places...and people...like this.
They will "quarantine" everything to death, that's what the whole hoax that's going on is for.
1948 he said... and still so close to tears, he must have experienced so much pain and loss...
this breaks my heart
"In my younger years, I would have found this person pathetic and pitiful, but don't worry life takes care of everybody, it breaks everybody."
He is a refugee from Lebanon, who upholds the good name of minorities - he has seen the devilish nature of humanity and is grateful to be at peace in the city. There is nothing to be heartbroken about, this is beautiful.
@@iamillasfuck Beauty is often times sad and heart breaking. This man has seen terrible things and somehow I feel he is lonely.
@Harry Ballzac chess is more popular than it has ever been. It's just 99% online now rather than at places like this
@Harry Ballzac Chess was killed by computers
@@Tesla_Death_Ray I'm not on the same idea of you. I think computers did help me with my Chess and kept me playing with friends everywhere. I've learned alot with tutorial on computers and I find it less boring than following in a book and moving the pieces.
"All these moments will be lost in time... like tears, in, rain."
he as the same element of melancholy like blade runner
A place that attracts so many characters, the doorway as inviting as that first moment before cracking open a good book.
Most people haven't read a book in years...
Imad is a dear friend of mine, a great, generous man. If anyone in NY know a lovely single lady. Please reach out to put them together. He is very emotional and sensitive man. From the chess forum he managed to send his siblings to school and give them a good education. Let’s help find him a wife!!!
This was powerful
the world moves on whether we like it or not, but there is something romantic, tragic and inspiring about the person who is the last man standing in their world
He seems so melancholy. I wish I could make him feel happy. If you're reading this, I wish you success, love, community and happiness! ✨❤️
BTassie I play here regularly. Don’t worry. :) He is usually very upbeat and happy. I’ve actually only ever seen him like this in this video. Come visit NYC and see!
Just amazing I started a Pseudo Chess Club at McDonald's beating most competitor's and once defeating tri state Champ of 1980s.
In a way he does, but in another I just see a satisfied, highly intelligent man that never found love. That appeared to be the only thing he was truly a bit blue about, but I can tell he's found his peace being 'the father of everyone.'
He's very inspiring in that way.
(Also I reckon they've cut a lot of footage of him for the dramatic bits where he's philosophising)
BTassie Please visit us next time you are in New York. It would be great to meet you. 🙏🙏🙏☀️
☺️💖
Imad may not have gotten a PhD in Literature but he got one in Wisdom and how to live a beautiful meaningful life. And with Honors I might add. I salute Sir.
I placed the quote, "We traffic in hope," in my classroom.
the king of the night. the forgotten man. nice message
What a great person, I will go there when I visit New York, I find that chess unites people and stores like this one or even libraries should never close.
I think this is one of the best short videos I have ever seen, and I have watched it many times....
Chess teaches you how to think. That each action has a consequence. I'm a lousy player, but carefully considering my actions is something I do all the time.😊
Chess is one thing my father teached me, and i'll always be thankful to him for taking his time, I've just went to hug him after writting this.
This video made me unexpectedly emotional.
I wish the best of luck to this guy. And now I guess I have a place to play chess when I'm in America :)
For all the new York chess players a lot of the chess players on union square go to this location and play each other. That guy talking is hands down one of the coolest ppl you'll talk to.
Love going there. He's always so welcoming and really cares about the patrons.
Did not know Kasparov's brother owned a chess shop..
Ha! That's exactly what I thought! His long lost cousin to be precise.
Fun Fact: Real Kasparov was there 7 years ago and didnt buy anything
Still in busines Imad, Remarkable energy and costant congratulations, you wll be in heaven, from David - Ecuador
I never expected this video to be very emotional. Love it
I would absolutely love for this to be turned into a longer documentary. I didn't think I could be so moved by a short piece about a chess shop and its owner.
This touched me so deeply. Thank you so much for introducing me to this lovely man and such an enchanting place. What a treasure.
Damn, they used to be open 24hrs?! Someone must have been playing some serious chess. I learned how to play chess when I was a kid and still play to this day.
Nah. NYC -imagine how many people have varying schedules.
I'm retired, and a lifelong hardcore night-owl -- I'd LOVE to be able to hang out at a shop like this at 2 or 3 am.
Teaching your kids to play chess is the way to creating beautiful minds . Great doc . Thank you.
This brings back fond memories of when I was a habitue of Rossolimo's in the seventies when Madame Rossolimo ran the shop after her husband died. "I am widow grandmaster!" she would exclaim in a Russian accent. Nice to know that this facet of NYC life hasn't completely passed from the scene...
It's my understanding that GM Rossolimo died after a fall on an icy staircase. He had just left the chess lesson for one of his students. He also was augmenting his income at one of the chess parks, Union Square, Washington Square. Don't know which. Real dedication to teaching chess. I want to go to this shop. Wish it wasn't hundreds of miles away.
Randomly came across this shop a couple years ago while walking to a restaurant. Definitely want to come back soon!
Beyond beautiful, things like these make me open my chess board in the middle of the night. It is the last universal multicultural game in the World.
Good for you!
kudikamo draughts
Tangent of circle. Ahem Africa ahem the americas cough cough
I spent many lovely hours at this place, over several decades.
Poetic, Iconic, Nostalgic, world class hospitality
I have known and had dealings with Imad for the last twenty plus years. It has always been a great pleasure meeting an talking with him, I only hope he can keep Chess Forum going. It is such a unique place.My very best wishes to him.Duncan Scott
Amazing - this guy has the DREAM JOB !! You help ppl everyday ...i cant wait to visit
This is just .. such an amazing piece. I haven't been moved in a while like this. God bless him and may he find his light.
This is one of the best RUclips videos I've ever seen.
YES, YES, YES!
Oh man I got a little emotional with him when he was talking about Lebanon
OF COURSE!
He needs a website, given his selection, eye for quality.. to share with customers afar. I need X in order to do Y... Sometimes you can do Y without X.
He has one.
Either way, I don't think he wants expansion. I don't think he needs expansion.
Fantastic video I absolutely loved it.
Thanks for sharing.
Why The Queen’s Gambit make me love chess so much? Before I watch this show I never like or play chess but after I finish the show 6 times a already love chess, video everything about chess I love it.
Pure emotion,one the best videos in a long time
Incredible...what a great and touching story. This is one great man and we need more like him in this world
Such a great and humbling video.....we can only aspire to be as good and kind as him.
That's beautiful. I kinda missed my tournament training days
This was beautiful. A good story told in a simple way. Nice work.
Brilliant video and very moving. I pray that the owner is still able to stay open in the city.
Beautiful, thoughtful storytelling. Well done!
Greetings,
What an interesting and moving little film. It brought a tear to my eyes, and reminded me of one of my favorite films, The Search for Bobby Fischer. There are times when RUclips can bring such wonderful films to the fore. Snippets of lives not otherwise noticed, or appreciated. Thank you RUclips, thank you The Atlantic, thank you Imad Khachan.
Incredible video. A mandatory visit when I travel to New York next.
Wonderful as always
Beautifully shot and illustrated. Speechless.
Enjoyed this glimpse of tender humanity. Thank you.
I really enjoyed this. Nice job.
That was just awesome.... Added a new spot when i finally visit New York.
I had watched this video when it just came out, over half a year back I suppose. When my mum decided to take me to New York for a summer vacation, i guess in the back of my mind i had wanted to see this shop somewhere on the trip. Sure enough, we found the shop, decided to take a peek, and were welcomed by the friendliest group of individuals I could hope to meet. The cashier gladly let us pick up pieces and boards and anything we might like to see - nothing in the shop was off-limits. And once we were about to go, he asked if I would like to play a game against a kid who had just sat down at a table. This kid was incredible at the game and it was amazing seeing this new generation of people being so engaged with it.
I'll walk away from this shop with some of my favorite memories of New York city, thank you Chess Forum!
A good reminder on how tenuous our relative liberty and safety is. I hope it can remain that way and that we can return to welcoming people like this man to the USA.
A most excellent and CLASS piece....
Wow ! Beautiful ! Inspiring ! Very moving !
Even though English is his second language, his words weigh heavy.
Great video. Much love.
Absolute legend mate you are exactly the sort of man that I aspire to become as I grow old. Humble, thoughtful, caring but still passionate. Watching from New Zealand but if I'm ever in New York I'll be sure to stop by for a game.
Wow. Speechless (nearly).
This man and I are kindred spirits.
I'd frequent this shop regularly if I were close.
YES, he is my kindred spirit. He is REAL!
I will be going to New York on for a weekend in January. I shall visit this wonderful man and his beautiful shop.
I've played chess for more than 30 years and have been to NYC a few times, and I can't believe I never visited this place. It's a dream of mine now to spend an afternoon there some day.
Best video from the Atlantic in a while. Good job.
3:20 this kid is the best 😂 ..
Fantastic video, this is so great!!!
This made me super emotional in 7 min. Well played.
I wish I could visit your shop. Beautiful!
Beautiful. Will be visiting next time I'm in NYC and ordering from the website soon.
Oh. Thank you for this, Imad.
Great video! You need more subscribers!
I have never met this man, but I have learned to love him dearly in less than 7 minutes.
Thx guys ! This video inspired me to start learning chess !
What a great short film, many thanks to the director and this man.
Terrifically well made video too - kudos to the creators !
Wow this was deep.. i did not see those feels comming.. great man!
Well done !
Thanks.
Subbed, this content is pure gold. Good work Atlantic, i hope you guys will never become the second Vice.
Well done mini-doc!
I went here last year and a lot of his sets are absolutely beautiful.