Adults have chess venue

Chess players at Grounded Coffee on a typical Tuesday night are Florence residents Jack Gardner, foreground from left, and Tom Lotito and Madison residents Richard Gross, background from left, Paul Mulqueen, Noel Newquist and Undrea Randolph. (Photo by Scott Wilhelm)

MADISON – Young chess players in Madison are often in the news, but adults now are in the spotlight with a new weekly game session just for the older crowd.

Grounded Coffee, 12120 County Line Road in Village Shoppes of Madison near Publix, is hosting weekly chess meetings for adults on Tuesday nights from 6 to 10 p.m.

“As we publicized Madison City Chess League’s scholastic chess successes, we began to receive numerous requests from adults across North Alabama: ‘Can you help us find a place to play chess?'” Don Maddox said.

Maddox, formerly editor of “Chess Life,” volunteers as chess coach for middle school players in Madison.

As adults were asking for a venue, the league’s leaders were facing a coaching shortage. “Several Madison schools were crying for help,” Maddox said.

To resolve both problems, Maddox and league volunteers are reaching out to adults and providing them a place to gather, to learn and to play chess. “New players learned, and we quickly filled our coaching vacancies. Now, every school in Madison City has its own coach,” he said.

Grounded Coffee quietly has transitioned into the chess venue of choice for adults across North Alabama. “We draw players from as far afield as Florence to our weekly meetings,” Maddox said.

As players continued to meet, they have asked persistently for months about having a place to play rated chess. Heretofore, the only destinations were Nashville, Murfreesboro, Birmingham, Montgomery or Atlanta.

“Now, we have a local answer to that question. Beginning in September, Madison City Chess League will conduct a monthly series of rated tournaments for adults,” Maddox said.

Local players will be guaranteed continuous access to rated play “at a fraction of the cost of travel to a single tournament” at any former destinations. The first tournament is scheduled for Sept. 11-12 at Hitachi Consulting Government Services, 1500 Perimeter Drive SW, Suite 100, in Huntsville.

For more chess information, visit madisonchess.com. For information about Grounded Coffee, call 256-258-9637 or visit thegroundedcafe.com, Facebook/groundedmadison or Twitter #groundedmadison.