{"id":491775,"date":"2026-10-10T18:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T18:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/491775\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T18:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T18:06:11","slug":"san-diego-chess-social-surpasses-500-paid-members-in-eight-months-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/491775\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego Chess &#038; Social surpasses 500 paid members in eight months \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In 2023, two San Diegans who had never met found each other on Reddit because they wanted more people to play chess with.<\/p>\n<p>A few casual games turned into a weekly meetup. The meetup became a community. And less than three years later, that community has grown into San Diego Chess &amp; Social, a countywide social club that has now surpassed 500 paid members just eight months after formally launching its membership program. Memberships start at $20 per month and include admission to the organization\u2019s regular weekly events, according to a news release.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat started as a way to find a few more people to play chess with has become something much bigger,\u201d said San Diego Chess &amp; Social Co-Founder and CEO Mark Laturno in the news release. \u201cChess gives people an unusually easy way to meet. You can walk into a room where you don\u2019t know anyone, sit down across from a stranger and immediately have something to do together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Today, San Diego Chess &amp; Social draws more than 300 people each week to recurring gatherings in Pacific Beach, North Park, Encinitas and Chula Vista. In addition to its 500-plus paid members, the organization welcomes approximately 300 drop-in visits each month from people attending without a membership. Most attendees arrive alone, so the club\u2019s events are designed to make it easy for someone who knows no one in the room to immediately participate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChess and board games take so much of the awkwardness out of meeting new people,\u201d Laturno said in the news release. \u201cThe games get people talking, but it\u2019s the friendships and relationships built that keep them coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That emphasis on connection has shaped the organization as it has grown. While chess remains at its center, attendees also play backgammon, Uno and a growing collection of board and card games. Hosts are there not simply to organize games, but to introduce newcomers, connect people with one another and make it easier to walk into a room full of strangers.<\/p>\n<p>Membership launched on Jan. 22, 2026. By late May, San Diego Chess &amp; Social had grown to approximately 280 paid members. Less than four months later, membership surpassed 500, the news release stated.<\/p>\n<p>The club has also developed a community that spans nearly every level of chess, from complete beginners to experienced tournament players. Grandmaster Samy Shoker has become a regular at the group\u2019s events.<\/p>\n<p>The growth is already fueling further expansion. The organization is adding a second weekly gathering in North Park and will launch a Vista location at CoLab Public House on Oct. 15, with additional San Diego County neighborhoods planned.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, visit chessandsocial.com<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Participants at a San Diego Chess &amp; Social event.(Courtesy of San Diego Chess &amp; Social)\" width=\"4000\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ENA-L-CHESSSOCIAL1-1016-3090-rotated-1.jpg\" \/>Participants at a San Diego Chess &amp; Social event.<br \/>\n(Courtesy of San Diego Chess &amp; Social)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2023, two San Diegans who had never met found each other on Reddit because they wanted more&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[4602,9246,74,76,75],"class_list":["post-491775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-encinitas-advocate","tag-encinitas-advocate-things-to-do","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}