The Mechanics' Institute Chess Club in San Francisco is the oldest chess club

Chess club

A chess club is a club formed for the purpose of playing the board game of chess. Chess clubs provide for both informal games and timed games, often as part of an internal competition or in a league.-Organisation:...

 in the United States. The first meeting of the Mechanics' Institute

San Francisco Mechanics' Institute

The Mechanics' Institute Library and Chess Room is a historic membership library, cultural event center, and chess club located in the Financial District of San Francisco, California at 57 Post Street...

 was held on December 11, 1854, and it was incorporated on April 24, 1855. At the time, San Francisco was a frontier city that had grown from the California Gold Rush

California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...

.

The first world-class player to visit San Francisco was Johann Zukertort, who spent nearly a month in the city in July 1884.
George H. D. Gossip

George H. D. Gossip

George Hatfeild Dingley Gossip was a minor American-English chess master and writer. He competed in chess tournaments between 1870 and 1895, playing against most of the world's leading players, but with only modest success. The writer G. H...

 visited the city and the club in 1888, writing an account of chess in San Francisco for the June 1888 International Chess Magazine

International Chess Magazine

International Chess Magazine was a chess magazine established in 1885 by World Chess Champion Wilhelm Steinitz until 1891.-External links:* * * *...

. Many leading players have given exhibitions or played at the Institute including Harry Pillsbury, Géza Maróczy

Géza Maróczy

Géza Maróczy was a leading Hungarian chess Grandmaster, one of the best players in the world in his time. He was also a practicing engineer.-Early career:...

, Frank Marshall (1913 and 1915), Borislav Kostić

Borislav Kostic

Borislav Kostić was a Serbian professional chess grandmaster from Vršac , then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire ....

 (1915), Samuel Reshevsky

Samuel Reshevsky

Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster...

 (1921 and 1956), Arthur Dake

Arthur Dake

Arthur Dake was an American chess master. He was born in Portland, Oregon and died in Reno, Nevada....

 (1937 among many others), Georges Koltanowski (1939), Svetozar Gligorić

Svetozar Gligoric

Svetozar Gligorić is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is considered the best player ever from Serbia...

, and Tony Miles

Tony Miles

Anthony John Miles was an English chess Grandmaster.- Early achievements in chess :Miles was born in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham...

.
The Institute has also been visited by many world champions, including Emanuel Lasker

Emanuel Lasker

Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...

 (1902 and 1926), José Capablanca (1916), Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...

 (1924 and 1929), Max Euwe

Max Euwe

Machgielis Euwe was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion . Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.- Early years :Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam...

 (1947 or 1949?), Bobby Fischer

Bobby Fischer

Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...

 (1964), Vasily Smyslov

Vasily Smyslov

Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...

 (1976), Tigran Petrosian

Tigran Petrosian

Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...

 (1978), and Anatoly Karpov

Anatoly Karpov

Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...

 (1999).

Current Happenings at the Chess Room

Tournaments are the lifeblood of the Chess Room with weekend events and Tuesday Night Marathons the anchors. The Chess Room also holds weekly classes for children, beginners, and women.

Chess Room Directors of the Mechanics Institute

• Arthur Stamer (1951–1964)
• William Addison (1965–1969)
• Max Wilkerson (1980–1996)
• James Eade
  James Eade
  James Eade is an American chess master, chess politician, chess tournament organizer, and chess book publisher. He holds the title of FIDE Master. He is best known for his book Chess for Dummies which is one of the best selling chess books of all time. He was a member of the Policy Board of the...
  
   
• William John Donaldson (current)