Union Square Chess Tables

The chess scene here at the southwest corner of Union Square is a direct descendant of the legendary outdoor games that once defined Greenwich Village. In the early two thousands, when construction work forced many regulars to leave their traditional tables in Washington Square Park, they migrated ten blocks north to this transit-heavy spot. While those older parks often feature permanent concrete tables, the players here create their own infrastructure, hauling folding tables, chairs, and boards out of the subway or in shopping carts every single morning.