This Melbourne-born social club is making Amsterdam’s chess culture social, noisy, and young again
At Acid Chess Club, the board game is no longer just a pastime for quiet people in quiet rooms.
It’s a Thursday at No Man’s Art Gallery in Amsterdam. Patrons are hunched over chessboards. In the middle of it all, a DJ is mixing, while the hosts of the monthly Acid Chess Club – 27-year-old Tayla Iakovidis and 29-year-old Matt Bodger – greet arrivals and pair them up. “I try to sense who’s here to socialise and who wants to play seriously – and whether they would rather face someone at their level or more advanced,” says Bodger, who works in wearable climate tech and first came here as an attendee.
Like Iakovidis, the club hails from Melbourne, where it was founded in 2021 by artist Jack Irvine and James Benjamin, a festival organiser and musician. Acid Chess Club is also Benjamin’s DJ name – he carries a chessboard in his bag that he whips out at parties. The idea arrived after James helped Irvine sharpen his game. In Melbourne, the club has grown from three players to about 150 who flock to twice-monthly nights.
Its international reach grew as regulars moved overseas and took the format with them. “We’re about to start one in Tokyo and three more in Australia,” says Benjamin. “I can’t keep up.” The first international edition launched in London in August 2024, followed by Amsterdam in December 2025, set up by Iakovidis and Tal Sardone, a chef from Melbourne. “Amsterdammers are such doers, so I figured it was the kind of place where you could set something up easily,” says Sardone. Like many chess enthusiasts, he started playing online during the pandemic, partly inspired by Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, and came to the Melbourne events to play against people in person. “Clubs like ours have changed the stereotypes of chess – it’s not just a game for quiet people in quiet rooms any more.”
“This is one of the busiest nights yet,” Iakovidis tells Monocle, estimating that there are about 50 participants here. The club is now seeking a bigger venue or perhaps even its own space. Every night ends with a tournament: 16 players compete for a block of cheese from the local deli.
It’s a way for young people to connect without screens. “When every tech lord is trying to put AI in our toothbrushes and earrings, being offline is a luxury,” says Bodger. “We’re regaining our freedom.”
No Man’s Art Gallery, Bos en Lommerweg 88-90, Amsterdam
