Berkeley’s Chess Club Highlights the Continued Fight for Free Public Spaces

Edward Lewis, expert and former California State Chess Champion, watches his opponent move their queen across the board and scratches his chin. Lewis knows his next move is critical. 

Lewis studies the chess board that sits on a makeshift table, made of a square wooden plank that balances on a stool, and considers all of the possible moves to earn himself a victory. 

After two minutes, Lewis moves his king and yells “Checkmate!”

On the corner of Haste Street and Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, California, Lewis is challenging more than just grandmasters, novices and everyone in between to free games of chess. He is challenging the very right for the seven makeshift chess boards and club regulars to occupy the space for public use.  

Having taught himself how to play chess at the age of 19 in a jail cell, Lewis says chess is a “street game,” and the street belongs to everyone.

“Chess itself comes from the word chaturanga; the etymology of the word is Sanskrit. And it means the battleground game in which the black pieces went first and the white pieces would second,” says Lewis. 

“And as time transversed, and as other countries got into it, it switched up and the white pieces went first,” resembling racist “norms” embedded in society, says Lewis. 

The battleground, Lewis says, is an organic extension of the fight taking place just two blocks away, in People’s Park, where the University of California, Berkeley is engaged in a fight for public space. 

On September 30, 2021 the university released a statement with plans to build housing for 1,100 students on People’s Park, as it is land owned by UC Berkeley. 

Chess club members view this battle as a direct threat to the use of all public spaces. 

Despite being one of Telegraph Avenue’s most notable attractions, bringing communities together, Lewis worries that control of the future of People’s Park is a further test of a marginalized community’s rights to gather.       

Since the university’s announcement to develop People’s Park, groups including the Chess Club have protested the development in attempts to protect the park’s history and the community of unhoused individuals that began residing in the park during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Lewis insists that chess’ racial history is rooted in marginalization which is still in play at the Chess Club today.

Jesse Sheehan, founder of the Chess Club, says the club actually formed at the picnic tables in People’s Park, the last public space in Berkeley’s District 7 with a deep rooted history in the Free Speech Movement and the Vietnam War.  

Regulars at the club utilize the public space to express their views on Berkeley city politics and the university’s plans to build on People’s Park. 

Sheehan says the club’s opposition to the development of People’s Park has resulted in force and financial threats from Berkeley City Police and Berkeley City Council. Sheehan makes clear that the Chess Club exists as “a silent protest,” fighting for the protection of public spaces in all forms. 

City council members as well as the Berkeley City Police were contacted on multiple occasions. Neither city council or the police have responded to requests for comment on their recent interactions with the Chess Club. 

Berkeley’s historic Chess Club is not the only public gathering place that has faced threats of removal. Nearly ten years ago, San Francisco police shut down outdoor chess in general due to concerns for community safety and witness complaints of heightened drug use.

Sheehan explains that in the last four months the Chess Club has had about four encounters with armed police officers and city officials demanding the club relocate or pay $500 per table to continue using the space.

Chess Club supporters also point to gentrification of Telegraph Avenue, where boutique style restaurants and businesses compete to use the limited free public spaces for tables and resting areas. 

“Rich people don’t want to see poor people,” says People’s Park Activist Lisa Teague. 

Berkeley City Council ignores the benefits of having free public spaces like the Chess Club, says Sheehan, even intentionally destroying them. 

 “Berkeley City Council dispatched the city manager, Peter Rubin, who is in charge of homeless sweeps,” Jesse Sheehan says, “and basically depicted us as some sort of homeless nuisance. Then they come through with armed police officers [and still do] at times.”

 “City council [then further] discussed the chess club and slandered many members of our community, depicting us as an unruly bunch that was causing problems down here in the neighborhood,” says Sheehan. 

Edward Lewis explains that the group of avid chess players on Telegraph has an expiration date that is only expedited by the club’s protest against the city and the university, and the city's perception that the club poses a threat to the community. 

“This chess club has been here now for a year and a half, almost two years. And the longevity I've seen [of these cheese clubs] is between one year to three years, and then they die. There is no structure or locality or funding written to support their survival. This is what happens to every one of them. I'm not new to this. I've seen this before because this is not a location, it's owned by the city,” says Lewis.

Advocates for community use of all public spaces say free public spaces in Berkeley, mainly the Chess Club and People’s Park, highlight the inequalities that contribute to the general consensus of who is allowed in what spaces. 

Ari Neulight, UC Berkeley’s Homeless Outreach Coordinator, says a fight for public space is crucial in understanding the Chess Club’s fight for survival. 

“It's more than just a story about the city not allowing people to use public space,” Neulight says. “It's a question of who has access and the right to use the public space.”

Park Activist Lisa Teague insists that public spaces are “crucial” for maintaining the city’s character and overall sense of togetherness. “We can’t fight it except fight it by being welcoming, sharing what we have and bringing our joy.” 

“The chess club has provided quite a service to the community, and that is a wonderful thing,” Teague says. “You see UC Students, BCC [Berkeley Community College] students, high school kids and all sorts of people interacting at the Chess Club.”
 
Teague says, “I believe that is one of the most important things we can bring to the community. Sharing a space and talking and getting to know each other and not being afraid of each other is so important.”