Where to sit down to a game in Rome 59

Finding a game in Rome mostly means finding a circolo on the right day. Free play has its hours: Saturday afternoon at Steinitz and at Quattro Pedoni, Tuesday evening at the Scuola Popolare di Scacchi, Monday and Thursday afternoon with Roma Scacchi at the Santa Rita cultural centre, Sunday morning in Vitinia, Tuesday afternoon in Ladispoli. Anyone who prefers a game that counts can enter a weekday evening open or one of the single-day rapids held on many weekends.

Outside the clubs the list is short. Two guide pages mention chess at the outdoor tables of Bar del Fico in the historic centre, and the city’s tourism page describes a large stone chessboard set into the paving of a garden at Largo Cannella; neither has a dated sign of current play, and both cards say that plainly. Few clubs state in writing whether a stranger may simply walk in, so a message beforehand is the safe way to a first visit.