Do you own a chess den, room, or nook?

No, but it would be awsome if I did... that will be something to think about for the future.

Wow, thanks for answering.

I expected dozens and dozens of people with special chess spaces.  I guess I'm not in touch.

I was talking online to a guy over at the St. Louis Chess Center today when I noticed they had flower arrangements all around.  "That's so nice," I'm thinking.  But it was just for the US Championship tournament, he told me.  Still, the St. Louis Chess Center is an awesome place for chess.

Amy

Inspired by those "Walls of Chess Heroes" you often see in chess clubs, I am going to be adding portraits of chess players to my chess nook.

Perhaps if I have a photo of Capablanca staring at me during my games, I will play better. (Who am I kidding?)

Also, I've decided to add flowers beside my chess board everyday.  At least some lavender, which grows outside all year long.

Amy

Wow Amy.  That's really cute.  You have a lot of chess pieces.  Actually...it's funny you ask because I live alone in a house with several unused rooms and I was just thinking how cute it would be to turn one room into a "chess" room.  I am already trying to find a style of huge chess pieces to have carved and made for a large board...I want the pawns to be the size of a soda can!  I have only one problem and it's that nobody around me plays chess.  At all.  So it would be purely decor.  :(

It would be great to have a sound-proof chess study booth with a few shelves for books and storage for other chess study items.

I'm an anthropology/archaeology student, and I have to say I'm obsessed with chess sets as pure artifacts.  They concentrate so much beauty into such a compact space.  And I think they are resonant representatives of a shared world-wide culture.

And oh, I hope you build your chess room and get your large chess set !  Even if it is simply decor.  Or could you play chess online from there?  Anyway, I hope you post some photos (of room and/or chess set).  If you are going to have the set made, could you take photos of the process/progress?  I would love to see that.

Amy

I have a "Portable nook" because I prefer to play outside when the weather is nice. In my house though No, I keep everything in it's carrying case until the next time I get to go to my favorite spot.

You've inspired me Amy. My den WILL be transformed! A coffee table with a hand painted board, appropriate photos (Maybe a photo library can be set up for access on chess.com?), light thru the french doors, a library wall with a built-in desk for my computer, shelving better suited for collectables and chess reference books. Oh, and lets not forget the paint scheme..... including a sky painted cieling with clouds of horsemen, a queen to die  for (oh my!), etc...

I hope you're serious.  Post photos.  And, yeah, the light in Long Beach is great (seriously).  There is that perfect instant on summer days when the sun first burns through the fog and you know the gray morning will turn all to color.

well I dont, but I have a friend who does. he's a tournament director for the USCF.

My den is my chess room and my music room. I have a card table with my tournament set and clock on it. Underneath and on a side chair are my chess books, copies of some of my games and my favorite puzzles. There is a picture on the wall of  a kitten sleeping on a chessboard amongst the pieces. There is my stereo and hundreds of CDs which were once organized perfectly, but now, not so much.

I have something like that. Last December I moved to another house with a lot of space, at least for me, my cats and my friend. In the large room (in a second floor), I've installed my desk and in one corner there is a large wood set. The rest is occupied by my laptop and my many books. As a post grad student in Astronomy I have a huge collection of them. But in my bedroom I have an space in the wall where I put all my other sets: one is a thematic one: Aztecs vs. Spaniards fighting on an Aztec Calendar, my two chess computers, one portable and one handheld, and many others. Here some pics of my favourite:

In México it is difficult to find chess equipment, almost all that I have I buyed it online. But one Star Bucks (I don't remember the spelling) will sell me a table with a chess board printed (?) on it and its two chairs. That will be the initiation of a chess dedicated space on my home. I apologize for my English, I use the spelling corrector, but as an experimented editor for a local newspaper I know it doesn't do the hard job of bringing understandable meaning to my writings.

I hope you can upload pictures.  (And wow, we've got a Red Sox and a White Sox fan on this thread.  You two will have to play chess, hopefully using one of those maroon and ivory sets.)

Nice picture =] It's really cool to me =]

Yeah, that's kinda weird, huh?

But it's for my father.  He loves Lennon.

But I'll be adding chess photos soon.

Thanks for uploading the photos.  And your English is great.  But when you say "Star Bucks" you mean the coffee house, right?  They are willing to sell one of their chess tables?  I'd like to get one of those myself.

[OK, and this is off topic...but when I heard you were an astronomer...

I live in LA, with Mt. Wilson a looming presence above the city...where Edwin Hubble and others did all that groundbreaking work on the expansion of the universe.  I just love that old (almost Victorian-looking) 100-inch reflector.  What a fabulous piece of engineering.]

Amy

Yes, I mean the coffee house. And it was not easy, I mean the business with the table, I had to talk with the manager and she with the regional administration. I had to wait almost three months for the decision. I think they accepted because of the economical recession.

As for Astronomy, I'm just an student for now. I studied Physics originaly, and work for a newspapers in general editing and in charge of the science weekly report. You have the privilege to live near an historical and modern place of observation, and where many important facts about the Universe where discovered. México has a good tradition in making Astronomy... All that I can offer to you, near where I live, are some ancient observatories (naked aye) used by the people that later founded Tenochtitlán (México City, now). We don't have cutting edge technology but we are planty of ancient one :-)

Wow this is cool!!!!!!!! I dream of having a chess room!!!!!!!!

You are my picture of Lennon !

No one I think is in my tree.