Ready. Set. Play.
Ready. Set. Play.
The Chess Refinery is a non-profit organization based in Houston, with the intention of promoting chess in the local community. Kwunie Ng, the founder of the organization, was a competitive chess player herself before promoting Chess Refinery but decided that hosting events was a more fulfilling experience. Kwunie created a Facebook group and website in order to advertise and organize events that are hosted throughout the year, such as tournaments, casual meetups, and private/group lessons for kids. Although the organization started off as a small community with only Kwunie and her friends, it has grown dramatically over time, with around 1,200 members signed into the Facebook group! The variety of events allows for people of all ages and skill levels to interact with The Chess Refinery community.
Chess Refinery has always had many weekend tournaments that are very popular. Even through COVID, the organizers have done a great job keeping participants engaged with these weekly tournaments. Some of these tournaments are competitive, and officially ranked, but most of them are for fun, and for player improvement. Overall, these tournaments have been for the enjoyment of the members, and they continue to furfill that goal to this day.
Before covid, chess refinery meetups were always very fun and competitive, usually with many intense, exciting chess matches between experienced chess players being played at once. Players ranged in age, from young kids who are just strating with chess, all the way to people who are retried and just looking for a fun game, making this chess group truly one of the most diverse and best chess clubs out there, until it was forced to downsize with the onslaught of covid precautions.
Woodchase park is one of Chess Refinery’s most popular meetup places. It’s on Woodchase St. off Westpark Road near Chinatown. It was recently remodeled, and it now contains a very nice patio with about 15 chess sets. Woodchase park also sponsors some of Chess Refinery’s tournaments, with the intention of more people spending more time within their park grounds.
Chess refinery has no age limits and is very diverse. In this photo you can see a small child playing against an adult. Chess refinery members vary from age and experience, ensuring their will always be humbled or your massive chess eating ego can grow bountifuly. It doesn’t matter how small or young you are, or how inexperienced you are, chess refinery has a place for you!
Chess refinery meetups can range from very casual all the way to competitive, and in this picture we can see some chess players playing in a local park before covid, enjoying themselves at one of the casual chess refinery meetups. These meetups are someo of the more newbie-friendly meetups, where players can simply play for fun, rather then play with a timer constantly keeping the pace.