Echesspedia

CAFÉ de la Régence

From the XVII century the Café de la Régence in Paris was the center of French chess. The place was founded by Philip, Duke of Orleans around 1720. Intellectuals, philosophers, politics, artists and other personalities were regular customers, among them Voltaire, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Benjamin Franklin and Napoleon.

The place was also known as a Chess Café where almost all the European players of the middle of the XIX century met for kibitz or friendly chess games. Among them were Legal, Philidor, Saint Amant. A professional player was engaged to entertain the amateurs, among them Kieseritzky, Harrwitz and la Bourdonnais were the experts.