Why I created an adult only chess team for Romanians in Bucharest

The problem

The Lichess community is OK, I guess, but other than the games and the occasional chat, I have no idea who I am dealing with. Often I get into a more personal discussion and I get "Woah, I don't know about these things, I am 10!" or they declare themselves to be from the US, for example, and then they can't speak English properly.

Same thing happens when I am looking for physical places where people gather together to play chess. I found several clubs, some near me, so I went to visit. And I found a bunch of under 10s playing a tournament with their parents looking in through termopane doors like into a strange aquarium. Or I read some article about a coffee shop where chess players get together only to find out it has closed.

Similarly, the Bucharest chess teams on Lichess seem to be exclusively related to children's chess clubs or other type of professional associations that would have a lot of children as their main clients.

Note that I don't have anything against children or young people. It's just that where they go, their parents soon follow, or restrictions of all kinds pop up out of nowhere about what to say, what to do and where to do it.

And then there are the titled players. One would think contacting them to ask for the premier local chess watering hole would be the sensible thing to do. But these are serious people and they don't talk to the likes of me. Not to mention that they may well be under 18!

Solution

I don't expect this to blow out, but at least I want to provide the solution for people looking for the same thing as I do.

Therefore I opened the Șah în București team for adults only. Team members, chat and forum are visible only to other members and on joining you have to prove you're over 18. It's all in Romanian and focused on people from Bucharest, but open to all Romanians. You never know when you're going to be in the capital.

It may sound strange that I attempt to solve a community problem with a restriction of community access, but I believe it is the right thing to do. Ultimately, the purpose is to get together and behave as adults without the need to tip toe around subjects or wonder if sharing a drink is illegal.

If we get enough people together, my plan is to organize a place, like a bar of coffeeshop, where we can regularly and physically meet, talk and play chess. I don't know if Bucharest does have already a place like this, but this is how we will find out or make it happen ourselves.

Conclusion

If you're an 18+ Romanian chess player, professional or amateur, and look for a chess community in Bucharest, this is the team for you.