Matchess: OTB chess matchmaker backed by Anish Giri

Opening

Hi, I’m the CEO of Matchess. I used to travel a lot for work, and whenever I had free time, I would find someone to play chess with in every new city. For me, it was the best way to socialize and explore new places.
A year ago, while sitting on a bench in a Lisbon park and playing with friends, one of them mentioned the word "chessdate," and it clicked! I realized we needed a tool to connect the entire community of OTB chess fans. That’s how the idea was born.

Middlegame

I shared the idea with a few friends, and they loved it so much that we quickly formed an amazing team and started developing the platform.
We researched the market, talked to tons of potential users, and figured out what they needed:

• The ability to find opponents by skill level – playing with a big difference in level can be boring.

• The ability to find opponents by vibe – even if our skills match, if I want to drink beer and chat about philosophy while my opponent is focused on a timed game, it’ll be a bad match.

• A list of chess-friendly spots – cafés and bars where you can find chessboards and set up games.

• The ability to create group events – so we can build more visible local communities.

  We set ambitious goals and realized that if we wanted to create something truly great, it had to be a business. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have enough resources, energy, or motivation. So, we decided to create both free and premium versions of Matchess. For $5 a month, subscribers get unlimited game creation, cool custom icons to show off their level and vibe, access to the full player list in their city, the ability to create group events, and even chess clocks (lol). The free version allows 10 game setups and unlimited responses to others’ invites.

Sacrifice and Winning Advantage

We poured everything into Matchess. I left my job to focus on the project, and the team worked sleepless nights coding, designing the user experience, and building a database of chess-friendly spots. We also thought hard about how to spread the word about our project. It was exhausting, we spent a ton of money and nerves, but gained an incredible experience!
However, we lacked one critical piece — publicity. Combined, we had barely 10,000 followers across social media, and of course, no money for ads. We needed a decisive advantage to reach the community. We needed a great ambassador. After some thought, we knew the perfect fit — Anish Giri. His style, energy, and sense of humor matched our vision. I found his contact and shared our project with him. And to my surprise, he responded and agreed to become our ambassador! I’m still shocked that it happened, but it did. This really restored my faith in people.

The Next Move

And here we are. Matchess is live. We have a huge database of chess-friendly spots in Europe and the US, but you can add your favorite bar to the map too. We have an amazing ambassador, fun icons for hardcore players, relaxed games, queer player support, and much more. We also have some cool TikToks and Reels (make sure to follow us). And of course, become a Matchess subscriber — not only do you get access to great OTB chess opportunities, but you’ll also support this crazy project made with love for chess. We have big plans and tons of ideas to make Matchess even better. It’s going to blow your mind!

P.S.: If you’re a chess organizer of any kinds, let us know — we have a special opportunity for you and your community.