Café de la Régence facts for kids
The Café de la Régence was a meeting place for chess players in Paris, France. It was the most famous chess meeting-place for over a century. The building was a coffeehouse in the centre of Paris, founded in 1688 and named in 1718. At first, it was under the patronage of the Duc d'Orleans, and attracted a literary crowd.p417
Chess players moved there en masse around 1740. The clientele included amateurs, such as Voltaire, Rousseau, Robespierre, Benjamin Franklin and Napoleon. The leading professionals, Deschapelles, La Bourdonnais, Verdoni and Philidor, were there every day when they were in Paris.p65 Staunton played his match against Saint-Amant there; Paul Morphy played there in 1858, including his match with Anderssen. The café was moved in 1855. The chess room was finally closed in 1916.
- Painting by Faven: described in Winter, Edward: Chess Notes #4420 The painting is of a scene in the Café de la Régence in 1910, showing some of its better-known players.
Images for kids
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Fictional depiction of the great chess masters of the time gathering to play at the café, Antti Favén, 1902–1913
See also
In Spanish: Café de la Régence para niños
