How Z Inwoon Is Building Community Through Our Chess NYC
Chess is not the quiet board game we think of. Creatives all across New York are taking the board as a meeting point for artists, families, athletes, and everyday New Yorkers. Here lies Z Inwoon, founder of Our Chess NYC — an artist, a creative, and a New Yorker who has cultivated their own space in emphasizing community, inclusivity, and accessibility. This isn’t your classic chess club with over-the-top tight uniforms, a heavy wooden chessboard, and an overwhelmingly male-dominant spirit to the game. As Our Chess NYC’s Instagram states, “Chess club is for everybody and every level. Leave the ego at home. No weirdos allowed.”
EnVi sat down with Z Inwoon under the Brooklyn Bridge, where adidas’ Home of Soccer brought together sport, style, and community. With people from all around the world gathered for this event, it was the perfect setting as people from different cultures and communities came together to celebrate the World Cup.
Our Chess NYC as a Community Space
Our Chess NYC is exactly what its name suggests: a chess club rooted in community. But for Z Inwoon, it is also a space shaped by the people who show up. “Our Chess is a community-driven chess club in New York City,” Z Inwoon told EnVi. “We’re based out of Flatbush — that’s home base for us — but we also do a residency at Silence Please on first Sundays.” The residency, called First Sundays with Our Chess Family, brings together artists, families, DJs, and players who treat the club as both a gathering space and a creative outlet.
That openness is what separates Our Chess NYC from the traditional image of chess. Rather than presenting the game as exclusive or intimidating, Z Inwoon has built an environment where people can enter at any level. Some come to play seriously or to learn, while others come to watch, listen to music, or spend time with neighbors. In that way, the club reflects a broader shift in bringing people of different generations; serving as a universal and non-verbal language.
Community Across the Board
Part of this language comes from chess’s ability to bring together people who may not have otherwise met. Z Inwoon sees that as one of the game’s strongest qualities. “There will always be pockets of people that come together, regardless of their status, class, race, gender — everything,” they said. “There’s always going to be people that come together naturally, and we just so happen to have Instagram to promote it now.”
For Z Inwoon, chess works because the board creates an even ground. Once two people sit across from each other, the only thing that matters is the game in front of them. Their clothing, profession, and social status no longer matter and fade into the background. “That’s the beauty of chess: people think of it as one thing — the game — but really it’s people,” Z Inwoon explained. “Regardless of who you are, once you’re in it, you’re in it, and chess will allow any type of person to be inside of it.” With adidas’ Home of Soccer as the setting, Z Inwoon’s perspective came to life, showing how sport can connect people and how the strategy, gathering, and community found in chess can extend far beyond the field.
The Strategy of Chess and Soccer
Although chess and soccer move at different speeds, Z Inwoon sees a clear connection between the two. Both require timing, awareness, and the ability to think beyond the immediate move. For Z Inwoon, the smartest move is not always the one that looks good right away, but the one that serves the bigger picture. “The one thing about chess that I always tell people: it’s not about you finding a good move; it’s about finding the good move,” they said. “I think that’s a very similar through line when it comes to soccer, or really any type of sport, but specifically soccer.” Soccer may be physical and fast-paced, while chess is quiet and still, but both depend on reading the board — or the field — with intention. Z Inwoon also pointed to the way many successful soccer coaches have connected their game to chess, where strategy is not only about reacting but also about anticipating. “If you think you found a good move, there’s a better move,” they said.
The overlap goes beyond tactics. For Z Inwoon, soccer and chess also share a communal quality. Both can gather people across backgrounds, languages, and identities. “On the camaraderie side of it, soccer and chess are very similar,” they explained. “It doesn’t matter what your background is — it absolutely connects.”
Come As You Are
While Our Chess NYC exists within the visual world of New York street culture, Z Inwoon’s approach to style is not about performance. Instead, they see personal style as an extension of comfort, energy, and self-expression. “The whole purpose of my club is that it’s not about what you are on the outside — it’s about what you are on the inside,” Z Inwoon said. “I want everyone to show up as they are.”
That philosophy shapes the club’s atmosphere. The point is not to arrive in the best outfit or prove belonging through the exterior. Instead, Z Inwoon wants the space to feel open to anyone, regardless of mood, experience, or presentation. “The way that I walk in this world, I really depend on my energy to be what you see first,” they said. “Of course, I have my adornments and love my jewelry, but I’m not a fashionista. I want to feel comfortable as myself, in whatever way that looks like, and that’s what I want translated at my club: come as you are. You don’t gotta be in a good mood; you don’t gotta be in a bad mood; you don’t gotta pull your best fit out — just come and play a game.”
Z Inwoon’s words also point to a larger idea within street culture; style is also about presence. Through Our Chess NYC, they have created a space where people can bring their full selves without needing to over-explain who they are.
What the Game Teaches
As much as Our Chess NYC is about community, the game itself still sits at the center. For Z Inwoon, chess has changed the way they think, move, and make decisions. When they first started playing, they approached the game differently. “When I first started playing, I just wanted to take pieces just because I knew I could,” Z Inwoon said. “Over time, chess taught me to think less about immediate gain and more about the larger outcome.” They learned to be “okay with losing certain things for the sake of the checkmate,” they explained, while focusing on how to finish the game.
That lesson carries into the way Z Inwoon understands life outside the board. Chess has taught them to slow down, think with purpose, and leave room for better options. “I feel like I think a lot, but [chess is about] thinking in an efficient way,” Z Inwoon said. “Sometimes I settle with my first good move, but [chess is about] allowing space for other things.”
In a fast-paced city like New York that never sleeps, Our Chess NYC offers a different kind of rhythm. It asks people to pause, look closely, and consider the next move before making it.
A Neighborhood Ritual
Our Chess NYC also reflects the everyday rituals that make New York feel personal. For Z Inwoon, community can be as simple as music playing nearby, familiar faces returning to the same space, and neighbors acknowledging each other in passing. That same neighborhood energy lives inside the club, where conversation, strategy, and movement surround the board.
There is even a song that marks the mood. “I always play ‘Forget Me Nots’ by Patrice Rushen — that song always gets played,” Z Inwoon said. While this detail feels small, it captures the spirit of what they are building. Our Chess NYC is not only about competition. It is about memory, rhythm, and people returning to the same space because it feels like theirs.
Through Our Chess NYC, Z Inwoon is helping chess step outside of its traditional frame and into the language of the city. Under the Brooklyn Bridge, alongside adidas’ Home of Soccer, the game became part of a larger conversation about sports, style, strategy, and gathering. At Our Chess NYC, that same feeling returns through 64 squares, a shared table, and the people who gather around it. The invitation is simple: come as you are, think beyond the first move, and let the game bring you closer to the people around you.
Interested in learning more about creatives building community while reshaping New York’s cultural scene? Read EnVi’s recap of Danny Singh’s electrifying Punk&B performance in Brooklyn.
