By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GREENWICH VILLAGE — Louisa Olson and her boyfriend, Ray Howal, spent their Saturday night date on Thompson Street — but not sipping cocktails at a trendy bar or sampling the appetizers at one of the many new neighborhood restaurants.
Instead, they watched patrons at the Village Chess Shop battle in out in all-night chess marathons. Then, they played each other.
"I think it's great what they have here," said Olson, 29, of the games and the set-up.
The couple found out about the chess shop because Howal, 30, sometimes plays in Washington Square Park and enjoys the relaxed atmosphere of the late-night matches.
"What they should do is turn it into a bar so you could get a drink," Olson suggested.
Instead of alcohol, a cappuccino machine selling cups of coffee for a $1 and Rock Star energy drinks from a tiny refrigerator in the corner of the shop provide the fuel for the players.
Open late to insomniac chess lovers since the 1970s, the Village Chess Shop switched to 24-hours a day nearly seven months ago and has kept busy into the wee hours ever since, said Justin Nowell, 27, who works the late-shift at the store.
"Before we were kicking out 12 people at two or three o'clock in the morning and we just decided to keep it open," Nowell said of the games of backgammon, checkers and chess, which can be played for $3 an hour.
"I think New York is the only city where something like this could survive and thrive," Nowell said of the nearly 100 people who typically come in between midnight and 8 a.m. on Saturday nights.
Even though they don't sell alcohol like most of the neighboring establishments, the late-night chess shop games have begun attracting younger players in their 20s who sometimes stop by after hitting up the bars, said Nathan Whipple, 27, who works the midnight to 8 a.m. shift.
"Usually they walk by and say, 'Baby, check this place out,'" Whipple said. "I think the people who come in at night have a good sense of humor."
