UPDATE: Dayton Chess Club cancels weekend sale due to coronavirus spread

A downtown Dayton building, home to the Dayton Chess Club, has sold. CORNELIUS FROLIK / STAFF

A downtown Dayton building, home to the Dayton Chess Club, has sold. CORNELIUS FROLIK / STAFF

UPDATE Thursday afternoon, Nov. 19

The Dayton Chess Club has cancelled a planned sale of items, following the Montgomery County Stay at Home Advisory.

A new date for the sale has not been set yet.

ORIGINAL STORY: The Dayton Chess Club, forced to move from its downtown home, will host a sale this weekend.

A view from inside the Dayton Chess Club, looking out toward Fifth Steet, from inside the Reed-Steffan building. THOMAS GNAU/STAFF

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Folding tables, chairs, couches, chess sets and hundred of books on chess will be among the items sold.

The sale will be held at the club, 18 W. Fifth St., Saturday, Nov. 21. Doors will open to club members at 9 a.m. and to the public at noon.

Masks and social distancing are required and a limited number of people will be allowed in at one time.

The pandemic has put plans for a future club location on hold.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have any place to move to, so we have to get rid of the contents of the club,” Jordan Henderson, president of the Dayton Chess Society that runs the club, said.

The Reed-Steffan Building, the property that has housed the Dayton Chess Club for 22 years, was purchased in September by Triad Architects, a Columbus architecture firm.

The Reed-Steffan building, home to the Dayton Chess Club, on West Fifth St. CORNELIUS FROLIK / STAFF

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The firm plans to renovate the three-story building for office, retail and residential uses.

The Dayton Chess Club began in a chess enthusiast’s apartment in 1957, Henderson said. During its heyday in the 1970s it had over 200 members. Today the club has 20 members.

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