IMMORTAL GAME CHESS PREVIOUS EVENTS
Immortal Game, London.
18 September 2025, George, Mayfair, London.
The highlight of the night 1:1 of Matthew Freud (white) against Timon Afinsky (black).
Over $47B worth of tech founders and entrepreneurs were playing chess against each other that night.
Immortal Game, World Economic Forum.
25 January 2025, Davos, Switzerland.
Hand and Brain of the night: Supermodel Natalia Vodianova teamed up with six-time world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik to play against Igor Turchinsky, founder of WorldQuant, and Daniel Yuffa, Spanish champion.
World Chess Chess Salon in New York during the World Championship.
New York, 2016.
IMMORTAL GAME CHESS PREVIOUS EVENTS
The Clash of Claims, Shoreditch, London, June 2024.
The *Clash of Claims* was a special match created to address Vladimir Kramnik’s concerns about fairness and reliability in online chess. Frustrated by technical issues and inconsistent enforcement, Kramnik pushed for a mixed over-the-board and online format to give both players a neutral stage.
Hand and Brain, Special Olympics.
20 June 2023, Berlin.
Hand and Brain of the night: Antoine Arnault (LVMH) teamed up with Hungarian Grandmaster Richárd Rapport (earned his title age 13) against philanthropic and entrepreneur Natalia Vodianova paired with Dutch Grandmaster ranked #2 in the world Jorden Van Foreest.
Chess Blitz at Founders Forum
15 June 2022, Soho Farm House, London.
Sasha Aoki playing debut against Michael Acton Smith, founder of Calm.
IMMORTAL GAME CHESS PREVIOUS EVENTS
Music of Chess, Soho House Strand.
Stephen Ridley, self-taught renegade pianist against Iranian prodigy composer Arsha Kaviani.
Immortal Game Inaguration event in London.
George Private Members Club, Mayfair, London, 18 September 2025.
Over $47bln worth of tech founders and entrepreneurs joined us for the night.
New York, 2016.
The Immortal Game Chess Club
The Immortal Game Chess Club is a private society for those at the top of their game – individuals whose ideas shape the world, culture, and the future itself.
In a world dominated by automation and digital noise, the 1851 Club offers rare in-person access to the most exceptional minds – thinkers and creators with enduring influence and immortal ideas. It is a space for embodied intelligence, strategic presence, and conversations that matter.
The Immortal Game
Our name pays tribute to one of the most extraordinary moments in chess history: "The Immortal Game", played in London in 1851 between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky.
Considered the most romantic chess game ever played, it was masterclass in intuition and daring - Anderssen sacrificed nearly every major piece, including both rooks, a bishop, and his queen, to deliver checkmate. It was not a victory defined by efficiency, but by vision - a moment where creative risk transcended calculation and became legacy.
Philosophy
This philosophy - boldness over certainty, imagination over orthodoxy - is the cornerstone of our Club. Founded in that spirit, The Immortal Game Chess Club meets monthly in Mayfair, uniting an invitation-only circle of influential founders, cultural figures, and strategic thinkers. More than a chess club, it is a platform for trusted access and meaningful exchange - anchored in the discipline and intimacy of the game.
Mission and Vision
Our mission is to preserve and elevate human strategic capacity - not in opposition to machines, but in defence of what cannot be automated: creativity, risk, spontaneity, intuition. The Immortal Game is not just a name; it is a reminder. That even in an era of artificial intelligence, the most enduring moves are still made by people. The Immortal Club is also a nod to the Romantic Era of chess, when boldness was beauty - and risk was the path to greatness.
Format and Members
By invitation only, Members come not just to play, but to connect with those shaping markets, media, technology, and thought. Each gathering is off-record, designed for shared focus, fast play, and unfiltered conversation. Blitz chess is both medium and metaphor: where instinct meets intelligence, and every move reveals intent.
Founders of 1851 Club
The Immortal Game Chess Club is a collaboration between the founders of Create What You Wish Existed - a highly selective global community for visionary entrepreneurs and cultural leaders - and World Chess, the official partner of FIDE and organiser of the World Chess Championship cycle, the Armageddon and the Grand Prix series.