Capital Pool Checkers | Made in Shaw from David Ross on Vimeo.

The Capital Pool Checkers Association has been around in one form or another for more than three decades. Currently, the club resides in a dedicated space on S Street NW in Shaw, an area that’s better known these days for its popular Christmas bar than as a place to play against grand master-level checkers competition.

“When I learned how to play checkers, I learned how to communicate” says club president Tal “The Razor” Roberts in a short documentary from David Ross of Brickyard Digital. “I went from a dunce to a halfway decent person, and so checkers changed my life. Anybody playing this game, it will change your life also.”

The film captures the community feel of the club, which is on the hunt for new members to join longtime players like Pressure Man and The Stealer.

Jonah Gold, a member of Capital Pool Checkers for a year and a half (he’s the blonde in the documentary who doesn’t have a nickname yet), says that it’s “hard to recruit people for around five months of the year” because the furnace is broken and it gets cold.

Last year, Gold helped Capital Pool Checkers launch a fundraiser to pay for a replacement. While they raised enough for other repairs, like pipe insulation and fixing water damage, they were unable to fix the heating system.

“In order for more changes to happen, we need more members because [the club is] supported by dues from members,” Gold says. Members split the costs, so the more people who join, the less everyone has to pay.

The neighborhood’s increased popularity means that the club must pay more in monthly rent. Another challenge for the club? Online gaming means fewer people seek out in-person associations to play games.

“It is primarily important that we keep this game going and we keep our place right here in the nation’s capital,” says Roberts. “Such that we can carry on the tradition that has taken us throughout the life.”