Hi–
I’m traveling to Istanbul soon for my job. Besides taking in all the sights and struggling with my Turkish, I’m hoping to play some chess while there. Does anyone out know of any good cafes or other “don’t miss” spots to play chess in the city?
Thanks.
Chess is huge in eastern Europe. I’d think any taxi driver in Istanbule would know the local hot spots.
I only know of places in Constantinople (Not Istanbul.) 
I’m sorry, that was wicked of me! Mainly I wanted to say welcome to the forums!
Seriously, though you may want to see if you can check with the Turkiye Satranc Federasyonu. Found via tsf.org.tr/index.php?lang=en for English.
This link may also be helpful: chessclub.com/resources/club … urkey.html
Another avenue might be to contact the Turkish Cultural Foundation, just to see if they have any other useful contacts for you. turkishculturalfoundation.or … .php?ID=19 It may not quite be up their alley, but they may know of who you could contact.
Or, hopefully, somebody else here might be able to help you more directly. 
That seems like a comment that some would consider byzantine.