Happy Wednesday, Atlanta!

• Axios editor Carly Mallenbaum and reporter Sami Sparber are bringing you a special newsletter edition about a board game renaissance that's bringing younger people together.

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny and warm. Highs in the upper-80s and lows in the mid-60s.

Situational awareness: The 2028 Olympic torch relay will begin its 50-state run in Atlanta after its lighting in Greece, officials announced yesterday.

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Today’s newsletter is 856 words — a 3-minute read.

Chess is no longer just an old-school pastime — young men and women are making the game their own.

The big picture: The pandemic, pop culture and a wave of content creators have turned a centuries-old game into a Gen Z phenomenon.

What they're saying: "It was not the coolest thing in the world to be a chess player" when I was growing up, 30-year-old chess master and educator Levy Rozman tells Axios.

• "Nowadays, kids come up to me who love chess and they look like they would've bullied me in school," he says.

The latest: There are now popular chess livestreamers (like Rozman, aka GothamChess), chess dating clubs, chess nights at bars, and even chess romance scenes on TV.

Between the lines: It's not just men trying to capture the king. Women are also livestreaming and learning the game.

• Rozman says his YouTube audience went from roughly 99% male in 2020 to more than 10% female today, and viewers of his "How To Play Chess" video are now about 25% female.

By the numbers: Younger people are now more likely than their elders to play chess, according to recent YouGov data.

• As of June 1, there were 6.4 million active U.S. Chess.com players, up from 4 million on the same date the year prior, according to data shared with Axios.
• And there was nearly a 10% increase in chess experiences on Eventbrite nationally from 2024 to 2025, the ticketing platform tells Axios.
• Meanwhile, chess grandmasters keep getting younger.

Catch up quick: Chess play spiked in 2020, when millions stuck at home rediscovered the game online. The Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit" also helped.

• And several other moments since — like a major cheating scandal, arrival of a chess bot called Mittens and an infamous table slam — have kept the game in the zeitgeist, Rozman says.

The bottom line: No matter your age, learning chess could be a winning move for connection and self-improvement.

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Chess isn't the only game capturing young people's attention.

State of play: Compared to their elders, those under 45 are much more likely to have tried newer games like Bananagrams, Catan and Wingspan, according to YouGov data.

• And adults under 30 are more likely to care about winning, per the data.

Zoom out: Many Gen Zers are turning to analog activities as a way to reclaim time spent on screens.

The intrigue: Mahjong is nearly as popular among those under 45 and those older, per the survey.

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Call it the "Mahjong Belt" — a swath of mostly Southern cities leads the country in online mahjong player density and growth, new data shows.

State of play: Lafayette, Louisiana, is the U.S. "mahjong capital," according to online platform Mahjong 4 Friends' analysis of user data.

• Player density is highest in Charleston, South Carolina, Atlanta, and Orlando, Florida, with over 50 active players per 1,000 residents in the past year.

What they're saying: "The South has a strong table-game and hospitality culture, so we suspect mahjong is folding easily into a social fabric that was already there," Neal Taparia, co-founder of Mahjong 4 Friends, tells Axios.

• Yes, but: The South's glitzy take on IRL mahjong has its critics.

The big picture: The centuries-old Chinese tile game is sweeping the country as younger generations and Southern transplants fuel new growth.

• A staple among Asian families and later beloved by Jewish communities, mahjong has more than 40 global variations — including an American one that started on the East Coast before spreading in recent years to the South, Midwest and beyond.

Reality check: Online play may be surging, per Mahjong 4 Friends, which counted nearly 1.8 million U.S. players in the past year. But not everyone plays virtually.

• For many players, gathering around a real table is part of the appeal.

Go deeper

⚖️ MARTA is suing a former employee in an attempt to recoup the more than $600,000 it accidentally paid the ex-janitor due to a clerical error. (WSB)

📉 A dashboard released by the labor union representing staff who work at the CDC shows the agency has lost one-third of its workforce since spring 2025. (WABE)

🏢 The former Presidential Hotel, the 14-story vacant structure visible from Spaghetti Junction, is being eyed for redevelopment into a 282-unit apartment complex. (AJC)

🤑 Thomas wants to know where his parents stashed his old "Fireball Island" board game because apparently those are worth a decent chunk of change.

🀄️ Kristal really wants to learn how to play Mahjong.

This newsletter was edited by Crystal Hill.