Venues experiment with ‘chequerboard’ seating

As Covid-19 shuts venues around the world, could seating attendees in a staggered chequerboard pattern be a safe alternative to wholesale closures?

News By | 18 March 2020

Several entertainment and leisure venues in Europe, North America and Australasia have begun to experiment with so-called 'chequerboard' seating – a formation some believe could present a safe alternative to forcing seated venues to close until the coronavirus threat has passed.Chequerboard seating involves leaving every other seat in a venue empty, mimicking the grid used by the games of draughts (US ‘checkers’) and chess, spreading patrons out diagonally to minimise the spread of pathogens from person to person. While the formation will leave a venue half empty, it does allow planned events to go ahead while reducing the risk of s

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