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Among the most vibrant venues on a Tuesday evening in the East End's famous street isn't a restaurant or a urban fashion brand temporary shop, it is a chess club – or rather a chess and nightlife combination, to be exact.

This unique venue embodies the unlikely crossover between chess and the city's dynamic evening entertainment culture. It was started by Yusuf Ntahilaja, 27, who launched his initial chess club in August 2023 at a more intimate bar in Aldgate, a short distance from the current location at Café 1001 on Brick Lane.

“My goal was to create chess clubs for individuals who share my background and people my generation,” he explained. “Typically, chess is only placed in spaces that are full of older people, which is not inclusive sufficiently.”

Initially, there were just 8 boards between 16 people. Today, a “successful evening” at the weekly club event will draw about 280 attendees.

Upon arrival, Knight Club seems more like a music night than a traditional chess meeting. Mixed drinks are flowing and tunes is playing, but the game boards on each table are not just decorative or there as a novelty: they are all in use and encircled by a line of spectators waiting for their turn.

Jimmy Ifenayi, in her mid-twenties, has been attending Knight Club regularly for the past several months. “I had little understanding of chess prior to I came here, and the first time I tried it, I played a game with a grandmaster. That was a quick win, but it left me intrigued to learn and keep playing chess,” she said.

“The event is about 50% social and 50% participants actually wanting to play chess … It's a pleasant way to unwind, which doesn't involve going to a club to see others my generation.”

An Activity Revitalized: Chess in the Modern Age

Lately, chess has been cemented in the cultural spirit of the times. Its appeal of online chess proliferated during the pandemic, making it one of the fastest-growing internet games globally. Across media, the streaming series The Queen’s Gambit, along with the author's latest novel a literary work, have crafted a distinct iconography surrounding the game, which has drawn in a fresh wave of players.

However a great deal of this recent appeal of the chess night isn't necessarily about the intricacies of the game; instead, it is the ease of connecting with others that it enables, by taking a seat and playing with a person who could be a total stranger.

“It's a great Trojan horse,” said Jonah Freud, founder of a local venue in London, a bookstore, library, cafe and bar, which has organized a popular chess club every Wednesday since it began several years back. His aim is to “remove chess from its elite status and make it feel similar to pool in a dive bar”.

“It is a really simple tool to meet people. It somewhat removes the weight of the need of conversation away from interacting with people. You can do the uncomfortable bit of introducing yourself and talking to someone across a game rather than with no context around it.”

Growing the Network: Social Gatherings Outside the Capital

Elsewhere in the UK, Chesscafé is a recurring chess night taking place at York’s Cafe, just outside the downtown area. “Our observation was that individuals are seeking places where you can go out, socialise and enjoy a fun evening outside of going to a pub or nightclub,” stated its founder and coordinator, Karan Singh, in his early twenties.

Together with his friend a partner, 21, Singh purchased chessboards, created promotional materials and started the chess club in January, during his last year of college. In less than a year, Singh said their event has expanded to draw over 100 youthful participants to its gatherings.

“Such a venue has a particular reputation to it, about it being quiet. We really try to move in the contrary way; it is a social get-together with chess as part of it,” he said.

Discovering and Playing: A New Generation of Chess Enthusiasts

Among numerous attendees, chess clubs are an entry point to the activity. Zoë Kezia, 27, is learning how to play chess with other attenders of the weekly event at Reference Point. Her interest in the pastime was piqued after an enjoyable night moving to music and playing chess at a previous the club's occasions.

“It's a strange concept, but it functions well,” she said. “It promotes face-to-face interactions instead of digital pastimes. It's a no-cost third space to meet strangers. It is inviting, you don't have to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

She jokingly compared the trendiness of chess among the youth to the superficial image of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an attempt to feign braininess while projecting the veneer of “coolness”. If the chess craze has fostered a genuine interest in the sport is not a notion she is entirely convinced by. “It is a wholesome phenomenon, but it’s very much a fad,” she said. “When you're playing with people who are really dedicated about it, it rapidly becomes less enjoyable.”

Serious Play and Community

It may all be a some lighthearted activity for those looking to employ a chessboard as a social vehicle, but serious participants do have their role, even if off the dancefloor.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, 22, who helps running the club,says that more competitive players have established a league table. “People who are part of the competition will play one another, we'll progress to quarter-finals, semi-finals, and then we will eventually have a champion.”

A dedicated player, 23, is a serious player and chess instructor. He joined in the league for about a twelve months and participates at the club almost every week. “This offers a welcome alternative to engaging in intense chess; it gives a sense of community,” he expressed.

“It's interesting to see how it becomes increasingly a communal activity, because in the past the only individuals who played chess were those who didn't go outside; they simply remained home. It's typically only a pair playing on a chessboard …

“What I like about this place is that one isn't really facing the digital opponent, you are facing real people.”