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One of the most energetic venues on a weekday evening in east London's Brick Lane couldn't be a dining spot or a urban fashion brand temporary shop, it is a chess gathering – or rather a chess club-nightclub combination, to be exact.

Knight Club embodies the surprising crossover between the classic game and London's fervent nightlife culture. It was started by Yusuf Ntahilaja, in his late twenties, who began his first chess club in August 2023 at a smaller bar in a nearby area, not too far from the present location at Café 1001 on the iconic lane.

“My goal was to make chess clubs for individuals who share my background and people my age,” he said. “Usually, chess is only put in spaces that are full of older people, which is not inclusive enough.”

On the first night, there were only eight boards between 16 people. Today, a “successful evening” at the weekly club event will attract approximately 280 attendees.

At first glance, Knight Club feels closer to a music night than a chess club. Mixed drinks are flowing and tunes is playing, but the game boards on every table are not just ornamental or there as a novelty: they are all in use and surrounded by a line of onlookers waiting for their chance to play.

One regular, 24, has frequented Knight Club often for the last several months. “I possessed little understanding of chess before my first visit, and the first time I tried it, I competed in a game with a grandmaster. That was a swift win, but it made me intrigued to learn and keep playing chess,” she noted.

“This gathering is about half networking and 50% participants actually wanting to play chess … It's a pleasant way to unwind, which doesn't involve going to a club to meet others my generation.”

An Activity Reborn: The Ancient Game in the Contemporary Age

In recent years, chess has been firmly established in the cultural zeitgeist. Its appeal of digital chess proliferated during the global health crisis, making it one of the fastest-growing online games globally. In popular culture, the streaming series The Queen’s Gambit, as well as the author's latest novel Intermezzo, have crafted a certain iconography surrounding the sport, which has drawn in a fresh wave of players.

However a great deal of this newfound attraction of the chess night is not always about the technicalities of the play; instead, it is the simplicity of social interaction that it facilitates, by taking a seat and playing with someone who could be a total stranger.

“It's a brilliant clever disguise,” said one organizer, co-founder of a local venue in London, a bookshop, library, cafe and lounge, which has hosted a popular chess club weekly since it opened four years ago. Freud’s aim is to “take chess off a pedestal and transform it into similar to pool in a casual pub”.

“It's a very simple tool to meet people. It kind of takes the weight of the need of small talk from socializing with people. One can do the awkward part of making an introduction and talking to someone across a board rather than with no shared activity involved.”

Growing the Community: Social Gatherings Outside the Capital

In Birmingham, Chesscafé is a recurring chess event taking place at a city cafe, near the city centre. “We found that individuals are looking for places where one can go out, socialise and have a good time outside of visiting a pub or nightclub,” said its creator and coordinator, a young leader, 21.

Alongside his friend Abdirahim Haji, 21, Singh purchased game sets, created promotional materials and started the chess club in January, during his last year of college. In less than a year, he said Chesscafé has expanded to attract more than one hundred youthful players to its events.

“Such a venue has a particular reputation associated with it, about it seeming reserved. Our approach is to go the opposite direction; it's a convivial get-together with chess as part of it,” he said.

Discovering and Playing: An Alternative Generation of Chess Enthusiasts

For many, chess clubs are an introduction to the activity. Zoë Kezia, in her late twenties, is learning how to participate in chess with fellow attenders of chess night at Reference Point. Her interest in the pastime was piqued after an pleasurable night moving to music and engaging in chess at one of Knight Club's events.

“It is a unique concept, but it functions well,” she commented. “It encourages face-to-face exchanges rather than digital pastimes. It is a no-cost third space to encounter strangers. It is welcoming, you don't have to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

Kezia humorously compared the trendiness of chess among young people to the superficial image of the “performative male”, an effort to feign intellectualism while signaling the veneer of “hipness”. Whether the chess craze has fostered a genuine interest in the sport isn't something she is quite convinced by. “It is a positive trend, but it’s very much a fad,” she observed. “When you're playing with opponents who are truly dedicated about it, it quickly becomes less fun.”

Competitive Gaming and Togetherness

It may seem like a bit of fun and games for individuals aiming to use a chessboard as a networking tool, but competitive participants certainly have their place, even if off the main party area.

Another organizer, in her early twenties, who assists in organise Knight Club,explains that increasingly competitive attenders have formed a league table. “People who are part of the competition will play each other, we will progress to early rounds, semi-finals, and then we'll finally have a league winner.”

A dedicated player, in his twenties, is a serious competitor and chess instructor. He joined the competition for about a year and participates at the club almost every week. “This is a welcome option to playing serious chess; it gives a feeling of belonging,” he said.

“It's fascinating to observe how it evolves into increasingly a communal pastime, because previously the sole individuals who played chess were those who rarely socialize; they just remained home. It is usually just a pair playing on a chessboard …

“The thing I like about this place is that one isn't actually facing the computer, you are facing live opponents.”