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Among the liveliest spots on a Tuesday evening in east London's famous street couldn't be a dining spot or a urban fashion brand pop-up, it's a chess club – or rather a chess club-nightclub hybrid, precisely speaking.

This unique venue embodies the unlikely crossover between the classic game and London's fervent nightlife culture. It was started by a young entrepreneur, in his late twenties, who began 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.

“I wanted to make chess clubs for people who share my background and those my age,” he explained. “Usually, chess is only put in spaces that are dominated by senior individuals, which isn't inclusive sufficiently.”

Initially, there were just 8 boards shared by sixteen people. Today, a “good night” at the weekly Knight Club will draw about 280 people.

At first glance, Knight Club seems closer to a DJ event than a chess club. Mixed drinks are flowing and tunes is in the air, but the game boards on every table aren't just decorative or there as a novelty: they are all in use and encircled by a line of onlookers waiting for their chance to play.

Jimmy Ifenayi, in her mid-twenties, has been attending the club regularly for the last four months. “I possessed no knowledge of chess before I came here, and the initial occasion I tried it, I played a game against a expert player. It was a swift victory, but it left me intrigued to study and keep playing chess,” she noted.

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

An Activity Revitalized: Chess in the Modern Age

In recent years, chess has been firmly established in the cultural zeitgeist. The popularity of online chess proliferated throughout the global health crisis, making it one of the fastest-growing internet games globally. In popular culture, the streaming series The Queen’s Gambit, along with Sally Rooney’s recent novel Intermezzo, have crafted a certain iconography surrounding the sport, which has attracted a fresh generation of enthusiasts.

However much of this recent appeal of the chess club is not necessarily about the technicalities of the play; instead, it is the simplicity of connecting with others that it enables, by pulling up a chair and engaging with someone who may be a total unknown individual.

“It's a great clever disguise,” said one organizer, co-founder of Reference Point in London, a bookshop, reading room, cafe and bar, which has hosted a well-attended chess club every Wednesday since it opened several years back. His aim is to “take chess from its elite status and transform it into like billiards in a dive bar”.

“It is a really simple vehicle to get to know people. It kind of takes the pressure of the necessity of conversation from socializing with people. One can handle the awkward bit of introducing yourself and chatting to someone across a game instead of with no shared activity around it.”

Expanding the Network: Chess Nights Outside London

Elsewhere in the UK, a similar initiative is a regular chess night held at a city cafe, near the city centre. “Our observation was that individuals are seeking spaces where you can go out, interact and enjoy a fun evening beyond visiting a pub or nightclub,” stated its founder and organiser, a young leader, 21.

Alongside his associate Abdirahim Haji, also young, Singh bought chessboards, created promotional materials and began the chess club in the start of the year, during his final year of university. Within months, Singh said their event has expanded to draw over 100 young participants to its events.

“A chess club has a specific connotation to it, about it seeming quiet. Our approach is to move in the contrary way; it is a convivial get-together with chess as part of it,” he emphasized.

Discovering and Engaging: A New Generation of Players

For many, chess clubs are an entry point to the activity. One participant, in her late twenties, is picking up how to participate in chess with other visitors of chess night at Reference Point. She became curious in the pastime was piqued after an enjoyable night dancing and playing chess at one of Knight Club's events.

“It's a unique idea, but it works,” she commented. “It encourages in-person interactions instead of screen-based pastimes. It is a free third space to meet new people. It is welcoming, one doesn't need to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

She jokingly likened the popularity of chess among young people to the facade of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an attempt to simulate intellectualism while projecting the veneer of “hipness”. Whether the chess trend has cultivated a authentic interest in the game isn't something she is quite convinced by. “It's a wholesome trend, but it’s largely a trend,” she said. “When you're playing with people who are truly dedicated about it, it quickly turns less enjoyable.”

Serious Gaming and Community

It might all be a bit of lighthearted activity for those looking to employ a game set as a networking tool, but competitive participants do have their place, even if off the dancefloor.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, 22, who assists in running the club,explains that more competitive players have formed a league table. “Participants who are in the league will play one another, we will progress to early rounds, advanced stages, and then we will finally have a champion.”

Ryames Chan, in his twenties, is a competitive player and chess teacher. He has been the competition for about a twelve months and participates at the club nearly weekly. “This is a nice alternative to playing serious chess; it gives a feeling of community,” he expressed.

“It's fascinating to see how it becomes more of a social activity, because in the past the sole people who engaged in chess were people who rarely socialize; they just remained home. It is typically just two people playing on a game board …

“The thing I like about here is that you're not actually facing the digital opponent, you're engaging with live opponents.”