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One of the most energetic spots on a weekday evening in the East End's Brick Lane couldn't be a restaurant or a streetwear brand pop-up, it is a chess club – or rather a chess and nightlife hybrid, to be exact.

This unique venue embodies the unlikely fusion between the classic game and London's fervent evening entertainment culture. It was founded by a young entrepreneur, in his late twenties, who began his first chess club in the summer of 2023 at a smaller bar in Aldgate, a short distance from the present location at a popular cafe on Brick Lane.

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

Initially, there were just eight boards between 16 people. Today, a “successful evening” at the weekly Knight Club will draw approximately 280 people.

At first glance, the venue seems closer to a music night than a chess club. Mixed drinks are flowing and music is in the air, but the game boards on every table aren't just ornamental or there as a novelty: they are all occupied and surrounded by a line of spectators waiting for their chance to play.

Jimmy Ifenayi, 24, has been attending Knight Club often for the past four months. “I had little understanding of chess before my first visit, and the first time I tried it, I competed in a game against a grandmaster. It was a quick win, but it left me fascinated to study and keep playing chess,” she said.

“This gathering is about half social and 50% participants actually wanting to engage in chess … It's a nice way to decompress, which doesn't involve going to a club to see others my age.”

A Game Reborn: The Ancient Game in the Modern Age

Lately, chess has been cemented in the societal zeitgeist. The popularity of digital chess expanded rapidly throughout the global health crisis, establishing it as one of the most rapidly expanding online games in the world. Across media, the streaming series The Queen’s Gambit, along with Sally Rooney’s recent novel a literary work, have created a distinct iconography surrounding the game, which has drawn in a new generation of players.

However much of this recent attraction of the chess club isn't necessarily about the technicalities of the game; rather, it is the simplicity of connecting with others that it enables, by pulling up a seat and playing with a person who may be a total stranger.

“It is a great clever disguise,” said one organizer, founder of Reference Point in London, a bookstore, library, cafe and bar, which has hosted a popular chess club weekly since it opened several years back. His aim is to “remove chess from its elite status and make it feel like pool in a dive bar”.

“It is a very easy tool to get to know people. It kind of takes the pressure of the need of conversation away from interacting with people. One can handle the awkward part of making an introduction and talking to someone over a board rather than with no shared activity involved.”

Growing the Community: Chess Nights Beyond the Capital

In Birmingham, a similar initiative is a regular chess night taking place at a city cafe, just outside the city centre. “We found that people are seeking places where you can socialize, socialise and have a fun evening outside of going to a bar or club,” stated its founder and organiser, Karan Singh, in his early twenties.

Together with his associate a partner, also young, he bought chessboards, printed flyers and began the chess club in the start of the year, while in his last year of university. Within months, he said Chesscafé has expanded to draw more than one hundred young players to its gatherings.

“Such a venue has a particular connotation associated with it, about it seeming quiet. Our approach is to go the opposite direction; it is a social party with chess involved,” he emphasized.

Learning and Engaging: A New Generation of Players

For many, chess clubs are an entry point to the game. One participant, 27, is learning how to play chess with fellow visitors of the weekly event at Reference Point. She became curious in the pastime was piqued after an pleasurable night moving to music and engaging in chess at one of the club's occasions.

“It's a unique concept, but it functions well,” she said. “It promotes face-to-face exchanges rather than screen-based pastimes. It's a no-cost neutral ground to meet new people. It is inviting, you don't need to necessarily be good at chess.”

She humorously likened the trendiness of chess with the youth to the superficial image of the “performative male”, an attempt to feign intellectualism while signaling the veneer of “hipness”. If the chess craze has fostered a authentic interest in the game is not a notion she is quite convinced by. “It's a positive trend, but it’s largely a fad,” she said. “Once you compete with people who are truly dedicated about it, it quickly turns less enjoyable.”

Competitive Gaming and Community

It might all be a some lighthearted activity for individuals looking to use a game set as a networking tool, but serious players certainly have their role, even if off the main party area.

Another organizer, 22, who helps organise Knight Club,says that more skilled attenders have formed a competitive ranking. “People who are part of the competition will play each other, we will go to quarter-finals, advanced stages, and then we will finally have a champion.”

A dedicated player, in his twenties, is a competitive player and chess teacher. He has been the competition for about a year and participates at the club nearly every week. “This offers a nice option to playing intense chess; it gives a feeling of community,” he expressed.

“It is fascinating to observe how it becomes more of a communal pastime, because in the past the sole people who engaged in chess were those who rarely go outside; they just remained home. It is typically just two people competing on a chessboard …

“What appeals to me about here is that one isn't really playing against the digital opponent, you are engaging with real people.”