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Among the liveliest spots on a weekday night in the East End's famous street isn't a restaurant or a urban fashion brand pop-up, it's a chess gathering – or rather a chess club-nightclub hybrid, precisely speaking.

Knight Club represents the unlikely crossover between chess and London's dynamic evening entertainment scene. It was founded by Yusuf Ntahilaja, in his late twenties, who launched his first chess club in August 2023 at a smaller bar in Aldgate, not too far from the current location at a popular cafe on Brick Lane.

“My goal was to make chess clubs for people who share my background and those my generation,” he said. “Usually, chess is only placed in environments that are dominated by senior individuals, which is not diverse sufficiently.”

Initially, there were only eight boards shared by 16 people. Now, a “good night” at the regular Knight Club will draw approximately two hundred eighty people.

Upon arrival, the venue seems closer to a DJ event than a traditional chess meeting. Mixed drinks are being served and music is playing, but the game boards on every table aren't just decorative or there as a gimmick: they are all occupied and surrounded by a queue of spectators eagerly anticipating for their turn.

One regular, in her mid-twenties, has been attending Knight Club regularly for the last four months. “I had no knowledge of chess before my first visit, and the first time I tried it, I competed in a game against a expert player. It was a quick victory, but it left me fascinated to study and continue enjoying chess,” she said.

“This gathering is about 50% social and half people genuinely wanting to play chess … It's a nice way to decompress, which avoids visiting a typical nightspot to meet others my age.”

An Activity Revitalized: Chess in the Contemporary Era

In recent years, chess has been cemented in the cultural spirit of the times. Its appeal of online chess expanded rapidly during the pandemic, making it one of the most rapidly expanding online pastimes in the world. In popular culture, the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, along with Sally Rooney’s latest novel a literary work, have created a distinct imagery surrounding the sport, which has attracted a fresh generation of enthusiasts.

But a great deal of this recent attraction of the chess night is not always about the intricacies of the play; instead, it is the simplicity of social interaction that it enables, by taking a chair and playing with someone who may be a complete unknown individual.

“It is a brilliant Trojan horse,” said one organizer, founder of Reference Point in London, a bookshop, library, cafe and lounge, which has organized a well-attended chess club weekly since it began several years back. Freud’s aim is to “remove chess from its elite status and make it feel similar to pool in a casual pub”.

“It's a really easy tool to get to know people. It kind of removes the weight of the need of small talk from interacting with people. One can do the awkward part of introducing yourself and chatting to someone over a game instead of with no context involved.”

Growing the Community: Chess Nights Outside the Capital

In Birmingham, a similar initiative is a recurring chess event taking place at a city cafe, near the downtown area. “Our observation was that people are looking for places where one can socialize, socialise and enjoy a fun evening outside of going to a pub or nightclub,” stated its founder and organiser, Karan Singh, 21.

Together with his associate a partner, 21, Singh purchased chessboards, created promotional materials and began the chess club in the start of the year, while in his final year of university. In less than a year, he reported their event has grown to attract over one hundred youthful participants to its gatherings.

“A chess club has a specific reputation to it, about it seeming reserved. Our approach is to go the opposite direction; it is a social party with chess involved,” he emphasized.

Discovering and Playing: A New Generation of Players

Among numerous attendees, chess clubs are an introduction to the game. Zoë Kezia, in her late twenties, is picking up how to participate in chess with fellow visitors of chess night at the venue. Her interest in the pastime was piqued after an pleasurable night moving to music and playing chess at one of the club's events.

“It is a unique idea, but it works,” she commented. “It promotes in-person exchanges rather than screen-based pastimes. It is a no-cost neutral ground to encounter strangers. It's welcoming, one doesn't need to necessarily be good at chess.”

Kezia humorously compared the trendiness of chess among young people to the facade of the “performative male”, an attempt to simulate intellectualism while projecting the veneer of “hipness”. Whether the chess craze has fostered a genuine interest in the game isn't something she is entirely sure about. “It is a wholesome trend, but it’s largely a fad,” she observed. “When you compete against opponents who are really serious about it, it quickly becomes less fun.”

Competitive Play and Community

It might all be a bit of fun and games for those aiming to employ a chessboard as a social vehicle, but serious participants do have their place, albeit away from the main party area.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, 22, who helps organise Knight Club,explains that more skilled players have formed a competitive ranking. “People who are part of the competition will play one another, we will progress to quarter-finals, semi-finals, and then we will eventually have a champion.”

A dedicated player, in his twenties, 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 nice alternative to engaging in serious chess; it gives a sense of community,” he expressed.

“It is interesting to observe how it becomes more of a social pastime, because previously the sole individuals who played chess were people who didn't go outside; they just remained home. It's typically just a pair competing on a chessboard …

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