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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 dining spot or a urban fashion label pop-up, it is a chess gathering – or rather a chess club-nightclub combination, to be exact.

Knight Club represents the unlikely crossover between the classic game and London's dynamic nightlife scene. It was started by Yusuf Ntahilaja, 27, who launched his initial chess club in the summer of 2023 at a more intimate bar in a nearby area, not too far from the current location at Café 1001 on Brick Lane.

“My goal was to make chess clubs for people who share my background and those my generation,” he explained. “Usually, chess is only put in environments that are full of older people, which isn't diverse sufficiently.”

On the first night, there were just 8 boards shared by sixteen people. Now, a “successful evening” at the regular Knight Club will attract approximately two hundred eighty people.

At first glance, the venue feels more like a DJ event than a traditional chess meeting. Mixed drinks are flowing and tunes is playing, but the game boards on each table aren't just ornamental or there as a gimmick: they are all in use and encircled by a queue of spectators waiting for their chance to play.

One regular, 24, has been attending Knight Club often for the past several months. “I possessed little understanding of chess before my first visit, and the first time I ever played, I played a game against a grandmaster. It was a quick win, but it left me intrigued to study and keep playing chess,” she noted.

“This gathering is about half social and 50% people actually wanting to engage in chess … It is a pleasant way to decompress, which doesn't involve going to a club to meet others my generation.”

A Game Reborn: Chess in the Modern Age

In recent years, chess has been firmly established in the societal zeitgeist. Its appeal of digital chess expanded rapidly throughout the global health crisis, making it one of the fastest-growing online pastimes in the world. Across media, the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, as well as Sally Rooney’s latest novel a literary work, have crafted a distinct iconography associated with the sport, which has drawn in a fresh wave of players.

But much of this newfound attraction of the chess night is not necessarily about the intricacies of the game; instead, it is the simplicity of social interaction that it enables, by pulling up a chair and playing with a person who could be a total stranger.

“It's a brilliant Trojan horse,” remarked one organizer, co-founder of Reference Point in London, a bookshop, library, coffee house and bar, which has hosted a popular chess club every Wednesday since it began four years ago. Freud’s aim is to “take chess from its elite status and make it feel similar to pool in a dive bar”.

“It is a really easy tool to get to know people. It kind of takes the weight of the need of conversation from interacting with people. You can do the uncomfortable bit of making an introduction and talking to a new acquaintance across a board rather than with no kind of context around it.”

Expanding the Community: Social Gatherings Beyond London

In Birmingham, Chesscafé is a regular chess night taking place at a city cafe, near the city centre. “We found that individuals are looking for spaces where you can go out, interact and have a fun evening beyond visiting a bar or nightclub,” said its creator and organiser, Karan Singh, in his early twenties.

Together with his friend Abdirahim Haji, 21, Singh bought game sets, printed promotional materials and started the chess club in the start of the year, while in his final year of university. In less than a year, he reported Chesscafé has grown to attract more than one hundred young players to its gatherings.

“A chess club has a specific reputation to it, about it being quiet. Our approach is to go the contrary way; it's a social party with chess as part of it,” he emphasized.

Discovering and Engaging: An Alternative Cohort of Chess Enthusiasts

For many, chess clubs are an introduction to the activity. Zoë Kezia, 27, is learning how to participate in chess with fellow attenders of the weekly event at Reference Point. Her interest in the game was sparked after an enjoyable evening dancing and engaging in chess at one of the club's occasions.

“It's a strange concept, but it works,” she said. “It encourages face-to-face interactions rather than digital activities. It's a no-cost neutral ground to encounter new people. It's inviting, one doesn't need to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

Kezia humorously likened the popularity of chess among the youth to the facade of the “performative male”, an attempt to simulate braininess while signaling the veneer of “coolness”. Whether the chess craze has fostered a authentic interest in the sport is not a notion she is quite convinced by. “It is a wholesome trend, but it’s very much a trend,” she said. “When you compete with opponents who are truly serious about it, it rapidly becomes less fun.”

Serious Play and Togetherness

It may seem like a some fun and games for those aiming to use a game set as a networking tool, but competitive participants certainly have their place, even if away from the main party area.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, 22, who assists in running the club,says that more skilled players have established a competitive ranking. “Participants who are part of the competition will face one another, we will progress to quarter-finals, semi-finals, and then we'll eventually have a league winner.”

Ryames Chan, 23, is a serious player and chess instructor. He joined in the league for about a twelve months and plays at the club nearly every week. “This is a nice alternative to playing intense chess; it provides a feeling of community,” he expressed.

“It's fascinating to observe how it becomes more of a social activity, because previously the sole people who engaged in chess were people who didn't socialize; they just remained home. It's typically just two people playing on a game board …

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