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One of the most energetic locations on a weekday night in east London's famous street couldn't be a dining spot or a streetwear label pop-up, it's a chess club – or rather a chess club-nightclub combination, to be exact.

This unique venue represents the surprising blend between chess and the city's dynamic evening entertainment scene. It was started by Yusuf Ntahilaja, in his late twenties, who began his initial chess club in the summer of 2023 at a more intimate bar in Aldgate, a short distance from the current location at Café 1001 on Brick Lane.

“I wanted to create chess clubs for people who look like me and those my age,” he said. “Usually, chess is only placed in spaces that are dominated by older people, which isn't inclusive sufficiently.”

Initially, there were only 8 boards between sixteen people. Now, a “good night” at the regular Knight Club will draw about two hundred eighty attendees.

At first glance, Knight Club seems closer to a DJ event than a chess club. Cocktails are being served and music is in the air, but the chessboards on every table are not just decorative or there as a gimmick: they are all occupied and surrounded by a queue of spectators eagerly anticipating for their turn.

Jimmy Ifenayi, in her mid-twenties, has frequented the club often for the past several months. “I possessed no knowledge of chess prior to my first visit, and the initial occasion I tried it, I played a game against a grandmaster. It was a swift victory, but it made me fascinated to study and continue enjoying chess,” she said.

“The event is about half social and half participants genuinely wishing to play chess … It's a pleasant way to decompress, which doesn't involve going to a club to see others my age.”

A Game Revitalized: Chess in the Modern Age

Lately, chess has been firmly established in the societal spirit of the times. The popularity of digital chess expanded rapidly throughout the global health crisis, establishing it as one of the fastest-growing online pastimes in the world. In popular culture, the Netflix series a hit show, along with Sally Rooney’s recent novel a literary work, have created a distinct imagery surrounding the sport, which has attracted a fresh generation of players.

But a great deal of this recent attraction of the chess club isn't necessarily about the technicalities of the play; instead, it is the ease of social interaction that it enables, by pulling up a chair and playing with a person who may be a complete unknown individual.

“It's a great clever disguise,” said one organizer, founder of Reference Point in the city, a bookshop, library, coffee house and lounge, which has hosted a popular chess club every Wednesday since it opened four years ago. Freud’s aim is to “take chess off a pedestal and make it feel like pool in a casual pub”.

“It is a really simple tool to get to know people. It kind of removes the weight of the necessity of small talk from socializing with people. You can do the uncomfortable part of making an introduction and chatting to a new acquaintance over a game instead of with no shared activity around it.”

Expanding the Network: Chess Nights Beyond the Capital

Elsewhere in the UK, a similar initiative is a recurring chess event held at York’s Cafe, just outside the city centre. “Our observation was that individuals are seeking spaces where one can go out, interact and enjoy a good time beyond going to a bar or nightclub,” said its founder and coordinator, Karan Singh, 21.

Together with his associate Abdirahim Haji, 21, Singh purchased chessboards, printed flyers and began the chess club in January, while in his last year of college. Within months, he reported Chesscafé has expanded to draw more than one hundred young players to its events.

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

Learning and Playing: A New Cohort of Chess Enthusiasts

For many, chess clubs are an entry point to the game. One participant, in her late twenties, is learning how to participate in chess with other visitors of the weekly event at Reference Point. Her interest in the game was piqued after an pleasurable night dancing and playing chess at a previous the club's events.

“It is a unique concept, but it functions well,” she commented. “It promotes in-person interactions instead of screen-based pastimes. It's a free neutral ground to meet strangers. It is welcoming, one doesn't have to necessarily be good at chess.”

Kezia humorously likened the popularity of chess with young people to the superficial image of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an effort to feign intellectualism while projecting the veneer of “hipness”. If the chess craze has fostered a authentic passion in the sport isn't something she is quite sure about. “It's a positive trend, but it’s very much a trend,” she said. “Once you're playing against opponents who are truly serious about it, it rapidly turns less fun.”

Competitive Play and Togetherness

It might seem like a bit of lighthearted activity for those aiming to employ a chessboard as a social vehicle, but competitive players do have their role, albeit off the dancefloor.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, 22, who helps organise the club,explains that increasingly skilled players have established a competitive ranking. “Participants who are part of the competition will play one another, we will go to quarter-finals, semi-finals, and then we will finally have a champion.”

A dedicated player, 23, is a serious competitor and chess instructor. He has been in the league for about a twelve months and participates at the club nearly every week. “This offers a nice option to playing serious chess; it provides a feeling of belonging,” he said.

“It's fascinating to observe how it becomes more of a social pastime, because in the past the only individuals who played chess were those who didn't go outside; they just remained home. It is typically only a pair competing on a game board …

“What I like about this place is that you're not really playing against the computer, you are engaging with live opponents.”