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Among the most energetic locations on a Tuesday night in the East End's famous street couldn't be a dining spot or a urban fashion label pop-up, it's a chess club – or a chess club-nightclub hybrid, precisely speaking.

Knight Club embodies the surprising fusion between the classic game and the city's fervent nightlife scene. It was founded by Yusuf Ntahilaja, in his late twenties, who began his first chess club in August 2023 at a more intimate bar in Aldgate, not too far from the current location at Café 1001 on Brick Lane.

“I wanted to create chess clubs for individuals who share my background and people my age,” he explained. “Usually, chess is only placed in environments that are full of older people, which is not inclusive sufficiently.”

On the first night, there were only eight boards between sixteen people. Now, a “good night” at the regular Knight Club will attract approximately 280 people.

At first glance, Knight Club seems closer to a DJ event than a chess club. Cocktails are being served and tunes is in the air, but the game boards on each table are not just ornamental or there as a gimmick: they are all in use and encircled by a line of spectators eagerly anticipating for their turn.

One regular, 24, has frequented Knight Club often for the past several months. “I possessed little understanding of chess prior to I came here, and the initial occasion I tried it, I competed in a game against a grandmaster. That was a quick victory, but it left me intrigued to learn and continue enjoying chess,” she said.

“This gathering is about 50% networking and 50% participants genuinely wanting to engage in chess … It is a nice way to decompress, which avoids going to a typical nightspot to see others my generation.”

An Activity Reborn: Chess in the Modern Era

Lately, chess has been firmly established in the cultural spirit of the times. Its appeal of digital chess proliferated during the global health crisis, making it one of the most rapidly expanding internet pastimes globally. In popular culture, the streaming series a hit show, along with Sally Rooney’s recent novel a literary work, have created a certain imagery surrounding the game, which has attracted a fresh generation of players.

However much of this recent appeal of the chess club is not always about the technicalities of the play; instead, it is the simplicity of connecting with others that it enables, by taking a seat and playing with a person who could be a total stranger.

“It is a brilliant Trojan horse,” said Jonah Freud, founder of a local venue in London, a bookstore, reading room, coffee house and bar, which has organized a popular chess club weekly since it opened several years back. His objective is to “take chess off a pedestal and make it feel similar to billiards in a dive bar”.

“It is a really easy vehicle to get to know people. It somewhat removes the pressure of the necessity of conversation away from interacting with people. You can do the awkward part of making an introduction and chatting to a new acquaintance over a board rather than with no kind of shared activity around it.”

Expanding the Community: Chess Nights Beyond the Capital

In Birmingham, Chesscafé is a recurring chess event taking place at a city cafe, near the downtown area. “Our observation was that individuals are seeking spaces where one can go out, socialise and enjoy a good time outside of going to a pub or nightclub,” stated its creator and coordinator, Karan Singh, in his early twenties.

Alongside his associate a partner, also young, he purchased chessboards, printed flyers and began the chess club in the start of the year, during his last year of college. In less than a year, Singh said their event has grown to attract more than 100 young players to its events.

“A chess club has a specific connotation associated with it, about it being reserved. Our approach is to go the opposite direction; it is a social party with chess as part of it,” he said.

Learning and Engaging: An Alternative 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 play chess with other attenders of the weekly event at the venue. She became curious in the pastime was piqued after an pleasurable night dancing and playing chess at a previous Knight Club's events.

“It is a strange idea, but it functions well,” she commented. “It encourages in-person exchanges rather than digital activities. It is a no-cost neutral ground to meet new people. It is welcoming, you don't need to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

She jokingly compared the trendiness of chess with young people to the facade of the “performative male”, an attempt to simulate intellectualism while projecting the veneer of “coolness”. Whether the chess trend has cultivated a genuine interest in the game isn't a notion she is entirely sure about. “It's a positive phenomenon, but it’s very much a trend,” she observed. “When you compete against opponents who are truly serious about it, it rapidly turns less fun.”

Serious Gaming and Togetherness

It may seem like a bit of fun and games for individuals looking to use a chessboard as a networking tool, but serious participants certainly have their place, even if away from the main party area.

Another organizer, in her early twenties, who helps running Knight Club,explains that more skilled attenders have established a competitive ranking. “People who are in the league will face one another, we will go to early rounds, advanced stages, and then we will eventually have a league winner.”

Ryames Chan, in his twenties, is a serious player and chess instructor. He has been the competition for about a year and plays at the club nearly weekly. “This offers a welcome alternative to engaging in intense chess; it gives a feeling of community,” he said.

“It is fascinating to observe how it becomes increasingly a social activity, because in the past the sole people who played chess were people who didn't socialize; they simply remained home. It is usually only two people playing on a game board …

“The thing I like about this place is that you're not really facing the digital opponent, you are engaging with real people.”