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One of the most vibrant venues on a Tuesday night in the East End's Brick Lane couldn't be a restaurant or a urban fashion label pop-up, it's a chess club – or rather a chess club-nightclub combination, to be exact.

This unique venue represents the unlikely blend between chess and London's dynamic nightlife scene. It was founded by Yusuf Ntahilaja, 27, who launched his first chess club in the summer of 2023 at a more intimate bar in Aldgate, not too far from the present location at Café 1001 on Brick Lane.

“I wanted to create chess clubs for people who look like me and those my generation,” he explained. “Typically, chess is only placed in environments that are dominated by senior individuals, which isn't inclusive enough.”

On the first night, there were just eight boards shared by 16 people. Now, a “successful evening” at the weekly club event will attract about 280 attendees.

Upon arrival, the venue seems more like a music night than a traditional chess meeting. Mixed drinks are flowing and music is playing, but the chessboards on every table aren't just ornamental or there as a gimmick: they are all in use and surrounded by a queue of spectators eagerly anticipating for their chance to play.

One regular, in her mid-twenties, has been attending Knight Club often for the last several months. “I possessed no knowledge of chess before my first visit, and the first time I ever played, I played a game with a grandmaster. It was a quick win, but it left me intrigued to learn and keep playing chess,” she said.

“This gathering is about half social and 50% participants genuinely wishing to engage in chess … It's a nice way to decompress, which doesn't involve going to a typical nightspot to meet other people my generation.”

A Game Reborn: The Ancient Game in the Contemporary Age

Lately, chess has been cemented in the societal zeitgeist. The popularity of digital chess proliferated during the pandemic, establishing it as one of the most rapidly expanding online pastimes globally. Across media, the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, along with the author's latest novel Intermezzo, have crafted a certain imagery surrounding the sport, which has drawn in a fresh wave of players.

But much of this newfound attraction of the chess club isn't necessarily about the technicalities of the game; rather, it is the simplicity of social interaction that it facilitates, by pulling up a seat and playing with a person who could be a complete unknown individual.

“It is a brilliant clever disguise,” remarked one organizer, co-founder of Reference Point in London, a bookshop, library, cafe and lounge, which has organized a popular chess club weekly since it began four years ago. His aim is to “remove chess from its elite status and make it feel like pool in a dive bar”.

“It's a very easy tool to get to know people. It somewhat takes the weight of the necessity of conversation from interacting with people. You can handle the uncomfortable part of introducing yourself and chatting to someone across a board instead of with no kind of context around it.”

Expanding the Network: Social Gatherings Beyond London

In Birmingham, a similar initiative is a regular chess event taking place at a city cafe, near the city centre. “We found that individuals are seeking spaces where you can go out, socialise and have a fun evening outside of going to a bar or nightclub,” stated its creator and organiser, Karan Singh, 21.

Together with his friend Abdirahim Haji, also young, Singh bought game sets, printed promotional materials and started the chess club in the start of the year, while in his last year of university. In less than a year, Singh said their event has expanded to attract over one hundred young players to its events.

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

Discovering and Playing: A New Generation of Players

For many, chess clubs are an entry point to the activity. One participant, in her late twenties, is learning how to play chess with fellow attenders of the weekly event at Reference Point. Her interest in the pastime was sparked after an enjoyable evening dancing and playing chess at one of the club's occasions.

“It is a unique idea, but it works,” she commented. “It promotes face-to-face interactions instead of screen-based pastimes. It's a no-cost third space to meet new people. It is inviting, one doesn't have to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

Kezia humorously compared the popularity of chess with the youth to the facade of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an attempt to feign braininess while signaling the veneer of “hipness”. Whether the chess trend has cultivated a authentic interest in the sport isn't something she's entirely sure about. “It's a wholesome trend, but it’s very much a trend,” she said. “When you're playing with opponents who are truly serious about it, it rapidly becomes less fun.”

Serious Play and Community

It may seem like a bit of lighthearted activity for individuals looking to use a game set as a social vehicle, but competitive players certainly have their place, even if away from the dancefloor.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, 22, who assists in running Knight Club,explains that increasingly skilled players have formed a competitive ranking. “People who are part of the competition will play one another, we'll progress to early rounds, semi-finals, and then we'll eventually have a league winner.”

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

“It's fascinating to observe how it becomes increasingly a communal pastime, because in the past the only individuals who engaged in chess were people who rarely socialize; they simply stayed home. It's typically only two people competing on a game board …

“What appeals to me about this place is that you're not actually playing against the digital opponent, you are facing real people.”