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Among the most energetic locations on a weekday evening in the East End's Brick Lane couldn't be a restaurant or a urban fashion label temporary shop, it is a chess club – or a chess and nightlife hybrid, to be exact.

This unique venue embodies the unlikely crossover between the classic game and the city's fervent nightlife scene. It was founded by a young entrepreneur, 27, who began his initial chess club in August 2023 at a more intimate bar in Aldgate, a short distance from the present location at a popular cafe on Brick Lane.

“My goal was to create chess clubs for people who share my background and those my generation,” he said. “Usually, chess is only put in spaces that are full of senior individuals, which isn't diverse sufficiently.”

On the first night, there were just 8 boards between 16 people. Today, a “good night” at the regular club event will draw approximately two hundred eighty attendees.

Upon arrival, the venue seems more like a music night than a traditional chess meeting. Cocktails are being served and music is playing, but the game boards on each table are not just decorative or there as a novelty: they are all in use and surrounded by a queue of onlookers waiting for their turn.

Jimmy Ifenayi, in her mid-twenties, has been attending Knight Club often for the last four months. “I possessed little understanding of chess prior to my first visit, and the first time I tried it, I competed in a game with a grandmaster. It was a swift victory, but it left me intrigued to study and keep playing chess,” she noted.

“The event is about 50% networking and half people actually wanting to play chess … It's a pleasant way to unwind, which avoids going to a typical nightspot to meet other people my age.”

A Game Reborn: Chess in the Contemporary Age

Lately, chess has been cemented in the cultural spirit of the times. The popularity of online chess proliferated during the pandemic, establishing it as one of the most rapidly expanding internet pastimes in the world. In popular culture, the Netflix series a hit show, as well as Sally Rooney’s latest novel a literary work, have crafted a certain imagery surrounding the game, which has attracted a fresh wave of enthusiasts.

But a great deal of this recent appeal of the chess night isn't always about the technicalities of the game; rather, it is the simplicity of connecting with others that it enables, by taking a chair and playing with someone who may be a complete stranger.

“It is a great Trojan horse,” said one organizer, founder of a local venue in London, a bookstore, library, cafe and bar, which has hosted a well-attended chess club every Wednesday since it opened four years ago. His aim is to “take chess from its elite status and make it feel similar to 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 away from interacting with people. You can do the uncomfortable part of introducing yourself and talking to a new acquaintance across a game instead of with no kind of context around it.”

Expanding the Community: Chess Nights Outside London

In Birmingham, Chesscafé is a recurring chess night taking place at a city cafe, near the city centre. “We found that people are looking for places where one can socialize, interact and have a good time outside of visiting a pub or nightclub,” stated its founder and organiser, Karan Singh, in his early twenties.

Alongside his associate a partner, also young, Singh bought game sets, created promotional materials and began the chess club in the start of the year, while in his last year of college. In less than a year, he said their event has grown to attract more than 100 youthful participants to its gatherings.

“Such a venue has a particular connotation to it, about it being quiet. Our approach is to move in the contrary way; it is a social get-together with chess involved,” he emphasized.

Learning and Playing: A New Cohort of Chess Enthusiasts

For many, chess clubs are an introduction to the activity. Zoë Kezia, in her late twenties, is learning how to participate in chess with fellow attenders of chess night at Reference Point. Her interest in the pastime was piqued after an enjoyable night dancing and playing chess at a previous Knight Club's occasions.

“It's a strange idea, but it works,” she commented. “It encourages face-to-face interactions rather than digital pastimes. It is a free neutral ground to encounter strangers. It is inviting, you don't need to necessarily be good at chess.”

She jokingly likened the trendiness of chess among the youth to the superficial image of the “performative male”, an attempt to feign intellectualism while projecting the appearance of “coolness”. If the chess trend has cultivated a authentic interest in the sport isn't a notion she is quite convinced by. “It is a wholesome phenomenon, but it’s largely a trend,” she observed. “Once you compete against opponents who are really serious about it, it quickly turns less enjoyable.”

Competitive Play and Community

It might all be a some lighthearted activity for those aiming to use a chessboard as a social vehicle, but competitive players certainly have their role, even if off the dancefloor.

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

Ryames Chan, 23, is a serious competitor and chess instructor. He has been in the league for about a twelve months and plays at the club nearly every week. “This is a nice option to playing serious chess; it provides a sense of belonging,” he expressed.

“It's interesting to observe how it evolves into more of a communal pastime, because previously the only individuals who played chess were people who didn't socialize; they just stayed home. It is typically just a pair competing on a game board …

“The thing I like about this place is that one isn't actually facing the digital opponent, you are facing real people.”