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Among the most vibrant locations on a Tuesday evening in the East End's Brick Lane couldn't be a restaurant or a urban fashion brand pop-up, it is a chess club – or rather a chess club-nightclub combination, precisely speaking.

Knight Club embodies the unlikely crossover between the classic game and London's dynamic nightlife scene. It was founded by a young entrepreneur, in his late twenties, who began his initial chess club in the summer of 2023 at a smaller bar in a nearby area, a short distance from the current location at Café 1001 on Brick Lane.

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

Initially, there were only 8 boards shared by 16 people. Now, a “successful evening” at the regular Knight Club will draw approximately two hundred eighty attendees.

Upon arrival, Knight Club feels more like a music night than a chess club. Mixed drinks are being served and music is in the air, but the game boards on every table aren't 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 regularly for the past four months. “I had little understanding of chess prior to my first visit, and the initial occasion I ever played, I competed in a game with a grandmaster. It was a quick victory, but it made me fascinated to learn and continue enjoying chess,” she noted.

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

A Game Reborn: Chess in the Modern Era

Lately, chess has been firmly established in the societal zeitgeist. Its appeal of digital chess expanded rapidly throughout the pandemic, making it one of the most rapidly expanding online pastimes in the world. In popular culture, the streaming series The Queen’s Gambit, along with Sally Rooney’s recent novel a literary work, have crafted a distinct imagery associated with the game, which has attracted a fresh wave of players.

However much of this newfound attraction of the chess night isn't always about the technicalities of the play; rather, it is the ease of connecting with others that it enables, by taking a chair and engaging with someone who could be a total unknown individual.

“It is a brilliant clever disguise,” remarked Jonah Freud, founder of a local venue in the city, a bookstore, reading room, cafe and bar, which has hosted a well-attended chess club weekly since it opened several years back. His objective is to “take chess from its elite status and make it feel like pool in a dive bar”.

“It is a really simple vehicle to get to know people. It kind of removes the pressure of the need of conversation from socializing with people. One can do the awkward part of making an introduction and talking to a new acquaintance across a board instead of with no shared activity around it.”

Expanding the Network: Social Gatherings Outside the Capital

In Birmingham, Chesscafé is a regular chess night taking place at a city cafe, just outside the city centre. “We found that people are looking for spaces where one can socialize, interact and enjoy a good time beyond visiting a pub or club,” stated its founder and coordinator, a young leader, 21.

Together with his associate a partner, also young, he bought chessboards, created promotional materials and started the chess club in the start of the year, while in his last year of college. Within months, Singh reported Chesscafé has expanded to draw over one hundred young players to its events.

“A chess club has a specific connotation to it, about it being reserved. Our approach is to go the opposite way; it is a social get-together with chess involved,” he said.

Discovering and Playing: An Alternative Cohort of Players

For many, chess clubs are an introduction to the game. One participant, in her late twenties, is learning how to participate in chess with other attenders of the weekly event at Reference Point. Her interest in the pastime was sparked after an pleasurable evening dancing and engaging in chess at one of Knight Club's occasions.

“It's a strange idea, but it works,” she said. “It promotes face-to-face interactions instead of digital pastimes. It's a free third space to encounter strangers. It's inviting, one doesn't have to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

Kezia humorously likened the popularity of chess among young people to the superficial image of the “performative male”, an effort to simulate intellectualism while projecting the appearance of “hipness”. If the chess craze has cultivated a authentic interest in the game isn't something she is quite sure about. “It's a positive phenomenon, but it’s very much a trend,” she observed. “Once you compete against people who are truly dedicated about it, it quickly becomes less enjoyable.”

Serious Gaming and Community

It might seem like a bit of lighthearted activity for those looking to use a game set as a networking tool, but serious participants do have their role, even if off the dancefloor.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, 22, who helps running Knight Club,says that increasingly skilled attenders have established a competitive ranking. “People who are part of the competition will face one another, we will go to quarter-finals, advanced stages, and then we will finally have a league winner.”

Ryames Chan, 23, is a serious player and chess instructor. He has been in the league for about a year and plays at the club almost every week. “This is a nice option to playing intense chess; it gives a sense of belonging,” he said.

“It's interesting to see how it becomes more of a communal activity, because in the past the only people who played chess were those who didn't socialize; they just remained home. It's typically only two people playing on a game board …

“The thing appeals to me about here is that one isn't actually playing against the digital opponent, you are facing live opponents.”