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One of the liveliest venues on a Tuesday night in the East End's famous street isn't a dining spot or a urban fashion label pop-up, it is a chess club – or rather a chess and nightlife combination, precisely speaking.

This unique venue embodies the surprising blend between chess and the city's fervent evening entertainment scene. It was started by Yusuf Ntahilaja, 27, who began his initial chess club in the summer of 2023 at a smaller bar in Aldgate, not too far from the present location at a popular cafe on the iconic lane.

“I wanted to create chess clubs for people who look like me and people my age,” he explained. “Usually, chess is only placed in spaces that are full of older people, which isn't diverse sufficiently.”

Initially, there were just eight boards between sixteen people. Now, a “successful evening” at the weekly club event will attract approximately two hundred eighty people.

At first glance, the venue seems more like a music night than a chess club. Cocktails are flowing and music is in the air, but the game boards on each table are not just ornamental or there as a novelty: they are all occupied and surrounded by a queue of spectators eagerly anticipating for their chance to play.

Jimmy Ifenayi, 24, has been attending Knight Club often for the past four months. “I possessed no knowledge of chess before my first visit, and the initial occasion I tried it, I played a game against a expert player. It was a quick victory, but it made me fascinated to study and continue enjoying chess,” she said.

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

A Game Reborn: Chess in the Contemporary Era

Lately, chess has been firmly established in the societal zeitgeist. Its appeal of online chess proliferated throughout the pandemic, establishing it as one of the most rapidly expanding internet pastimes in the world. Across media, the streaming series The Queen’s Gambit, along with the author's recent novel Intermezzo, have created a distinct imagery associated with the sport, which has attracted a fresh generation of players.

But a great deal of this newfound appeal of the chess club isn't necessarily about the intricacies of the play; rather, it is the ease of connecting with others that it enables, by taking a seat and engaging with someone who may be a total unknown individual.

“It's a great Trojan horse,” remarked one organizer, founder of Reference Point in the city, a bookshop, library, coffee house and lounge, which has hosted a well-attended chess club every Wednesday since it opened several years back. Freud’s objective is to “take chess off a pedestal and make it feel like billiards in a casual pub”.

“It is a really easy vehicle to get to know people. It somewhat takes the pressure of the necessity of conversation away from socializing with people. You can handle the uncomfortable bit of making an introduction and talking to someone over a game rather than with no context involved.”

Expanding the Network: Chess Nights Beyond London

Elsewhere in the UK, Chesscafé is a recurring chess event taking place at York’s Cafe, near the downtown area. “We found that individuals are seeking spaces where one can go out, interact and enjoy a good time outside of going to a pub or nightclub,” said its founder and organiser, a young leader, 21.

Alongside his friend a partner, also young, Singh purchased chessboards, printed flyers and began the chess club in the start of the year, during his last year of university. Within months, he said their event has expanded to attract more than one hundred young participants to its gatherings.

“Such a venue has a specific connotation associated with it, about it seeming quiet. We really try to move in the opposite way; it is a social get-together with chess involved,” he emphasized.

Discovering and Engaging: A New Generation of Players

For many, chess clubs are an entry point to the game. Zoë Kezia, in her late twenties, is picking up how to play chess with other visitors of chess night at Reference Point. Her interest in the pastime was piqued after an pleasurable evening dancing and engaging in chess at one of the club's occasions.

“It's a strange idea, but it functions well,” she said. “It promotes face-to-face exchanges instead of digital pastimes. It's a no-cost third space to encounter new people. It's inviting, you don't need to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

She jokingly compared the trendiness of chess among young people to the facade of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an attempt to feign intellectualism while projecting the appearance of “coolness”. If the chess craze has fostered a genuine interest in the game is not a notion she's quite sure about. “It is a positive trend, but it’s very much a trend,” she said. “When you compete against opponents who are really dedicated about it, it quickly becomes less fun.”

Competitive Gaming and Community

It might seem like a some lighthearted activity for individuals looking to use a game set as a social vehicle, but serious participants do have their place, even if away from the main party area.

Another organizer, 22, who helps running the club,says that more competitive players have formed a league table. “Participants 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 champion.”

Ryames Chan, 23, is a serious competitor and chess instructor. He has been the competition for about a twelve months and plays at the club almost weekly. “This is a welcome alternative to playing serious chess; it gives a feeling of belonging,” he said.

“It is interesting to see how it evolves into more of a communal pastime, because previously the sole people who engaged in chess were people who rarely socialize; they just remained home. It's usually only a pair playing on a game board …

“The thing I like about this place is that one isn't actually playing against the digital opponent, you are engaging with live opponents.”