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One of the most energetic spots on a Tuesday evening in the East End's famous street isn't a restaurant or a urban fashion label pop-up, it's a chess club – or rather a chess and nightlife combination, precisely speaking.

This unique venue represents the surprising fusion between the classic game and the city's fervent evening entertainment scene. It was founded by a young entrepreneur, in his late twenties, who launched his first chess club in the summer of 2023 at a smaller bar in Aldgate, not too far from the current location at a popular cafe on the iconic lane.

“I wanted to create chess clubs for individuals who share my background and those my age,” he said. “Usually, chess is only placed in environments that are full of 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 regular club event will draw about two hundred eighty people.

At first glance, Knight Club feels more like a DJ event than a chess club. Mixed drinks are flowing and tunes is playing, but the chessboards on each table aren't just decorative or there as a gimmick: they are all occupied and surrounded by a line of onlookers eagerly anticipating for their chance to play.

Jimmy Ifenayi, in her mid-twenties, has frequented the club often for the last four months. “I had no knowledge of chess prior to my first visit, and the first time I tried it, I competed in a game against a expert player. It was a swift victory, but it left me fascinated to learn and continue enjoying chess,” she noted.

“The event is about half social and half participants actually wishing to engage in chess … It's a pleasant way to decompress, which avoids visiting a typical nightspot to meet others my age.”

An Activity Reborn: Chess in the Modern Age

In recent years, chess has been cemented in the societal zeitgeist. The popularity of online chess proliferated during the global health crisis, making it one of the most rapidly expanding internet pastimes in the world. In popular culture, the streaming series The Queen’s Gambit, as well as the author's recent novel Intermezzo, have created a certain imagery associated with the game, which has attracted a new generation of enthusiasts.

But much of this newfound attraction of the chess night is not always about the intricacies of the game; rather, it is the ease of connecting with others that it facilitates, by pulling up a seat and engaging with a person who could be a total stranger.

“It is a great Trojan horse,” said Jonah Freud, co-founder of a local venue in the city, a bookstore, reading room, coffee house and bar, which has organized a popular chess club weekly since it opened four years ago. Freud’s objective is to “take chess from its elite status and transform it into similar to billiards in a casual pub”.

“It is a very easy vehicle to meet people. It kind of takes the pressure of the need of conversation away from socializing with people. One can do the awkward bit of introducing yourself and talking to someone across a board instead of with no kind of context involved.”

Growing the Community: Social Gatherings Beyond the Capital

In Birmingham, a similar initiative is a recurring chess night held at York’s Cafe, just outside the city centre. “We found that individuals are looking for places where one can go out, interact and have a good time beyond visiting a pub or club,” said its creator and organiser, Karan Singh, 21.

Together with his associate Abdirahim Haji, 21, he bought game sets, created flyers and began the chess club in January, during his last year of university. Within months, he said Chesscafé has expanded to draw over 100 youthful participants to its gatherings.

“Such a venue has a specific reputation associated with it, about it being reserved. Our approach is to go the opposite way; it is a social get-together with chess as part of it,” he said.

Learning 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 picking up how to play chess with other attenders of the weekly event at Reference Point. Her interest in the pastime was piqued after an pleasurable evening dancing and playing chess at a previous the club's events.

“It's a unique concept, but it functions well,” she said. “It promotes face-to-face exchanges rather than screen-based activities. It is a no-cost third space to meet strangers. It is welcoming, one doesn't have to necessarily be good at chess.”

She jokingly likened the trendiness of chess with the youth to the superficial image of the “performative male”, an effort to feign intellectualism while signaling the veneer of “hipness”. Whether the chess craze has fostered a genuine interest in the sport isn't a notion she is quite convinced by. “It is a positive trend, but it’s largely a trend,” she observed. “Once you compete against opponents who are truly dedicated about it, it rapidly becomes less fun.”

Serious Gaming and Community

It might seem like a bit of lighthearted activity for individuals looking to employ a chessboard as a networking tool, but competitive players do have their role, albeit away from the dancefloor.

Another organizer, in her early twenties, who assists in running the club,explains that increasingly competitive players have formed a league table. “Participants who are in the league will face each other, we'll go to quarter-finals, semi-finals, and then we will finally have a champion.”

A dedicated player, in his twenties, is a serious player and chess teacher. He joined in the league for about a year and participates at the club almost every week. “This is a nice option to playing intense chess; it provides a feeling of community,” he expressed.

“It is interesting to see how it evolves into increasingly a social activity, because in the past the sole individuals who engaged in chess were those who didn't go outside; they just remained home. It is typically only a pair playing on a game board …

“What appeals to me about here is that you're not really facing the computer, you are engaging with live opponents.”