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Among the liveliest spots on a Tuesday evening in east London's famous street isn't a restaurant or a urban fashion label temporary shop, it is a chess club – or a chess and nightlife hybrid, precisely speaking.

This unique venue embodies the surprising blend between chess and London's dynamic evening entertainment scene. It was started by a young entrepreneur, in his late twenties, who launched his initial chess club in August 2023 at a more intimate bar in a nearby area, not too far from the present location at Café 1001 on the iconic lane.

“I wanted to make chess clubs for people who share my background and those my generation,” he explained. “Typically, chess is only placed in environments that are dominated by older people, which is not diverse enough.”

On the first night, there were only eight boards between sixteen people. Today, a “successful evening” at the regular Knight Club will draw approximately two hundred eighty attendees.

At first glance, Knight Club seems closer to a DJ event than a traditional chess meeting. Mixed drinks are being served and tunes is playing, 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 waiting for their chance to play.

Jimmy Ifenayi, 24, has been attending Knight Club regularly for the past four months. “I possessed little understanding of chess before I came here, and the initial occasion I tried it, I competed in a game against a grandmaster. That was a quick victory, but it made me fascinated to study and keep playing chess,” she noted.

“The event is about 50% social and 50% participants actually wanting to engage in chess … It is a pleasant way to relax, which avoids going to a club to see others my generation.”

A Game Revitalized: The Ancient Game in the Modern Era

Lately, chess has been cemented in the societal zeitgeist. The popularity of online chess expanded rapidly during the pandemic, establishing it as one of the most rapidly expanding internet pastimes globally. Across media, the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, as well as the author's latest novel Intermezzo, have created a certain imagery surrounding the game, which has attracted a new wave of players.

However a great deal of this newfound appeal of the chess night isn't necessarily about the intricacies of the game; rather, it is the ease of connecting with others that it facilitates, by pulling up a chair and engaging with a person who could be a total unknown individual.

“It's a great clever disguise,” remarked one organizer, co-founder of Reference Point in London, a bookshop, library, cafe and bar, which has hosted a well-attended chess club every Wednesday since it opened several years back. His objective is to “take chess off a pedestal and make it feel like billiards in a casual pub”.

“It's a really simple vehicle to meet people. It kind of removes the weight of the need of small talk from socializing with people. One can do the uncomfortable part of making an introduction and chatting to someone over a game rather than with no kind of shared activity around it.”

Expanding the Network: Social Gatherings Beyond London

In Birmingham, a similar initiative is a regular chess event held at a city cafe, just outside the downtown area. “We found that people are looking for spaces where you can go out, socialise and have a good time beyond visiting a bar or club,” said its founder and coordinator, Karan Singh, in his early twenties.

Together with his friend Abdirahim Haji, also young, Singh purchased chessboards, created flyers and started the chess club in the start of the year, while in his final year of university. Within months, he reported their event has expanded to draw over one hundred youthful participants to its gatherings.

“Such a venue has a specific reputation to it, about it seeming quiet. Our approach is to move in the opposite direction; it's a social get-together with chess involved,” he emphasized.

Learning and Engaging: An Alternative Generation of Players

For many, chess clubs are an introduction to the activity. Zoë Kezia, in her late twenties, is picking up how to participate in chess with other attenders of the weekly event at the venue. Her interest in the game was piqued after an enjoyable night moving to music and playing chess at one of the club's events.

“It is a strange concept, but it functions well,” she commented. “It promotes in-person interactions rather than digital pastimes. It's a no-cost third space to encounter new people. It's welcoming, you don't need to necessarily be good at chess.”

She humorously likened the popularity of chess among the youth to the superficial image of the “performative male”, an attempt to feign braininess while signaling the veneer of “coolness”. Whether the chess trend has cultivated a genuine passion in the game isn't a notion she's entirely sure about. “It is a wholesome trend, but it’s largely a trend,” she observed. “Once you're playing with people who are truly serious about it, it quickly turns less fun.”

Serious Gaming and Community

It may all be a some lighthearted activity for those looking to use a game set as a social vehicle, but competitive players certainly have their role, even if away from the dancefloor.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, in her early twenties, who assists in organise Knight Club,explains that increasingly competitive players have established a competitive ranking. “Participants who are in the league will play each other, we will go to quarter-finals, semi-finals, and then we will eventually have a champion.”

A dedicated player, 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 offers a nice alternative to engaging in serious chess; it gives a sense of community,” he said.

“It's fascinating to see how it evolves into increasingly a social activity, because previously the only people who played chess were people who didn't go outside; they simply remained home. It is usually only a pair competing on a game board …

“The thing I like about this place is that you're not actually facing the digital opponent, you are engaging with real people.”