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Among the most energetic locations on a weekday night in east London's Brick Lane couldn't be a dining spot or a urban fashion brand pop-up, it's a chess gathering – or rather a chess club-nightclub combination, precisely speaking.

This unique venue embodies the unlikely crossover between the classic game and the city's dynamic evening entertainment culture. It was founded by a young entrepreneur, in his late twenties, who launched his first chess club in August 2023 at a smaller bar in a nearby area, a short distance from the present location at a popular cafe on Brick Lane.

“My goal was to make chess clubs for individuals who share my background and people my age,” he explained. “Usually, chess is only placed in environments that are dominated by senior individuals, which isn't inclusive enough.”

Initially, there were just 8 boards shared by sixteen people. Today, a “successful evening” at the regular club event will attract approximately 280 people.

At first glance, Knight Club seems more like a music night than a traditional chess meeting. Mixed drinks are flowing and tunes is playing, but the game boards on every table are not just decorative or there as a novelty: they are all occupied and encircled by a queue of spectators eagerly anticipating for their chance to play.

One regular, in her mid-twenties, has frequented the club often for the past four months. “I had little understanding of chess prior to I came here, and the initial occasion I ever played, I competed in a game with a grandmaster. It was a quick win, but it made me fascinated to study and keep playing chess,” she said.

“This gathering is about 50% social and 50% participants actually wishing to engage in chess … It's a pleasant way to relax, which doesn't involve going to a typical nightspot to meet others my age.”

A Game Revitalized: The Ancient Game in the Modern Age

Lately, chess has been firmly established in the societal spirit of the times. Its appeal of digital chess proliferated during the global health crisis, making it one of the most rapidly expanding internet games globally. Across media, the streaming series a hit show, along with the author's latest novel Intermezzo, have created a distinct iconography surrounding the sport, which has attracted a fresh generation of enthusiasts.

But a great deal of this recent appeal of the chess night isn't necessarily about the technicalities of the play; instead, it is the simplicity of social interaction that it facilitates, by taking a seat and playing with someone who could be a total stranger.

“It is a brilliant Trojan horse,” remarked Jonah Freud, founder of a local venue in London, a bookstore, reading room, cafe and bar, which has hosted a popular chess club weekly since it began several years back. Freud’s aim is to “take chess from its elite status and make it feel like billiards in a casual pub”.

“It's a really easy tool to get to know people. It kind of removes the weight of the need of conversation away from socializing with people. You can do the awkward bit of making an introduction and chatting to someone across a board instead of with no context involved.”

Growing the Community: Social Gatherings Outside London

In Birmingham, Chesscafé is a recurring chess event held at a city cafe, just outside the downtown area. “Our observation was that people are seeking places where one can go out, interact and enjoy a good time beyond going to a bar or nightclub,” stated its creator and organiser, Karan Singh, 21.

Together with his friend Abdirahim Haji, 21, Singh purchased game sets, printed promotional materials and started the chess club in the start of the year, during his final year of university. In less than a year, he reported Chesscafé has grown to attract more than one hundred youthful participants to its events.

“A chess club has a specific connotation associated with it, about it seeming quiet. Our approach is to go the contrary direction; it is a social get-together with chess involved,” he said.

Learning and Playing: An Alternative Generation of Players

Among numerous attendees, chess clubs are an introduction to the activity. Zoë Kezia, in her late twenties, is learning how to play chess with fellow attenders of chess night at the venue. She became curious in the game was sparked after an pleasurable evening dancing and playing chess at one of the club's events.

“It is a strange idea, but it functions well,” she commented. “It encourages in-person exchanges instead of screen-based pastimes. It is a no-cost neutral ground to encounter strangers. It is welcoming, one doesn't have to necessarily be good at chess.”

She humorously compared the trendiness of chess with the youth to the superficial image of the “performative male”, an attempt to feign intellectualism while signaling the appearance of “hipness”. If the chess trend has cultivated a authentic interest in the game isn't a notion she's entirely sure about. “It's a positive phenomenon, but it’s largely a fad,” she observed. “Once you compete with people who are really serious about it, it rapidly turns less enjoyable.”

Competitive Gaming and Togetherness

It might all be a bit of lighthearted activity for those aiming to employ a game set as a networking tool, but competitive participants certainly have their place, albeit off the dancefloor.

Another organizer, in her early twenties, who helps running Knight Club,explains that increasingly skilled players have formed a competitive ranking. “Participants who are part of the competition will play one another, we will go to early rounds, semi-finals, and then we will finally have a champion.”

Ryames Chan, 23, is a competitive competitor and chess instructor. He has been in the league for about a twelve months and plays at the club almost every week. “This is a welcome alternative to playing serious chess; it provides a feeling of community,” he expressed.

“It's interesting to see how it evolves into more of a social pastime, because in the past the sole people who played chess were people who rarely socialize; they simply stayed home. It's typically just a pair competing on a game board …

“What I like about here is that one isn't really facing the digital opponent, you're engaging with live opponents.”