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Among the liveliest venues on a Tuesday night in east London's famous street couldn't be a restaurant or a urban fashion label pop-up, it is a chess club – or a chess and nightlife combination, precisely speaking.

Knight Club represents the unlikely blend between the classic game and London's fervent nightlife culture. It was founded by a young entrepreneur, 27, who began his first chess club in August 2023 at a smaller bar in Aldgate, a short distance from the present location at a popular cafe on Brick Lane.

“I wanted to create chess clubs for individuals who look like me and those my age,” he said. “Typically, chess is only put in environments that are full of older people, which isn't diverse sufficiently.”

On the first night, there were just 8 boards shared by sixteen people. Today, a “successful evening” at the regular Knight Club will attract approximately 280 people.

Upon arrival, the venue seems more like a DJ event than a chess club. Mixed drinks are being served and tunes is in the air, but the game boards on each table are not just ornamental or there as a novelty: they are all in use and encircled by a line of onlookers eagerly anticipating for their chance to play.

One regular, in her mid-twenties, has frequented the club often for the past four months. “I possessed no knowledge of chess prior to my first visit, and the initial occasion I ever played, I played a game against a grandmaster. That was a swift win, but it made me intrigued to learn and keep playing chess,” she said.

“This gathering is about 50% networking and 50% people genuinely wishing to engage in chess … It's a nice way to unwind, which doesn't involve visiting a typical nightspot to meet other people my age.”

A Game Reborn: Chess in the Contemporary Age

Lately, chess has been firmly established in the cultural zeitgeist. Its appeal of online chess proliferated throughout the global health crisis, establishing it as one of the fastest-growing online pastimes in the world. Across media, the streaming series a hit show, as well as Sally Rooney’s recent novel a literary work, have created a distinct iconography surrounding the game, which has drawn in a new wave of enthusiasts.

However much of this newfound appeal of the chess club is not always about the intricacies of the game; rather, it is the simplicity of connecting with others that it facilitates, by taking a chair and engaging with someone who could be a total unknown individual.

“It is a brilliant Trojan horse,” remarked Jonah Freud, co-founder of a local venue in London, a bookstore, library, coffee house and lounge, which has hosted a well-attended chess club weekly since it began several years back. Freud’s aim is to “take chess from its elite status and make it feel similar to pool in a casual pub”.

“It's a really simple vehicle to get to know people. It somewhat removes the pressure of the need of conversation away from interacting with people. One can handle the awkward bit of introducing yourself and chatting to someone over a game rather than with no kind of context around it.”

Growing the Community: Chess Nights Outside the Capital

In Birmingham, a similar initiative is a regular chess event taking place at a city cafe, just outside the city centre. “We found that people are looking for spaces where you can go out, interact and have a good time beyond going to a bar or nightclub,” said its creator and organiser, Karan Singh, 21.

Together with his friend a partner, 21, Singh bought chessboards, printed promotional materials and began the chess club in the start of the year, while in his last year of college. In less than a year, he said Chesscafé has grown to draw more than one hundred young participants to its events.

“Such a venue has a specific reputation to it, about it seeming quiet. We really try to move in the contrary way; it is a convivial party with chess as part of it,” he said.

Discovering and Engaging: A New Generation of Chess Enthusiasts

Among numerous attendees, chess clubs are an introduction to the game. Zoë Kezia, 27, is picking up how to play chess with other attenders of the weekly event at the venue. Her interest in the pastime was sparked after an pleasurable evening moving to music and engaging in chess at a previous the club's events.

“It's a strange concept, but it functions well,” she commented. “It encourages in-person interactions instead of digital activities. It's a free neutral ground to meet strangers. It's welcoming, one doesn't have to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

She jokingly likened the popularity of chess with the youth to the facade of the “performative male”, an attempt to simulate intellectualism while projecting the veneer of “hipness”. If the chess trend has cultivated a genuine passion in the sport is not something she is quite sure about. “It is a positive trend, but it’s largely a trend,” she said. “Once you compete with people who are truly dedicated about it, it quickly becomes less fun.”

Competitive Play and Community

It might all be 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 main party area.

Another organizer, 22, who helps organise Knight Club,says that increasingly competitive attenders have formed a competitive ranking. “Participants who are in the league will face each other, we will progress to early rounds, advanced stages, and then we'll eventually have a champion.”

Ryames Chan, 23, is a competitive player and chess instructor. He joined in the league for about a year and participates at the club nearly weekly. “This offers a welcome alternative to playing intense chess; it provides a feeling of community,” he expressed.

“It is fascinating to see how it evolves into increasingly a communal pastime, because in the past the only people who engaged in chess were those who rarely go outside; they simply remained home. It is typically just two people competing on a game board …

“What I like about this place is that you're not really facing the computer, you're engaging with real people.”