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One of the most vibrant venues on a Tuesday evening in the East End's Brick Lane couldn't be a dining spot or a streetwear brand pop-up, it is a chess club – or rather a chess and nightlife fusion, precisely speaking.

Knight Club embodies the unlikely fusion between chess and London's fervent nightlife scene. It was founded by Yusuf Ntahilaja, 27, who launched his initial chess club in the summer of 2023 at a smaller bar in a nearby area, a short distance from the current location at a popular cafe on the iconic lane.

“My goal was to create chess clubs for people who look like me and those my generation,” he explained. “Usually, chess is only put in spaces that are dominated by older people, which isn't inclusive enough.”

Initially, there were only eight boards between sixteen people. Today, a “successful evening” at the regular club event will attract about 280 people.

Upon arrival, the venue seems more like a music night than a chess club. Mixed drinks are flowing and music is in the air, but the game boards on every table are not just ornamental or there as a novelty: they are all occupied and surrounded by a queue of onlookers waiting for their turn.

Jimmy Ifenayi, in her mid-twenties, has frequented Knight Club regularly for the last four months. “I had no knowledge of chess prior to my first visit, and the initial occasion I ever played, I competed in a game with a grandmaster. That was a swift victory, but it made me fascinated to learn and keep playing chess,” she noted.

“The event is about half networking and 50% people genuinely wanting to engage in chess … It's a pleasant way to relax, which doesn't involve going to a club to see others my age.”

A Game Reborn: The Ancient Game in the Modern Age

Lately, chess has been cemented in the cultural zeitgeist. The popularity of digital chess expanded rapidly during the global health crisis, making it one of the fastest-growing online games in the world. In popular culture, the Netflix series a hit show, along with the author's recent novel a literary work, have crafted a certain imagery surrounding the sport, which has drawn in a fresh wave of players.

But a great deal of this newfound appeal of the chess night isn't always about the intricacies of the game; rather, it is the simplicity of social interaction that it facilitates, by taking a chair and engaging with a person who could be a total unknown individual.

“It is a great Trojan horse,” said one organizer, founder of a local venue in London, a bookstore, library, cafe and lounge, which has organized a popular chess club weekly since it began several years back. Freud’s objective is to “take chess off a pedestal and transform it into similar to pool in a casual pub”.

“It is a really simple vehicle to meet people. It kind of takes the weight of the necessity of conversation from interacting with people. One can handle the awkward bit of introducing yourself and chatting to a new acquaintance over a board instead of with no shared activity involved.”

Growing the Community: Social Gatherings Outside London

In Birmingham, a similar initiative is a regular chess night taking place at York’s Cafe, near the city centre. “We found that people are looking for places where one can socialize, interact and have a good time beyond going to a pub or nightclub,” stated its founder and coordinator, Karan Singh, in his early twenties.

Alongside his friend Abdirahim Haji, 21, Singh bought game sets, created flyers and started the chess club in January, while in his last year of university. In less than a year, he said their event has grown to draw over 100 youthful participants to its gatherings.

“A chess club has a specific reputation associated with it, about it seeming quiet. We really try to go the contrary way; it is a social get-together with chess as part of it,” he said.

Learning and Playing: An Alternative Generation of Chess Enthusiasts

Among numerous attendees, chess clubs are an introduction to the activity. One participant, in her late twenties, is learning how to play chess with other attenders of the weekly event at the venue. Her interest in the game was piqued after an enjoyable evening dancing and engaging in chess at a previous the club's events.

“It's a unique idea, but it works,” she said. “It encourages face-to-face exchanges instead of digital pastimes. It's a no-cost third space to meet strangers. It's welcoming, one doesn't have to necessarily be good at chess.”

Kezia jokingly compared the trendiness of chess with the youth to the facade of the “performative male”, an effort to feign intellectualism while signaling the veneer of “coolness”. Whether the chess trend has cultivated a genuine interest in the game isn't a notion she's entirely convinced by. “It's a wholesome phenomenon, but it’s largely a trend,” she said. “Once you're playing with opponents who are really serious about it, it rapidly becomes less enjoyable.”

Competitive Gaming and Community

It may seem like a bit of lighthearted activity for individuals looking to use a game set as a networking tool, but competitive participants certainly have their role, even if off the main party area.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, in her early twenties, who helps running the club,says that more skilled attenders have formed a league table. “Participants who are in the league will face one another, we will go to quarter-finals, semi-finals, and then we will finally have a champion.”

Ryames Chan, 23, is a competitive player and chess teacher. He joined the competition for about a twelve months and plays at the club almost every week. “This offers a nice option to playing serious chess; it gives a sense of belonging,” he expressed.

“It's interesting to see how it evolves into more of a communal pastime, because previously the only people who engaged in chess were those who rarely socialize; they simply stayed home. It is typically only a pair competing on a chessboard …

“The thing I like about this place is that you're not actually playing against the computer, you are facing real people.”