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Among the liveliest venues on a weekday night in the East End's famous street isn't a dining spot or a urban fashion label pop-up, it is a chess gathering – or rather a chess club-nightclub fusion, precisely speaking.

Knight Club embodies the unlikely crossover between chess and the city's dynamic evening entertainment culture. It was founded by a young entrepreneur, in his late twenties, who began his first chess club in August 2023 at a smaller bar in Aldgate, a short distance from the current location at Café 1001 on the iconic lane.

“My goal was to create chess clubs for people who look like me and those my age,” he said. “Usually, chess is only put in spaces that are full of older people, which isn't diverse enough.”

Initially, there were just eight boards between sixteen people. Today, a “good night” at the weekly Knight Club will draw approximately 280 people.

At first glance, the venue feels closer to a DJ event than a chess club. Cocktails are flowing and music is playing, but the chessboards on each table aren't just ornamental or there as a gimmick: they are all occupied and encircled by a line of spectators eagerly anticipating for their turn.

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

“This gathering is about 50% networking and half people actually wishing to engage in chess … It's a pleasant way to unwind, which avoids going to a club to meet others my generation.”

A Game Reborn: Chess in the Modern Age

In recent years, chess has been firmly established in the societal spirit of the times. The popularity of online chess expanded rapidly throughout the pandemic, establishing it as one of the fastest-growing online games globally. In popular culture, the streaming series a hit show, as well as Sally Rooney’s latest novel a literary work, have crafted a certain iconography surrounding the game, which has drawn in a fresh wave of players.

However much of this newfound attraction of the chess club is not always about the technicalities of the play; instead, it is the simplicity of connecting with others that it facilitates, by taking a seat and playing with someone who may be a total stranger.

“It is a great Trojan horse,” said one organizer, co-founder of a local venue in the city, a bookstore, library, coffee house and bar, which has organized a popular chess club weekly since it began several years back. His objective is to “remove chess from its elite status and transform it into like pool in a casual pub”.

“It is a really easy tool to get to know people. It kind of takes the pressure of the need of small talk from socializing with people. You can handle the awkward bit of introducing yourself and chatting to a new acquaintance across a board rather than with no kind of shared activity involved.”

Growing the Community: Chess Nights Outside London

Elsewhere in the UK, a similar initiative is a recurring chess event held at York’s Cafe, just outside the city centre. “We found that people are looking for places where one can socialize, interact and enjoy a fun evening outside of going to a bar or nightclub,” stated its founder and organiser, a young leader, in his early twenties.

Together with his associate a partner, 21, he purchased chessboards, printed promotional materials and started the chess club in January, during his last year of university. Within months, Singh said their event has grown to draw more than 100 youthful players to its events.

“A chess club has a particular connotation to it, about it seeming reserved. We really try to move in the opposite direction; it is a convivial get-together with chess as part of it,” he said.

Learning and Engaging: An Alternative Cohort of Chess Enthusiasts

Among numerous attendees, chess clubs are an introduction to the activity. Zoë Kezia, in her late twenties, is picking up how to play chess with other attenders of the weekly event at the venue. She became curious in the pastime was piqued after an pleasurable night moving to music and engaging in chess at one of the club's occasions.

“It's a strange concept, but it works,” she commented. “It promotes face-to-face interactions instead of digital pastimes. It is a free third space to encounter new people. It is inviting, you don't have to necessarily be good at chess.”

Kezia humorously compared the popularity of chess with young people to the facade of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an effort to feign braininess while projecting the veneer of “hipness”. Whether the chess trend has fostered a genuine interest in the game is not a notion she's entirely convinced by. “It's a wholesome trend, but it’s very much a fad,” she observed. “When you compete against people who are truly serious about it, it quickly turns less fun.”

Serious Play and Community

It might seem like a bit of fun and games for those aiming to employ a game set as a social vehicle, but competitive players do have their role, albeit off the main party area.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, 22, who assists in running Knight Club,says that increasingly competitive attenders have formed a competitive ranking. “People who are in the league will face each other, we will go to early rounds, semi-finals, and then we'll finally have a champion.”

Ryames Chan, 23, is a serious competitor and chess teacher. He has been the competition for about a year and plays at the club almost weekly. “This offers a nice option to playing serious chess; it gives a sense of community,” he expressed.

“It's fascinating to observe how it evolves into increasingly a communal activity, because in the past the only individuals who engaged in chess were those who rarely socialize; they just stayed home. It is usually just a pair competing on a chessboard …

“The thing appeals to me about here is that you're not really playing against the computer, you're engaging with real people.”