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Among the most energetic venues on a Tuesday evening in the East End's famous street couldn't be a restaurant or a urban fashion label temporary shop, it's a chess gathering – or a chess and nightlife fusion, precisely speaking.

Knight Club embodies the surprising blend between chess and the city'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 Aldgate, not too far from the present location at Café 1001 on Brick Lane.

“I wanted to create chess clubs for people who share my background and those my age,” he said. “Typically, chess is only placed in spaces that are dominated by older people, which isn't inclusive enough.”

On the first night, there were just eight boards shared by sixteen people. Today, a “successful evening” at the weekly Knight Club will attract about 280 attendees.

Upon arrival, Knight Club seems closer to a music night than a traditional chess meeting. Cocktails are being served and tunes is in the air, but the game boards on each table are not just ornamental or there as a gimmick: they are all in use and encircled by a queue of spectators eagerly anticipating for their turn.

Jimmy Ifenayi, 24, has been attending the club regularly for the past several months. “I had little understanding of chess prior to my first visit, and the initial occasion I tried it, I competed in a game with a expert player. It was a quick victory, but it made me intrigued to study and keep playing chess,” she noted.

“The event is about half social and 50% participants genuinely wanting to engage in chess … It is a pleasant way to relax, which avoids visiting a typical nightspot to meet others my generation.”

An Activity Revitalized: Chess in the Modern Age

Lately, chess has been firmly established in the societal spirit of the times. Its appeal of online chess expanded rapidly throughout the global health crisis, making it one of the most rapidly expanding online pastimes globally. Across media, the streaming series a hit show, along with Sally Rooney’s recent novel a literary work, have created a certain imagery associated with the sport, which has attracted a new generation of players.

But a great deal of this recent appeal of the chess night is not necessarily about the technicalities of the game; instead, it is the simplicity of connecting with others that it facilitates, by pulling up a seat and playing with someone who may be a total stranger.

“It is a brilliant Trojan horse,” remarked one organizer, founder of a local venue in the city, a bookstore, reading room, cafe and lounge, which has organized a well-attended chess club every Wednesday since it began four years ago. His aim is to “take chess from its elite status and transform it into similar to billiards in a casual pub”.

“It is a really easy tool to get to know people. It somewhat takes the pressure of the need of conversation away from interacting with people. You can handle the awkward bit of making an introduction and chatting to someone over a game instead of with no context around it.”

Growing the Network: Social Gatherings Beyond London

In Birmingham, a similar initiative is a regular chess night held at a city cafe, just outside the city centre. “We found that people are looking for places where one can socialize, interact and have a fun evening beyond visiting a bar or club,” said its founder and organiser, a young leader, 21.

Together with his friend Abdirahim Haji, also young, he bought chessboards, printed flyers and began the chess club in the start of the year, while in his last year of university. In less than a year, he reported Chesscafé has expanded to attract over one hundred young participants to its events.

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

Discovering and Engaging: A New Generation of Players

Among numerous attendees, chess clubs are an entry point to the activity. One participant, 27, is picking up how to participate in chess with other visitors of chess night at the venue. Her interest in the pastime was piqued after an pleasurable night moving to music and playing chess at one of the club's occasions.

“It's a strange idea, but it functions well,” she said. “It promotes in-person exchanges rather than screen-based activities. It is a no-cost neutral ground to encounter new people. It's welcoming, you don't have to necessarily be good at chess.”

She jokingly likened the trendiness of chess among young people to the facade of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an attempt to simulate intellectualism while signaling the appearance of “coolness”. If the chess trend has fostered a genuine interest in the game is not something she's quite convinced by. “It's a positive phenomenon, but it’s very much a fad,” she observed. “When you're playing with opponents who are truly dedicated about it, it rapidly becomes less fun.”

Competitive Gaming and Community

It may all be a some fun and games for those aiming to use a game set as a social vehicle, but serious players certainly have their place, even if off the main party area.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, 22, who helps organise the club,says that more competitive attenders have formed a competitive ranking. “Participants who are in the league will face one another, we'll progress to early rounds, advanced stages, and then we'll eventually have a league winner.”

A dedicated player, in his twenties, is a competitive player and chess instructor. He has been in the league for about a year and participates at the club nearly weekly. “This is a nice option to playing serious chess; it provides a sense of belonging,” he expressed.

“It is interesting to see how it becomes more of a communal pastime, because in the past the only people who played chess were those who rarely socialize; they simply remained home. It is typically only a pair playing on a game board …

“The thing I like about this place is that one isn't actually facing the computer, you are engaging with real people.”