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Among the most vibrant venues on a Tuesday night in east London's Brick Lane couldn't be a dining spot or a urban fashion label pop-up, it's a chess club – or rather a chess and nightlife hybrid, precisely speaking.

Knight Club embodies the unlikely blend between the classic game and the city's dynamic evening entertainment scene. It was started by a young entrepreneur, 27, who began his initial chess club in the summer of 2023 at a more intimate bar in Aldgate, a short distance from the current location at Café 1001 on Brick Lane.

“My goal was to make chess clubs for individuals who look like me and those my age,” he said. “Usually, chess is only put in spaces that are full of older people, which is not diverse sufficiently.”

On the first night, there were only 8 boards shared by 16 people. Now, a “good night” at the weekly club event will draw approximately 280 people.

Upon arrival, the venue feels closer to a DJ event than a traditional chess meeting. Mixed drinks are flowing and tunes is in the air, but the chessboards on each table are not just decorative or there as a novelty: they are all occupied and surrounded by a queue of onlookers waiting for their chance to play.

One regular, 24, has frequented Knight Club often for the last four months. “I possessed little understanding of chess prior to my first visit, and the initial occasion I tried it, I played a game with a grandmaster. That was a swift victory, but it left me intrigued to study and keep playing chess,” she said.

“This gathering is about 50% networking and 50% people genuinely wishing to engage in chess … It is a pleasant way to relax, which avoids visiting a club to see others my generation.”

A Game Reborn: Chess in the Modern Age

In recent years, chess has been firmly established in the cultural zeitgeist. The popularity of online chess proliferated during the global health crisis, establishing it as one of the most rapidly expanding internet pastimes in the world. Across media, the streaming series a hit show, along with Sally Rooney’s recent novel Intermezzo, have created a certain imagery associated with the game, which has attracted a new wave of players.

However a great deal of this recent attraction of the chess night is not necessarily about the technicalities of the game; instead, it is the ease of social interaction that it enables, by pulling up a seat and playing with someone who may be a complete unknown individual.

“It is a great Trojan horse,” said Jonah Freud, founder of a local venue in the city, a bookshop, reading room, coffee house and bar, which has hosted a well-attended chess club weekly since it opened four years ago. Freud’s objective is to “take chess from its elite status and transform it into like billiards in a casual pub”.

“It's a very simple tool to get to know people. It kind of takes the weight of the necessity of conversation away from interacting with people. One can do the uncomfortable bit of making an introduction and chatting to someone over a board rather than with no kind of context around it.”

Expanding the Network: Social Gatherings Beyond London

In Birmingham, a similar initiative is a recurring chess night held at York’s Cafe, just outside the downtown area. “Our observation was that individuals are looking for places where one can go out, interact and have a good time beyond visiting a pub or club,” stated its founder and coordinator, Karan Singh, 21.

Together with his associate Abdirahim Haji, 21, he purchased game sets, created promotional materials and began the chess club in January, during his final year of university. In less than a year, he said Chesscafé has grown to attract over one hundred youthful participants to its events.

“Such a venue has a particular connotation associated with it, about it being quiet. We really try to move in the contrary direction; it is a convivial party with chess involved,” he emphasized.

Learning and Engaging: An Alternative Generation of Players

Among numerous attendees, chess clubs are an entry point to the game. One participant, in her late twenties, is learning how to participate in chess with fellow attenders of chess night at Reference Point. Her interest in the game was sparked after an pleasurable night moving to music and engaging in chess at one of Knight Club's occasions.

“It's a unique idea, but it functions well,” she said. “It encourages face-to-face exchanges rather than screen-based pastimes. It is a free neutral ground to encounter new people. It's inviting, you don't have to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

Kezia humorously likened the trendiness of chess among young people to the facade of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an effort to simulate intellectualism while projecting the veneer of “coolness”. If the chess craze has fostered a authentic interest in the game isn't a notion she is quite convinced by. “It's a positive phenomenon, but it’s largely a trend,” she said. “When you're playing against opponents who are truly serious about it, it rapidly turns less fun.”

Serious Play and Togetherness

It might all be a bit of lighthearted activity for individuals aiming to employ a chessboard as a networking tool, but serious participants certainly have their role, albeit off the main party area.

Another organizer, in her early twenties, who helps organise the club,explains that more competitive players have established a league table. “Participants who are part of the competition will face one another, we will go to early rounds, advanced stages, and then we'll finally have a league winner.”

A dedicated player, 23, is a competitive competitor and chess teacher. He has been in the league for about a twelve months and participates at the club nearly weekly. “This is a nice option to playing intense chess; it gives a sense of community,” he expressed.

“It is fascinating to observe how it evolves into more of a communal activity, because previously the sole people who played chess were people who rarely go outside; they just stayed home. It's usually just two people playing on a chessboard …

“The thing appeals to me about here is that one isn't really facing the digital opponent, you are engaging with real people.”