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

This unique venue embodies the unlikely crossover between the classic game and the city's fervent nightlife scene. It was started by a young entrepreneur, in his late twenties, who launched his initial chess club in August 2023 at a smaller bar in a nearby area, a short distance from the current location at a popular cafe on Brick Lane.

“My goal was to make chess clubs for individuals who share my background and people my age,” he explained. “Usually, chess is only put in spaces that are full of senior individuals, which isn't inclusive enough.”

On the first night, there were just eight boards between 16 people. Today, a “good night” at the weekly club event will attract approximately 280 people.

Upon arrival, the venue seems more like a DJ event than a traditional chess meeting. Mixed drinks are flowing and tunes is playing, but the chessboards on each table are not just decorative or there as a novelty: they are all occupied and surrounded by a line of spectators eagerly anticipating for their chance to play.

One regular, in her mid-twenties, has frequented Knight Club often for the past several months. “I had little understanding of chess before my first visit, and the initial occasion I ever played, I played a game against a grandmaster. It was a swift victory, but it made me fascinated to study and keep playing chess,” she noted.

“The event is about half social and 50% participants actually wishing to engage in chess … It's a nice way to unwind, which avoids visiting a club to meet others my age.”

An Activity Revitalized: The Ancient Game in the Contemporary Era

In recent years, chess has been firmly established in the cultural zeitgeist. The popularity of online chess proliferated throughout the global health crisis, making it one of the fastest-growing online pastimes globally. In popular culture, the streaming series The Queen’s Gambit, as well as Sally Rooney’s latest novel a literary work, have crafted a distinct iconography surrounding the game, which has drawn in a fresh generation of players.

But a great deal of this recent attraction of the chess night is not always about the technicalities of the game; rather, it is the ease of connecting with others that it enables, by taking a chair and playing with someone who could be a total unknown individual.

“It's a great Trojan horse,” said one organizer, founder of Reference Point in the city, a bookshop, reading room, coffee house and bar, which has organized a popular chess club every Wednesday since it opened four years ago. His objective is to “take chess off a pedestal and transform it into like billiards in a dive bar”.

“It's a very simple tool to get to know people. It somewhat removes the weight of the necessity of conversation from socializing with people. You can do the uncomfortable bit of making an introduction and talking to a new acquaintance over a game rather than with no kind of shared activity around it.”

Expanding the Community: Social Gatherings Outside London

In Birmingham, Chesscafé is a regular chess event taking place at York’s Cafe, near the city centre. “Our observation was that people are seeking spaces where one can socialize, interact and have a good time beyond visiting a bar or club,” said its founder and coordinator, Karan Singh, 21.

Together with his friend Abdirahim Haji, also young, he bought chessboards, printed promotional materials and began the chess club in January, during his final year of college. Within months, he reported Chesscafé has grown to attract more than 100 youthful players to its events.

“Such a venue has a specific connotation to it, about it being quiet. Our approach is to go the opposite way; it's a social get-together with chess involved,” he said.

Learning and Playing: A New Cohort of Players

For many, chess clubs are an introduction to the activity. One participant, in her late twenties, is picking up how to participate in chess with fellow visitors of chess night at Reference Point. She became curious in the pastime was sparked after an enjoyable night moving to music and engaging in chess at one of Knight Club's events.

“It's a unique concept, but it functions well,” she said. “It encourages face-to-face exchanges instead of screen-based pastimes. It is a free third space to encounter strangers. It is welcoming, one doesn't have to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

Kezia jokingly compared the popularity of chess among young people to the superficial image of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an effort to simulate braininess while signaling the veneer of “hipness”. If the chess trend has cultivated a genuine interest in the game isn't something she is entirely convinced by. “It is a wholesome phenomenon, but it’s very much a fad,” she observed. “When you compete against people who are truly dedicated about it, it rapidly turns less enjoyable.”

Competitive Play and Togetherness

It might all be a some fun and games for those looking to employ a game set as a social vehicle, but competitive players certainly have their role, albeit away from the main party area.

Another organizer, in her early twenties, who assists in organise Knight Club,explains that increasingly skilled players have formed a competitive ranking. “People who are in the league will play each other, we will progress to early rounds, semi-finals, and then we'll finally have a league winner.”

Ryames Chan, in his twenties, is a serious competitor and chess teacher. He has been the competition for about a year and plays at the club almost every week. “This is a welcome alternative to playing intense chess; it gives a sense of belonging,” he expressed.

“It is interesting to observe how it evolves into more of a communal activity, because previously the only people who played chess were people who didn't go outside; they just remained home. It's typically just a pair playing on a game board …

“The thing appeals to me about here is that you're not actually playing against the computer, you're facing live opponents.”