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One of the liveliest venues on a weekday evening in east London's Brick Lane isn't a restaurant or a streetwear label pop-up, it is a chess club – or rather a chess and nightlife fusion, precisely speaking.

Knight Club represents the unlikely fusion between chess and the city's dynamic evening entertainment scene. It was started by Yusuf Ntahilaja, in his late twenties, who began his first chess club in the summer of 2023 at a more intimate bar in Aldgate, a short distance from the present location at a popular cafe on Brick Lane.

“I wanted to create chess clubs for people who share my background and those my generation,” he explained. “Usually, chess is only placed in environments that are dominated by senior individuals, which is not inclusive sufficiently.”

On the first night, there were just 8 boards shared by sixteen people. Today, a “successful evening” at the weekly Knight Club will attract about 280 people.

Upon arrival, the venue feels closer to a DJ event than a traditional chess meeting. Cocktails are flowing and tunes is in the air, but the chessboards on each table aren't just decorative or there as a novelty: they are all occupied and surrounded by a queue of spectators eagerly anticipating for their turn.

Jimmy Ifenayi, 24, has been attending the club regularly for the last four months. “I had little understanding of chess before my first visit, and the first time I tried it, I competed in a game with a grandmaster. It was a quick win, but it made me fascinated to learn and keep playing chess,” she said.

“The event is about 50% networking and 50% people genuinely wishing to engage in chess … It is a nice way to unwind, which doesn't involve going to a typical nightspot to see others my generation.”

An Activity Reborn: The Ancient Game in the Contemporary Era

Lately, chess has been firmly established in the societal zeitgeist. The popularity of digital chess expanded rapidly during the global health crisis, establishing it as one of the most rapidly expanding online games in the world. Across media, the streaming series a hit show, as well as the author's latest novel Intermezzo, have crafted a distinct imagery associated with the sport, which has drawn in a fresh generation of players.

But a great deal of this newfound attraction of the chess night isn't always about the intricacies of the game; instead, it is the ease of connecting with others that it enables, by taking a seat and playing with someone who may be a total unknown individual.

“It is a great Trojan horse,” remarked one organizer, founder of Reference Point in the city, a bookshop, library, coffee house and bar, which has organized a popular chess club every Wednesday since it opened several years back. His objective is to “take chess from its elite status and make it feel similar to billiards in a casual pub”.

“It's a very easy vehicle to meet people. It somewhat removes the pressure of the necessity of small talk from socializing with people. One can handle the uncomfortable bit of making an introduction and talking to someone across a game rather than with no kind of shared activity around it.”

Expanding the Network: Chess Nights Beyond the Capital

Elsewhere in the UK, Chesscafé is a recurring chess night taking place at a city cafe, near the downtown area. “We found that people are looking for spaces where you can socialize, socialise and have a fun evening beyond visiting a pub or club,” stated its founder and coordinator, Karan Singh, 21.

Alongside his friend Abdirahim Haji, also young, he bought game sets, printed promotional materials and began the chess club in the start of the year, while in his final year of college. Within months, Singh said Chesscafé has grown to draw more than one hundred 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 opposite way; it is a social get-together with chess as part of it,” he emphasized.

Discovering and Engaging: An Alternative Generation of Players

For many, chess clubs are an entry point to the activity. Zoë Kezia, in her late twenties, is learning how to participate in chess with other attenders of chess night at the venue. Her interest in the pastime was sparked after an pleasurable night moving to music and playing chess at one of the club's events.

“It is a strange concept, but it works,” she commented. “It encourages in-person exchanges rather than screen-based activities. It is a no-cost third space to meet strangers. It's welcoming, you don't have to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

She jokingly likened the popularity of chess with the youth to the facade of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an attempt to simulate intellectualism while projecting the veneer of “hipness”. If the chess trend has cultivated a authentic passion in the game is not a notion she is entirely sure about. “It is a wholesome trend, but it’s largely a trend,” she said. “When you compete against people who are really dedicated about it, it quickly turns less fun.”

Serious Play and Togetherness

It may seem like a some fun and games for individuals looking to employ a chessboard as a networking tool, but competitive participants do have their role, even if off the dancefloor.

Another organizer, in her early twenties, who helps organise Knight Club,says that increasingly skilled attenders have formed a league table. “People who are in the league will play one another, we'll go to quarter-finals, advanced stages, and then we will finally have a league winner.”

A dedicated player, 23, is a competitive competitor and chess teacher. He joined in the league for about a year and plays at the club nearly weekly. “This is a welcome option to engaging in serious chess; it gives a sense of belonging,” he said.

“It's interesting to see how it evolves into increasingly a social pastime, because in the past the sole individuals who engaged in chess were people who didn't socialize; they simply stayed home. It is usually only a pair playing on a game board …

“What appeals to me about this place is that you're not really playing against the computer, you're engaging with real people.”