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Among the most vibrant spots on a Tuesday night in the East End's famous street isn't a restaurant or a streetwear label temporary shop, it's a chess club – or rather a chess club-nightclub combination, to be exact.

Knight Club embodies the unlikely blend between chess and London's dynamic nightlife culture. 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 a nearby area, not too far from the present location at a popular cafe on the iconic lane.

“My goal was to create chess clubs for individuals who look like me and those my age,” he said. “Typically, chess is only placed in spaces that are full of older people, which is not inclusive enough.”

On the first night, there were just 8 boards between 16 people. Now, a “good night” at the regular club event will draw approximately two hundred eighty people.

At first glance, Knight Club seems closer to a DJ event than a traditional chess meeting. Cocktails are being served and music is in the air, but the game boards on every table are not just ornamental or there as a gimmick: they are all occupied and encircled by a queue of spectators waiting for their chance to play.

Jimmy Ifenayi, 24, has been attending the club often for the last four months. “I possessed little understanding of chess before I came here, and the first time I ever played, I played a game against a grandmaster. That was a quick victory, but it made me fascinated to learn and continue enjoying chess,” she noted.

“This gathering is about 50% networking and half people genuinely wishing to play chess … It's a nice way to relax, which avoids visiting a club to meet others my age.”

An Activity Reborn: The Ancient Game in the Contemporary Age

In recent years, chess has been firmly established in the cultural zeitgeist. Its appeal of online chess expanded rapidly during the global health crisis, making it one of the fastest-growing internet games globally. In popular culture, the streaming series The Queen’s Gambit, along with the author's latest novel a literary work, have created a certain iconography surrounding the game, which has attracted a fresh generation of enthusiasts.

However a great deal of this newfound appeal of the chess club is not necessarily about the intricacies of the game; rather, it is the ease of social interaction that it enables, by taking a seat and playing with a person who may be a total unknown individual.

“It is a great Trojan horse,” said Jonah Freud, founder of Reference Point in London, a bookstore, reading room, cafe and lounge, which has organized a well-attended chess club every Wednesday since it opened four years ago. Freud’s aim is to “take chess off a pedestal and transform it into similar to pool in a casual pub”.

“It is a really easy vehicle to meet people. It kind of takes the pressure of the need of small talk away from socializing with people. One can do the awkward bit of introducing yourself and chatting to a new acquaintance over a game instead of with no kind of context involved.”

Growing the Network: Chess Nights Outside London

Elsewhere in the UK, Chesscafé is a regular chess event taking place at a city cafe, just outside the city centre. “We found that people are seeking spaces where one can go out, socialise and have a good time beyond going to a pub or club,” stated its founder and coordinator, Karan Singh, 21.

Alongside his associate Abdirahim Haji, also young, Singh bought chessboards, created promotional materials and started the chess club in January, during his last year of university. Within months, he reported their event has expanded to attract more than 100 youthful players to its gatherings.

“Such a venue has a specific connotation associated with it, about it seeming reserved. We really try to go the contrary direction; it's a convivial get-together with chess as part of it,” he emphasized.

Learning and Engaging: An Alternative Cohort of Players

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

“It is a unique concept, but it functions well,” she said. “It promotes face-to-face exchanges rather than screen-based pastimes. It is a free third space to encounter new people. It's inviting, one doesn't need to necessarily be good at chess.”

She jokingly compared the trendiness of chess among young people to the superficial image of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an effort to simulate intellectualism while signaling the veneer of “coolness”. Whether the chess trend has fostered a authentic passion in the game is not a notion she is entirely convinced by. “It is a positive trend, but it’s largely a fad,” she said. “Once you compete against people who are truly serious about it, it quickly becomes less enjoyable.”

Competitive Gaming and Togetherness

It might seem like a bit of fun and games for those aiming to use a chessboard as a social vehicle, but serious participants certainly have their place, albeit off the main party area.

Another organizer, 22, who helps organise Knight Club,says that more competitive players have established a competitive ranking. “Participants who are part of the competition will face one another, we'll go to quarter-finals, semi-finals, and then we'll finally have a league winner.”

Ryames Chan, in his twenties, is a competitive player and chess teacher. He joined in the league for about a twelve months and plays at the club nearly weekly. “This is a nice alternative to engaging in intense chess; it gives a feeling of belonging,” he said.

“It is interesting to observe how it evolves into more of a social pastime, because in the past the only individuals who played chess were those who rarely go outside; they just remained home. It is typically only a pair competing on a chessboard …

“The thing appeals to me about here is that you're not really playing against the digital opponent, you're facing real people.”