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Among the liveliest venues on a weekday evening in the East End's Brick Lane couldn't be a restaurant or a urban fashion brand temporary shop, it's a chess gathering – or a chess and nightlife hybrid, precisely speaking.

Knight Club embodies the unlikely blend between chess and the city's dynamic nightlife scene. It was founded by a young entrepreneur, in his late twenties, who began his first chess club in August 2023 at a more intimate bar in a nearby area, a short distance from the current location at a popular cafe on the iconic lane.

“My goal was to create chess clubs for people who share my background and those my age,” he said. “Typically, chess is only placed in environments that are dominated by senior individuals, which isn't inclusive enough.”

Initially, there were only eight boards shared by sixteen people. Today, a “successful evening” at the weekly club event will attract approximately two hundred eighty people.

At first glance, Knight Club seems more like a music night than a chess club. Cocktails are being served and tunes is playing, but the chessboards on every table aren't just ornamental or there as a gimmick: they are all in use and encircled by a line of onlookers waiting for their chance to play.

Jimmy Ifenayi, 24, has been attending Knight Club often for the last several months. “I possessed no knowledge of chess prior to I came here, and the first time I tried it, I played a game against a expert player. That was a swift victory, but it left me intrigued to learn and keep playing chess,” she noted.

“This gathering is about half networking and 50% people actually wishing to engage in chess … It is a pleasant way to decompress, which avoids visiting a typical nightspot to meet other people my age.”

A Game Reborn: Chess in the Modern Age

In recent years, chess has been cemented in the societal zeitgeist. Its appeal of online chess expanded rapidly throughout the global health crisis, making it one of the fastest-growing online pastimes in the world. Across media, the streaming series The Queen’s Gambit, along with Sally Rooney’s latest novel Intermezzo, have created a certain iconography associated with the sport, which has attracted a new wave of enthusiasts.

However much of this recent attraction of the chess club is not always about the intricacies of the game; rather, it is the simplicity of social interaction that it enables, by taking a chair and playing with someone who could be a total stranger.

“It is a great clever disguise,” said one organizer, founder of Reference Point in London, a bookstore, reading room, coffee house and bar, which has hosted a well-attended chess club every Wednesday since it began several years back. Freud’s objective is to “take chess off a pedestal and transform it into similar to pool in a dive bar”.

“It's a really easy tool to get to know people. It somewhat takes the pressure of the necessity of conversation away from socializing with people. One can do the awkward part of introducing yourself and talking to someone across a game instead of with no shared activity around it.”

Growing the Network: Social Gatherings Beyond the Capital

In Birmingham, Chesscafé is a recurring chess event taking place at a city cafe, just outside the city centre. “Our observation was that individuals are seeking places where you can go out, interact and have a fun evening beyond visiting a pub or club,” stated its creator and organiser, Karan Singh, 21.

Alongside his friend a partner, 21, he purchased chessboards, printed flyers and started the chess club in January, while in his last year of college. In less than a year, Singh said their event has grown to attract over 100 youthful players to its events.

“Such a venue has a specific reputation to it, about it being reserved. Our approach is to go the contrary way; it is a convivial get-together with chess involved,” he said.

Discovering and Playing: An Alternative Cohort of Players

For many, chess clubs are an entry point to the game. One participant, in her late twenties, is learning how to participate in chess with fellow visitors of the weekly event at the venue. Her interest in the game was piqued after an pleasurable evening dancing and engaging in chess at one of the club's occasions.

“It is a unique idea, but it functions well,” she commented. “It encourages face-to-face exchanges rather than digital activities. It's a no-cost third space to meet strangers. It's inviting, one doesn't have to necessarily be good at chess.”

She jokingly compared the popularity of chess among the youth to the facade of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an effort to feign intellectualism while signaling the appearance of “coolness”. If the chess trend has cultivated a authentic interest in the sport is not something she's entirely convinced by. “It's a positive phenomenon, but it’s largely a fad,” she said. “When you're playing against people who are really dedicated about it, it rapidly becomes less fun.”

Competitive Gaming and Togetherness

It might seem like a some lighthearted activity for those aiming to use a chessboard as a networking tool, but competitive participants do have their role, even if off the main party area.

Another organizer, in her early twenties, who helps organise Knight Club,says that increasingly skilled players have established a competitive ranking. “People who are part of the competition will face one another, we'll progress to early rounds, semi-finals, and then we will finally have a champion.”

Ryames Chan, 23, is a competitive competitor and chess teacher. He joined the competition for about a twelve months and plays at the club almost every week. “This is a nice option to playing intense chess; it gives a sense of belonging,” he expressed.

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

“The thing appeals to me about here is that one isn't really facing the computer, you are facing live opponents.”