🔗 Share this article

One of the most vibrant venues on a weekday evening in the East End's famous street isn't a dining spot or a urban fashion brand pop-up, it's a chess club – or rather a chess club-nightclub fusion, to be exact.

This unique venue embodies the unlikely blend between the classic game and London's fervent nightlife scene. It was started by a young entrepreneur, 27, who launched his first chess club in the summer of 2023 at a smaller bar in a nearby area, not too far from the current location at Café 1001 on the iconic lane.

“I wanted to create chess clubs for individuals who look like me and those my generation,” he said. “Usually, chess is only placed in environments that are full of older people, which is not inclusive enough.”

Initially, there were just eight boards shared by 16 people. Today, a “successful evening” at the regular club event will attract approximately two hundred eighty attendees.

At first glance, Knight Club feels more like a music night than a chess club. Mixed drinks are being served and tunes is in the air, but the game boards on each table are not just ornamental or there as a novelty: they are all occupied and surrounded by a line of spectators eagerly anticipating for their turn.

Jimmy Ifenayi, 24, has been attending the club often for the last four months. “I had no knowledge of chess before my first visit, and the first time I ever played, I played a game against a expert player. That was a quick win, but it left me fascinated to learn and continue enjoying chess,” she said.

“The event is about half networking and half participants actually wanting to engage in chess … It is a pleasant way to relax, which doesn't involve visiting a club to see other people my generation.”

An Activity Reborn: The Ancient Game in the Contemporary Era

Lately, chess has been firmly established in the cultural zeitgeist. Its appeal of online chess expanded rapidly throughout the global health crisis, establishing it as one of the fastest-growing internet pastimes in the world. In popular culture, the Netflix series a hit show, along with the author's latest novel a literary work, have crafted a certain iconography surrounding the game, which has attracted a fresh generation of players.

However much of this recent attraction of the chess club is not always about the technicalities of the play; rather, it is the simplicity of connecting with others that it facilitates, by taking a seat and engaging with a person who could be a total stranger.

“It's a great Trojan horse,” remarked one organizer, co-founder of a local venue in London, a bookstore, reading room, cafe and lounge, which has organized a popular chess club weekly since it opened four years ago. His objective is to “remove chess off a pedestal and transform it into like billiards in a dive bar”.

“It's a very simple tool to meet people. It kind of takes the weight of the need of conversation from socializing with people. You can do the uncomfortable bit of making an introduction and chatting to a new acquaintance over a board instead of with no context involved.”

Growing the Community: Chess Nights Outside London

In Birmingham, Chesscafé is a recurring chess event taking place at York’s Cafe, near the city centre. “Our observation was that people are seeking places where you can go out, socialise and have a good time beyond going to a bar or club,” said its founder and coordinator, a young leader, in his early twenties.

Together with his associate Abdirahim Haji, 21, Singh bought game sets, printed promotional materials and started the chess club in January, while in his final year of university. In less than a year, Singh reported their event has expanded to draw over 100 youthful players to its events.

“A chess club has a particular reputation to it, about it seeming quiet. We really try to move in the contrary direction; it is a social get-together with chess involved,” he said.

Discovering and Engaging: An Alternative Cohort of Players

Among numerous attendees, chess clubs are an introduction to the game. One participant, in her late twenties, is picking up how to participate in chess with other attenders of chess night at the venue. Her interest in the game was piqued after an pleasurable evening dancing and playing chess at one of Knight Club's events.

“It's a unique idea, but it functions well,” she said. “It promotes face-to-face exchanges instead of digital pastimes. It's a no-cost third space to meet strangers. It is welcoming, you don't need to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

She humorously likened the popularity of chess with the youth to the facade of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an attempt to feign braininess while projecting the appearance of “hipness”. Whether the chess craze has cultivated a genuine passion in the sport isn't a notion she's entirely sure about. “It's a wholesome trend, but it’s very much a fad,” she said. “When you're playing against people who are truly dedicated about it, it quickly turns less enjoyable.”

Competitive Play and Togetherness

It may seem like a bit of fun and games for individuals looking to use a game set as a networking tool, but serious participants do have their place, even if away from the main party area.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, 22, who helps organise the club,says that more skilled attenders have formed a league table. “Participants who are in the league will face each other, we'll progress to early rounds, semi-finals, and then we'll eventually have a league winner.”

A dedicated player, 23, is a serious player and chess teacher. He joined in the league for about a year and participates at the club almost weekly. “This is a nice option to playing serious chess; it provides a feeling of community,” he expressed.

“It is fascinating to observe how it evolves into increasingly a social activity, because in the past the sole people who played chess were those who didn't socialize; they simply remained home. It's usually only two people competing on a chessboard …

“What I like about here is that one isn't actually playing against the computer, you are engaging with real people.”