🔗 Share this article

One of the liveliest spots on a weekday evening in east London's famous street couldn't be a restaurant or a urban fashion label temporary shop, it is a chess club – or rather a chess club-nightclub hybrid, to be exact.

Knight Club represents the surprising crossover between the classic game and London's dynamic evening entertainment scene. It was founded by a young entrepreneur, in his late twenties, who launched his first chess club in August 2023 at a smaller bar in Aldgate, not too far from the current location at Café 1001 on Brick Lane.

“My goal was to create chess clubs for people who share my background and people my age,” he explained. “Usually, chess is only put in spaces that are dominated by older people, which is not inclusive sufficiently.”

On the first night, there were only eight boards shared by 16 people. Now, a “successful evening” at the weekly club event will attract approximately 280 people.

At first glance, the venue seems more like a DJ event than a chess club. Cocktails are flowing and music is playing, but the game boards on each table aren't just decorative or there as a novelty: they are all in use and encircled by a line of spectators waiting for their chance to play.

One regular, 24, has frequented the club regularly for the last four months. “I had little understanding of chess before I came here, and the first time I ever played, I played a game against a expert player. That was a quick win, but it left me intrigued to study and keep playing chess,” she noted.

“The event is about half networking and 50% people genuinely wishing to play chess … It is a nice way to relax, which avoids visiting a typical nightspot to see others my generation.”

An Activity Reborn: Chess in the Modern Era

In recent years, chess has been firmly established in the cultural zeitgeist. Its appeal of digital chess expanded rapidly during the pandemic, making it one of the most rapidly expanding internet games in the world. In popular culture, the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, along with the author's recent novel Intermezzo, have created a distinct imagery surrounding the game, which has attracted a fresh generation of enthusiasts.

But much of this newfound attraction of the chess club isn't always about the intricacies of the game; rather, it is the simplicity of social interaction that it enables, by pulling up a chair and playing with a person who may be a total stranger.

“It's a brilliant Trojan horse,” remarked one organizer, co-founder of Reference Point in the city, a bookstore, library, cafe and bar, which has organized a well-attended chess club every Wednesday since it began several years back. Freud’s objective is to “take chess off a pedestal and make it feel like billiards in a dive bar”.

“It is a very simple vehicle to get to know people. It somewhat removes the weight of the need of small talk from interacting with people. One can handle the uncomfortable part of introducing yourself and talking to a new acquaintance over a board rather than with no kind of context around it.”

Growing the Community: Social Gatherings Outside London

In Birmingham, Chesscafé is a recurring chess night held at a city cafe, near the city centre. “We found that people are seeking places where one can socialize, socialise and enjoy a good time beyond going to a bar or nightclub,” stated its founder and coordinator, a young leader, 21.

Together with his friend a partner, also young, he bought chessboards, created promotional materials and began the chess club in the start of the year, during his last year of university. Within months, Singh reported their event has grown to attract over 100 young players to its gatherings.

“Such a venue has a specific connotation to it, about it being reserved. Our approach is to move in the contrary direction; it's a convivial get-together with chess involved,” he said.

Discovering and Engaging: An Alternative Cohort of Players

For many, chess clubs are an entry point to the game. Zoë Kezia, 27, is learning how to participate in chess with fellow visitors of the weekly event at Reference Point. She became curious in the pastime was piqued after an pleasurable evening moving to music and playing chess at one of the club's events.

“It is a unique concept, but it works,” she said. “It encourages in-person exchanges instead of digital pastimes. It's a free neutral ground to encounter new people. It is inviting, you don't have to necessarily be good at chess.”

She jokingly likened the trendiness of chess among the youth to the superficial image of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an attempt to feign braininess while projecting the veneer of “hipness”. If the chess craze has cultivated a genuine passion in the sport isn't something she's entirely sure about. “It's a positive trend, but it’s very much a fad,” she observed. “Once you're playing with people who are truly dedicated about it, it quickly becomes less enjoyable.”

Serious Play and Togetherness

It may seem like a bit of fun and games for those looking to use a game set as a networking tool, but competitive participants do have their place, albeit off the dancefloor.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, in her early twenties, who assists in organise Knight Club,explains that increasingly skilled attenders have established a competitive ranking. “Participants who are part of the competition will play one another, we'll go to quarter-finals, semi-finals, and then we'll eventually have a champion.”

A dedicated player, in his twenties, is a serious player and chess teacher. He has been in the league for about a twelve months and participates at the club nearly weekly. “This is a welcome option to engaging in serious chess; it provides a feeling of community,” he said.

“It's interesting to observe how it becomes more of a communal pastime, because previously the sole individuals who engaged in chess were those who didn't go outside; they simply remained home. It is usually just a pair competing on a chessboard …

“The thing appeals to me about this place is that you're not really facing the digital opponent, you're engaging with live opponents.”