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Among the liveliest spots on a Tuesday night in east London's famous street couldn't be a dining spot or a streetwear label temporary shop, it is a chess gathering – or a chess club-nightclub hybrid, precisely speaking.

Knight Club embodies the surprising crossover between the classic game and London's dynamic evening entertainment culture. It was founded by a young entrepreneur, 27, who launched his first chess club in August 2023 at a smaller bar in Aldgate, not too far from the current location at a popular cafe on Brick Lane.

“I wanted to create chess clubs for individuals who share my background and people my generation,” he said. “Typically, chess is only put in spaces that are full of older people, which isn't diverse enough.”

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

Upon arrival, the venue feels closer to a music night than a chess club. Cocktails are being served and tunes is playing, but the chessboards on each table aren't just ornamental or there as a novelty: they are all in use and encircled by a queue of spectators waiting for their chance to play.

One regular, 24, has been attending Knight Club often for the last several months. “I had little understanding of chess before I came here, and the first time I ever played, I competed in a game against a grandmaster. It was a quick win, but it left me intrigued to study and keep playing chess,” she said.

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

An Activity Reborn: The Ancient Game in the Contemporary Age

Lately, chess has been firmly established in the cultural spirit of the times. Its appeal of digital chess proliferated during the global health crisis, establishing it as one of the fastest-growing internet pastimes in the world. In popular culture, the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, as well as the author's recent novel a literary work, have created a certain iconography associated with the game, which has drawn in a new generation of enthusiasts.

But much of this newfound attraction of the chess night is not necessarily about the intricacies of the play; instead, it is the simplicity of social interaction that it enables, by taking a seat and engaging with a person who may be a total unknown individual.

“It's a great clever disguise,” said Jonah Freud, co-founder of Reference Point in the city, a bookstore, library, cafe and lounge, which has hosted a popular chess club weekly since it opened several years back. Freud’s aim is to “remove chess from its elite status and make it feel similar to pool in a dive bar”.

“It is a very simple vehicle to get to know people. It kind of removes the pressure of the need of small talk away from interacting with people. You can handle the uncomfortable part of making an introduction and chatting to a new acquaintance across a game instead of with no context involved.”

Expanding the Community: Chess Nights Beyond London

In Birmingham, a similar initiative is a regular chess night taking place at a city cafe, near the downtown area. “Our observation was that individuals are looking for spaces where you can socialize, interact and enjoy a good time beyond going to a bar or nightclub,” stated its founder and organiser, a young leader, 21.

Together with his associate a partner, also young, he purchased game sets, created promotional materials and started the chess club in the start of the year, while in his last year of college. Within months, he reported Chesscafé has expanded to draw more than 100 young players to its gatherings.

“Such a venue has a specific connotation associated with it, about it seeming quiet. We really try to move in the opposite way; it's a social get-together with chess involved,” he emphasized.

Discovering and Engaging: A New Generation of Players

Among numerous attendees, chess clubs are an entry point to the activity. Zoë Kezia, 27, is learning how to play chess with fellow attenders of the weekly event at Reference Point. She became curious in the pastime was piqued after an pleasurable night moving to music and engaging in chess at one of the club's occasions.

“It is a unique concept, but it works,” she commented. “It encourages face-to-face interactions instead of digital activities. It is a no-cost neutral ground to meet strangers. It's welcoming, you don't need to necessarily be good at chess.”

Kezia humorously compared the trendiness of chess among the youth to the facade of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an effort to feign intellectualism while projecting the veneer of “coolness”. Whether the chess craze has cultivated a authentic interest in the game isn't a notion she is entirely convinced by. “It's a wholesome phenomenon, but it’s very much a fad,” she observed. “When you compete with people who are really serious about it, it quickly turns less fun.”

Serious Gaming and Togetherness

It might seem like a some lighthearted activity for individuals looking to employ a game set as a networking tool, but competitive players do have their role, albeit away from the dancefloor.

Another organizer, in her early twenties, who assists in running Knight Club,explains that more skilled attenders have established a competitive ranking. “People who are in the league will face each other, we'll go to quarter-finals, semi-finals, and then we'll finally have a champion.”

A dedicated player, 23, is a competitive player and chess instructor. He joined in the league for about a twelve months and plays at the club almost every week. “This offers a nice option to engaging in serious chess; it provides a feeling of belonging,” he expressed.

“It's fascinating to see how it evolves into increasingly a social activity, because in the past the sole individuals who played chess were those who didn't socialize; they simply stayed home. It's typically only a pair playing on a game board …

“The thing I like about here is that you're not really playing against the digital opponent, you are engaging with real people.”