🔗 Share this article

One of the liveliest venues 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 club – or rather a chess and nightlife combination, precisely speaking.

Knight Club represents the surprising blend between the classic game and the city's dynamic nightlife scene. It was founded by Yusuf Ntahilaja, in his late twenties, who began his initial 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.

“My goal was to create chess clubs for individuals who share my background and those my age,” he explained. “Typically, chess is only placed in spaces that are full of senior individuals, which isn't diverse enough.”

On the first night, there were just 8 boards shared by 16 people. Now, a “successful evening” at the weekly club event will draw approximately two hundred eighty attendees.

At first glance, Knight Club seems more like a music night than a traditional chess meeting. Cocktails are flowing and music is playing, but the game boards on each table are not just ornamental or there as a novelty: they are all occupied and surrounded by a queue of onlookers eagerly anticipating for their turn.

Jimmy Ifenayi, 24, has frequented Knight Club often for the past four months. “I possessed no knowledge of chess prior to my first visit, and the initial occasion I ever played, I competed in a game with a grandmaster. It was a quick victory, but it made me intrigued to study and keep playing chess,” she noted.

“The event is about 50% networking and half people genuinely wishing to engage in chess … It's a pleasant way to decompress, which avoids visiting a club to see others my generation.”

An Activity Revitalized: The Ancient Game in the Contemporary Era

Lately, chess has been firmly established in the cultural spirit of the times. Its appeal of digital chess proliferated throughout the global health crisis, making it one of the fastest-growing online games in the world. Across media, the streaming series The Queen’s Gambit, as well as Sally Rooney’s latest novel a literary work, have crafted a distinct imagery surrounding the game, which has attracted a fresh wave of players.

However much of this recent appeal of the chess night isn't necessarily about the intricacies of the game; instead, it is the ease of connecting with others that it enables, by taking a seat and engaging with a person who could be a total unknown individual.

“It is a brilliant clever disguise,” remarked Jonah Freud, co-founder of Reference Point in the city, a bookshop, library, coffee house and bar, which has organized a well-attended chess club weekly since it began several years back. His objective is to “take chess off a pedestal and make it feel similar to pool in a casual pub”.

“It's a really simple vehicle to get to know people. It somewhat removes the pressure of the need of conversation from interacting with people. One can handle the awkward bit of introducing yourself and chatting to someone across a board instead of with no shared activity around it.”

Expanding the Community: Chess Nights Outside the Capital

In Birmingham, Chesscafé is a recurring chess event taking place at York’s Cafe, near the downtown area. “We found that individuals are looking for spaces where one can socialize, interact and have a fun evening beyond going to a pub or club,” said its founder and coordinator, Karan Singh, 21.

Together with his friend a partner, also young, Singh bought game sets, created promotional materials and started the chess club in the start of the year, during his final year of university. Within months, he reported their event has expanded to draw over 100 youthful participants to its gatherings.

“A chess club has a particular reputation 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.

Discovering and Engaging: An Alternative Generation of Players

Among numerous attendees, chess clubs are an introduction to the game. Zoë Kezia, in her late twenties, is learning how to play chess with other attenders of chess night at the venue. She became curious in the game was piqued after an enjoyable evening dancing and playing chess at one of the club's occasions.

“It's a unique concept, but it works,” she commented. “It promotes in-person exchanges instead of digital pastimes. It's a free third space to encounter new people. It's welcoming, you don't need to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

Kezia humorously likened the popularity of chess with the youth to the superficial image of the “performative male”, an attempt to feign intellectualism while signaling the veneer of “coolness”. If the chess trend has cultivated a genuine passion in the game isn't something she's entirely sure about. “It is a wholesome phenomenon, but it’s largely a trend,” she observed. “When you compete with opponents who are truly serious about it, it rapidly becomes less enjoyable.”

Serious Play and Togetherness

It might all be a bit of lighthearted activity for those aiming to employ a chessboard as a networking tool, but serious participants certainly have their place, albeit away from the dancefloor.

Another organizer, in her early twenties, who helps organise the club,says that more skilled attenders have formed a competitive ranking. “People who are part of the competition will face each other, we'll progress to early rounds, advanced stages, and then we'll eventually have a league winner.”

Ryames Chan, 23, is a serious player and chess teacher. He joined the competition for about a year and participates at the club almost weekly. “This offers a welcome option to engaging in serious chess; it gives a sense of belonging,” he expressed.

“It's interesting to see how it evolves into increasingly a social pastime, because in the past the only people who played chess were those who rarely socialize; they simply remained home. It's typically only a pair playing on a chessboard …

“The thing I like about here is that you're not really facing the computer, you're facing real people.”