🔗 Share this article

Among the liveliest spots on a Tuesday evening in east London's Brick Lane couldn't be a restaurant or a urban fashion label pop-up, it's a chess club – or a chess and nightlife combination, precisely speaking.

Knight Club embodies the surprising crossover between the classic game and the city's dynamic evening entertainment scene. It was founded 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 a popular cafe on the iconic lane.

“I wanted to create chess clubs for people who look like me and people my age,” he said. “Usually, chess is only put in spaces that are full of older people, which isn't inclusive enough.”

On the first night, there were just 8 boards shared by sixteen people. Today, a “successful evening” at the regular Knight Club will draw approximately 280 people.

At first glance, the venue seems more like a music night than a chess club. Cocktails are flowing and tunes is playing, but the game boards on every table are not 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 Knight Club often for the past four months. “I possessed no knowledge of chess prior to my first visit, and the first time I tried it, I played a game against a grandmaster. It was a quick win, but it left me intrigued to study and continue enjoying chess,” she noted.

“The event is about half social and 50% participants actually wishing to engage in chess … It's a nice way to relax, which avoids going to a typical nightspot to see others my generation.”

A Game Revitalized: Chess in the Modern Age

Lately, chess has been cemented in the cultural zeitgeist. Its appeal of online chess expanded rapidly during the global health crisis, making it one of the most rapidly expanding internet pastimes in the world. In popular culture, the Netflix series a hit show, as well as the author's recent novel a literary work, have created a certain iconography associated with the game, which has attracted a new wave of players.

However much of this newfound appeal of the chess club is not always about the intricacies of the play; rather, it is the ease of connecting with others that it facilitates, by pulling up a seat and engaging with someone who may be a total stranger.

“It is a great clever disguise,” said one organizer, founder of a local venue in London, a bookshop, reading room, coffee house and bar, which has organized a popular chess club weekly since it opened several years back. His aim is to “take chess from its elite status and make it feel like pool in a casual pub”.

“It's a really easy tool to meet people. It somewhat takes the weight of the need of small talk away from socializing with people. You can do the awkward part of making an introduction and talking to someone across a game instead of with no kind of context around it.”

Growing the Network: Social Gatherings Beyond the Capital

Elsewhere in the UK, Chesscafé is a recurring chess night held at a city cafe, just outside the downtown area. “We found that people are seeking spaces where you can go out, interact and enjoy a good time outside of going to a bar or nightclub,” stated its founder and organiser, a young leader, 21.

Alongside his associate a partner, 21, Singh bought chessboards, created flyers and started the chess club in the start of the year, during his final year of university. Within months, Singh reported their event has expanded to attract over 100 young players to its events.

“A chess club has a specific reputation associated with it, about it being reserved. Our approach is to go the opposite direction; it's a convivial get-together with chess involved,” he said.

Learning and Playing: An Alternative Cohort of Players

For many, chess clubs are an introduction to the game. One participant, in her late twenties, is picking up how to participate in chess with fellow visitors of chess night at Reference Point. Her interest in the game was piqued after an pleasurable evening dancing and playing chess at a previous Knight Club's events.

“It is a unique concept, but it works,” she commented. “It promotes in-person interactions instead of screen-based pastimes. It's a no-cost third space to meet new people. It's inviting, you don't need to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

She humorously compared the trendiness of chess with young people to the superficial image of the “performative male”, an attempt to feign braininess while projecting the veneer of “hipness”. If the chess trend has fostered a authentic interest in the game isn't something she is quite convinced by. “It's a positive phenomenon, but it’s very much a trend,” she said. “When you're playing with opponents who are really serious about it, it rapidly turns less fun.”

Serious Play and Community

It may all be a bit of fun and games for individuals aiming to use a game set as a social vehicle, but serious players certainly have their place, albeit off the main party area.

Another organizer, 22, who helps organise the club,explains that more skilled players have established a league table. “Participants who are in the league will face each other, we will go to quarter-finals, advanced stages, and then we'll finally have a league winner.”

Ryames Chan, 23, is a serious player and chess teacher. He joined in the league for about a year and participates at the club nearly every week. “This is a nice option to playing intense chess; it provides a sense of community,” he said.

“It's fascinating to observe how it evolves into increasingly a social activity, because in the past the only people who engaged in chess were people who didn't go outside; they just stayed home. It's typically just two people playing on a game board …

“The thing appeals to me about here is that you're not really playing against the computer, you are engaging with live opponents.”