🔗 Share this article

Among the liveliest venues on a weekday night in east London's famous street isn't a restaurant or a streetwear label pop-up, it's a chess club – or rather a chess club-nightclub fusion, precisely speaking.

Knight Club represents the unlikely blend between the classic game and London's fervent nightlife culture. It was founded by Yusuf Ntahilaja, in his late twenties, who began his initial chess club in August 2023 at a more intimate bar in a nearby area, a short distance from the current location at Café 1001 on the iconic lane.

“I wanted to make chess clubs for people who look like me and those my generation,” he said. “Typically, chess is only put in environments that are dominated by senior individuals, which is not inclusive sufficiently.”

On the first night, there were just eight boards shared by 16 people. Today, a “good night” at the weekly Knight Club will draw about two hundred eighty attendees.

Upon arrival, Knight Club seems more like a DJ event than a chess club. Mixed drinks are being served and music is in the air, but the chessboards on each table are not just decorative or there as a gimmick: they are all occupied and encircled by a queue of onlookers waiting for their turn.

Jimmy Ifenayi, 24, has been attending the club often for the past four months. “I possessed little understanding of chess prior to I came here, and the initial occasion I ever played, I competed in a game against a expert player. It was a quick win, but it made me fascinated to learn and keep playing chess,” she noted.

“The event is about 50% networking and half people actually wanting to engage in chess … It is a pleasant way to relax, which doesn't involve going to a club to see other people my generation.”

A Game Reborn: Chess in the Contemporary Age

Lately, chess has been cemented in the cultural spirit of the times. Its appeal of digital chess proliferated during the global health crisis, making it one of the most rapidly expanding internet pastimes globally. In popular culture, the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, along with the author's recent novel Intermezzo, have crafted a distinct iconography surrounding the game, which has attracted a fresh wave of players.

However much of this recent attraction of the chess night isn't always about the intricacies of the game; instead, it is the ease of social interaction that it enables, by pulling up a chair and playing with someone who may be a total unknown individual.

“It is a brilliant clever disguise,” said Jonah Freud, founder of a local venue in London, a bookstore, library, coffee house and bar, which has hosted a popular chess club weekly since it opened four years ago. His aim is to “take chess from its elite status and make it feel similar to pool in a casual pub”.

“It's a really simple vehicle to meet people. It kind of removes the pressure of the need of conversation from socializing with people. One can handle the uncomfortable part of making an introduction and talking to someone across a board rather than with no kind of shared activity around it.”

Growing the Network: Chess Nights Beyond the Capital

In Birmingham, Chesscafé is a recurring chess event taking place at a city cafe, just outside the city centre. “Our observation was that people are looking for spaces where you can socialize, socialise and have a good time outside of going to a bar or club,” stated its creator and organiser, a young leader, in his early twenties.

Alongside his friend Abdirahim Haji, 21, Singh purchased chessboards, printed flyers and started the chess club in January, during his final year of university. Within months, he said their event has grown to draw more than one hundred youthful participants to its gatherings.

“A chess club has a specific connotation associated with it, about it being quiet. We really try to move in the contrary way; it's a social get-together with chess as part of it,” he emphasized.

Learning and Engaging: A New Cohort of Players

For many, chess clubs are an introduction to the activity. One participant, in her late twenties, is learning how to play chess with other attenders of chess night at the venue. Her interest in the game was sparked after an pleasurable night dancing and playing chess at a previous the club's occasions.

“It is a strange idea, but it functions well,” she commented. “It encourages in-person interactions instead of digital activities. It is a no-cost neutral ground to meet strangers. It's inviting, you don't have to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

She jokingly compared the popularity of chess among the youth to the superficial image of the “performative male”, an attempt to simulate braininess while projecting the appearance of “coolness”. If the chess trend has cultivated a genuine passion in the sport isn't a notion she's quite sure about. “It's a positive trend, but it’s largely a trend,” she observed. “When you compete against people who are truly dedicated about it, it rapidly turns less enjoyable.”

Serious Play and Togetherness

It might seem like a some lighthearted activity for those looking to employ a game set as a networking tool, but competitive participants certainly have their role, albeit off the dancefloor.

Another organizer, in her early twenties, who helps running the club,explains that increasingly skilled attenders have formed a league table. “Participants who are part of the competition will play each other, we will go to early rounds, semi-finals, and then we will eventually have a champion.”

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

“It's fascinating to observe how it evolves into more of a communal pastime, because in the past the sole people who played chess were people who rarely socialize; they just stayed home. It's usually only a pair competing on a chessboard …

“The thing I like about this place is that you're not actually facing the computer, you are engaging with real people.”