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One of the liveliest locations on a Tuesday evening in east London's famous street couldn't be a restaurant or a urban fashion label pop-up, it is a chess gathering – or rather a chess club-nightclub hybrid, precisely speaking.

This unique venue represents the unlikely blend between chess and the city's dynamic nightlife culture. It was started by a young entrepreneur, 27, who began his initial chess club in the summer of 2023 at a smaller bar in Aldgate, not too far from the current location at a popular cafe on the iconic lane.

“I wanted to make chess clubs for individuals who share my background and those my generation,” he explained. “Usually, chess is only placed in spaces that are dominated by older people, which isn't diverse enough.”

Initially, there were just eight boards shared by sixteen people. Today, a “good night” at the weekly club event will attract approximately two hundred eighty people.

Upon arrival, the venue feels closer to a DJ event than a chess club. Mixed drinks are being served and tunes is in the air, but the game boards on every table are not just decorative or there as a gimmick: they are all occupied and encircled by a line of spectators eagerly anticipating for their chance to play.

Jimmy Ifenayi, 24, has frequented the club regularly for the past several months. “I had little understanding of chess prior to my first visit, 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 learn and continue enjoying chess,” she said.

“The event is about 50% social and 50% participants genuinely wanting to play chess … It's a pleasant way to unwind, which avoids going to a club to meet others my age.”

A Game Reborn: Chess in the Contemporary Age

In recent years, chess has been cemented in the cultural spirit of the times. Its appeal of digital chess proliferated throughout the pandemic, establishing it as one of the most rapidly expanding internet games globally. Across media, the Netflix series a hit show, as well as Sally Rooney’s latest novel a literary work, have created a distinct imagery associated with the sport, which has attracted a new wave of players.

However much of this recent appeal of the chess club is not always about the technicalities of the play; instead, it is the simplicity of connecting with others that it facilitates, by taking a seat and playing with a person who may be a total unknown individual.

“It's a brilliant Trojan horse,” remarked one organizer, founder of Reference Point in the city, a bookstore, library, coffee house and bar, which has hosted a well-attended chess club weekly since it began four years ago. His objective is to “remove chess off a pedestal and make it feel like pool in a dive bar”.

“It is a very easy vehicle to get to know people. It kind of takes the pressure of the need of small talk away from socializing with people. You can do the uncomfortable bit of introducing yourself and chatting to someone across a game instead of with no kind of shared activity around it.”

Expanding the Network: Chess Nights Outside London

Elsewhere in the UK, Chesscafé is a regular chess event held at a city cafe, just outside the downtown area. “Our observation was that people are seeking places where one can socialize, socialise and enjoy a fun evening beyond visiting a bar or nightclub,” stated its creator and organiser, Karan Singh, 21.

Together with his associate Abdirahim Haji, 21, he bought game sets, printed flyers and began the chess club in January, while in his final year of university. Within months, he said their event has grown to attract more than one hundred young players to its gatherings.

“Such a venue has a specific connotation to it, about it seeming reserved. We really try to go the contrary direction; it's a social party with chess involved,” he emphasized.

Learning and Engaging: An Alternative Generation of Players

For many, chess clubs are an entry point to the activity. One participant, 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 sparked after an enjoyable night moving to music and playing chess at a previous Knight Club's events.

“It is a unique concept, but it works,” she said. “It promotes in-person exchanges rather than screen-based pastimes. It's a free third space to meet new people. It's welcoming, one doesn't have to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

Kezia humorously likened the trendiness of chess with the youth to the facade of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an attempt to feign braininess while signaling the appearance of “hipness”. If the chess craze has fostered a authentic interest in the game is not a notion she is quite sure about. “It is a wholesome phenomenon, but it’s very much a fad,” she said. “Once you're playing with people who are truly serious about it, it rapidly becomes less enjoyable.”

Serious Play and Togetherness

It may all be a some fun and games for those looking to employ a chessboard as a social vehicle, but competitive players do have their place, even if away from the main party area.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, 22, who helps running Knight Club,explains that increasingly skilled players have formed a league table. “People who are in the league will play one another, we'll progress to quarter-finals, advanced stages, and then we will finally have a champion.”

Ryames Chan, in his twenties, is a competitive competitor and chess teacher. He joined the competition for about a year and plays at the club almost every week. “This is a welcome option to engaging in serious chess; it gives a sense of community,” he said.

“It is interesting to see how it evolves into increasingly a communal pastime, because in the past the sole individuals who engaged in chess were people who didn't go outside; they simply remained home. It's typically only two people playing on a chessboard …

“The thing appeals to me about this place is that one isn't really facing the computer, you are engaging with live opponents.”