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One of the most energetic venues on a Tuesday evening in the East End's famous street couldn't be a dining spot or a urban fashion label pop-up, it's a chess gathering – or rather a chess and nightlife combination, to be exact.

This unique venue embodies the unlikely crossover between the classic game and the city's dynamic evening entertainment scene. It was started by Yusuf Ntahilaja, in his late twenties, who launched his first chess club in August 2023 at a smaller bar in Aldgate, a short distance from the present location at a popular cafe on the iconic lane.

“My goal was to create chess clubs for people who look like me and those my age,” he explained. “Typically, chess is only put in environments that are dominated by older people, which is not diverse sufficiently.”

Initially, there were only 8 boards between 16 people. Now, a “good night” at the regular club event will attract about two hundred eighty attendees.

Upon arrival, the venue seems closer to a music night than a traditional chess meeting. Cocktails are flowing and tunes is playing, but the game boards on each table aren't just decorative or there as a novelty: they are all in use and encircled by a queue of onlookers eagerly anticipating for their chance to play.

Jimmy Ifenayi, in her mid-twenties, has frequented the club regularly for the last four months. “I had no knowledge of chess prior to I came here, and the initial occasion I ever played, I played a game with a grandmaster. It was a swift victory, but it left me intrigued to learn and keep playing chess,” she noted.

“The event is about half social and 50% people actually wanting to play chess … It's a pleasant way to decompress, which doesn't involve going to a typical nightspot to see other people my age.”

An Activity Revitalized: Chess in the Modern Era

In recent years, chess has been cemented in the societal spirit of the times. The popularity of online chess proliferated throughout the pandemic, establishing it as one of the most rapidly expanding online games globally. Across media, the Netflix series a hit show, as well as the author's recent novel Intermezzo, have crafted a certain iconography associated with the game, which has attracted a fresh wave of enthusiasts.

However a great deal of this newfound attraction 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 someone who may be a complete unknown individual.

“It is a great Trojan horse,” said Jonah Freud, founder of Reference Point in London, a bookstore, library, coffee house and bar, which has organized a well-attended chess club every Wednesday since it began several years back. His aim is to “remove chess from its elite status and make it feel similar to pool in a dive bar”.

“It is a very easy tool to meet people. It kind of takes the pressure of the need of small talk from socializing with people. One can handle the uncomfortable bit of making an introduction and talking to someone over a game instead of with no shared activity around it.”

Expanding the Network: Social Gatherings Beyond London

Elsewhere in the UK, Chesscafé is a recurring chess event held at York’s Cafe, near the city centre. “We found that people are seeking places where you can go out, interact and have a fun evening beyond going to a bar or club,” said its creator and coordinator, Karan Singh, 21.

Alongside his associate Abdirahim Haji, also young, Singh bought chessboards, created flyers and began the chess club in January, while in his last year of university. In less than a year, he reported their event has grown to draw over one hundred young players to its gatherings.

“A chess club has a particular connotation associated with it, about it seeming quiet. Our approach is to move in the opposite direction; it is a social party with chess as part of it,” he emphasized.

Discovering and Engaging: An Alternative Generation of Chess Enthusiasts

Among numerous attendees, chess clubs are an entry point to the game. Zoë Kezia, in her late twenties, is learning how to participate in chess with other visitors of chess night at the venue. She became curious in the pastime was piqued after an enjoyable night dancing and engaging in chess at a previous Knight Club's occasions.

“It's a strange concept, but it functions well,” she said. “It promotes in-person interactions rather than digital activities. It's a no-cost neutral ground to meet strangers. It's welcoming, you don't need to necessarily be good at chess.”

She humorously likened the popularity of chess among young people to the superficial image of the “performative male”, an effort to simulate intellectualism while signaling the veneer of “coolness”. If the chess trend has cultivated a authentic interest in the sport isn't a notion she's entirely convinced by. “It is a wholesome phenomenon, but it’s largely a fad,” she observed. “When you're playing with people who are really dedicated about it, it rapidly turns less fun.”

Serious Play and Community

It may all be a bit of fun and games for individuals looking to use a chessboard as a networking tool, but serious participants certainly have their place, albeit off the dancefloor.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, in her early twenties, who assists in organise the club,explains that increasingly skilled attenders have established a league table. “Participants who are part of the competition will play one another, we'll progress to quarter-finals, advanced stages, and then we'll finally have a champion.”

Ryames Chan, in his twenties, is a competitive player and chess teacher. He has been in the league for about a year and participates at the club nearly every week. “This is a welcome alternative to playing intense chess; it gives a sense of community,” he expressed.

“It's interesting to see how it evolves into increasingly a social activity, because previously the only people who played chess were those who didn't go outside; they simply stayed home. It is usually just a pair competing on a chessboard …

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