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Among the most vibrant spots on a weekday evening in the East End's famous street couldn't be a dining spot or a streetwear label temporary shop, it's a chess gathering – or a chess club-nightclub fusion, to be exact.

Knight Club embodies the surprising crossover between chess and London's fervent nightlife culture. It was founded by a young entrepreneur, 27, who began his first chess club in the summer of 2023 at a more intimate bar in Aldgate, a short distance from the current location at Café 1001 on the iconic lane.

“I wanted to create chess clubs for individuals who look like me and those my generation,” he explained. “Usually, chess is only put in environments that are full of senior individuals, which isn't diverse enough.”

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

At first glance, the venue feels more like a music night than a traditional chess meeting. Mixed drinks are being served and music is in the air, but the game boards on every table are not just decorative or there as a novelty: they are all occupied and encircled by a line of onlookers waiting for their chance to play.

Jimmy Ifenayi, in her mid-twenties, has been attending Knight Club regularly for the last several months. “I possessed no knowledge of chess before I came here, and the initial occasion I ever played, I played a game with a expert player. That was a swift victory, but it left me intrigued to learn and continue enjoying chess,” she said.

“This gathering is about 50% networking and 50% participants actually wishing to engage in chess … It's a pleasant way to relax, which doesn't involve going to a typical nightspot to meet other people my age.”

An Activity Revitalized: Chess in the Contemporary Age

In recent years, chess has been cemented in the cultural zeitgeist. The popularity of online chess proliferated during the global health crisis, establishing it as one of the fastest-growing internet pastimes in the world. Across media, the Netflix series a hit show, along with the author's recent novel Intermezzo, have crafted a distinct iconography surrounding the sport, which has attracted a fresh generation of enthusiasts.

However a great deal of this recent attraction of the chess night isn't always about the intricacies of the play; rather, it is the simplicity of connecting with others that it enables, by taking a chair and engaging with a person who could be a total unknown individual.

“It is a great Trojan horse,” said Jonah Freud, co-founder of a local venue in London, a bookstore, library, cafe and bar, which has organized a well-attended chess club every Wednesday since it began four years ago. His objective is to “take chess from its elite status and transform it into similar to billiards in a dive bar”.

“It is a really easy tool to get to know people. It kind of takes the pressure of the necessity of small talk away from socializing with people. You can handle the awkward part of making an introduction and chatting to someone over a game rather than with no shared activity involved.”

Growing the Network: Chess Nights Beyond London

In Birmingham, Chesscafé is a regular chess night held at York’s Cafe, near the downtown area. “We found that individuals are seeking spaces where you can socialize, socialise and enjoy a good time beyond visiting a bar or club,” stated its creator and organiser, Karan Singh, in his early twenties.

Alongside his friend Abdirahim Haji, 21, he bought chessboards, created flyers and started the chess club in January, during his last year of university. In less than a year, Singh said Chesscafé has expanded to attract more than 100 young participants to its gatherings.

“A chess club has a particular connotation to it, about it seeming reserved. Our approach is to go the opposite direction; it's a social party with chess involved,” he said.

Discovering and Engaging: An Alternative Cohort of Players

Among numerous attendees, chess clubs are an entry point to the activity. One participant, 27, is picking up how to participate in chess with other attenders of the weekly event at Reference Point. Her interest in the pastime was piqued after an enjoyable night dancing and playing chess at one of the club's occasions.

“It's a strange idea, but it works,” she commented. “It promotes in-person exchanges rather than digital pastimes. It's a free third space to meet strangers. It is welcoming, you don't need to necessarily be good at chess.”

She jokingly compared the popularity of chess with young people to the superficial image of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an effort to simulate intellectualism while signaling the veneer of “coolness”. If the chess craze has cultivated a authentic interest in the sport is not something she is entirely sure about. “It is a wholesome phenomenon, but it’s largely a trend,” she observed. “Once you compete with opponents who are truly serious about it, it quickly turns less fun.”

Competitive Play and Community

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

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, 22, who assists in running Knight Club,says that increasingly competitive players have formed a league table. “People who are in the league will play one another, we will go to quarter-finals, semi-finals, and then we'll eventually have a league winner.”

Ryames Chan, in his twenties, is a competitive player and chess instructor. He joined in the league for about a twelve months and plays at the club nearly weekly. “This offers a nice option to playing serious chess; it provides a feeling of community,” he expressed.

“It's interesting to see how it becomes more of a social activity, because previously the sole people who played chess were people who rarely go outside; they simply stayed home. It is typically just a pair playing on a game board …

“The thing I like about this place is that one isn't actually facing the digital opponent, you're facing real people.”