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One of the most energetic spots on a Tuesday evening in the East End's Brick Lane couldn't be a restaurant or a urban fashion label temporary shop, it's a chess club – or rather a chess club-nightclub fusion, precisely speaking.

This unique venue represents the unlikely fusion between chess and London's fervent nightlife scene. It was started by Yusuf Ntahilaja, 27, who began his initial chess club in the summer of 2023 at a more intimate bar in a nearby area, a short distance from the current location at a popular cafe on the iconic lane.

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

Initially, there were only eight boards between 16 people. Now, a “good night” at the regular club event will attract about 280 people.

Upon arrival, the venue feels closer to a DJ event than a chess club. Cocktails are flowing and music is in the air, but the chessboards on each table are not just ornamental or there as a novelty: they are all in use and surrounded by a line of onlookers eagerly anticipating for their turn.

One regular, 24, has frequented the club often for the last four months. “I had no knowledge of chess before my first visit, and the first time I tried it, I competed in a game against a grandmaster. That was a swift win, but it left me intrigued to study and continue enjoying chess,” she said.

“This gathering is about 50% networking and half people genuinely wanting to play chess … It's a nice way to unwind, which doesn't involve visiting a typical nightspot to meet other people my generation.”

An Activity Revitalized: The Ancient Game in the Contemporary Era

Lately, chess has been cemented in the cultural zeitgeist. Its appeal of digital chess proliferated throughout the pandemic, making it one of the most rapidly expanding internet pastimes in the world. Across media, the Netflix series a hit show, as well as the author's latest novel Intermezzo, have crafted a distinct imagery associated with the sport, which has attracted a new wave of enthusiasts.

However much of this recent attraction of the chess night is not always about the intricacies of the play; rather, it is the ease of social interaction that it enables, by taking a chair and playing with someone who could be a complete stranger.

“It is a brilliant Trojan horse,” said one organizer, co-founder of a local venue in London, a bookshop, library, coffee house and bar, which has hosted a well-attended chess club every Wednesday since it began several years back. His objective is to “remove chess off a pedestal and make it feel similar to billiards in a casual pub”.

“It's a very easy vehicle to meet people. It kind of takes the weight of the need of conversation from socializing with people. One can do the awkward bit of introducing yourself and talking to a new acquaintance across a board rather than with no shared activity involved.”

Growing the Network: Chess Nights Outside London

Elsewhere in the UK, a similar initiative is a regular chess event taking place at a city cafe, near the downtown area. “We found that people are looking for places where you can go out, socialise and enjoy a good time outside of going to a bar or nightclub,” said its creator and organiser, Karan Singh, in his early twenties.

Alongside his friend Abdirahim Haji, also young, Singh purchased chessboards, created flyers and began the chess club in January, during his last year of college. Within months, Singh reported Chesscafé has grown to draw more than 100 young players to its gatherings.

“A chess club has a specific reputation to it, about it seeming quiet. We really try to move in the opposite way; it's a convivial party with chess as part of it,” he said.

Learning and Engaging: An Alternative Generation 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 sparked after an enjoyable night dancing and engaging in chess at one of Knight Club's occasions.

“It's a unique idea, but it works,” she said. “It promotes in-person interactions instead of digital pastimes. It is a free third space to encounter new people. It is inviting, you don't have to necessarily be good at chess.”

Kezia humorously compared the trendiness of chess with young people to the superficial image of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an attempt to feign intellectualism while projecting the appearance of “coolness”. Whether the chess trend has fostered a authentic passion in the game is not something she's entirely convinced by. “It is a positive phenomenon, but it’s very much a trend,” she said. “Once you're playing against people who are truly serious about it, it rapidly turns less fun.”

Competitive Play and Togetherness

It may all be a some lighthearted activity for those looking to employ a chessboard as a networking tool, but serious participants certainly have their role, even if off the main party area.

Another organizer, 22, who assists in running Knight Club,explains that more skilled players have formed a competitive ranking. “People who are in the league will face each other, we will go to early rounds, semi-finals, and then we'll eventually have a champion.”

Ryames Chan, in his twenties, is a serious player and chess instructor. He joined in the league for about a year and participates at the club nearly weekly. “This offers a welcome alternative to playing intense chess; it gives a sense of belonging,” he said.

“It's interesting to observe how it becomes more of a social pastime, because in the past the only people who engaged in chess were those who rarely go outside; they just remained home. It's typically just a pair playing on a chessboard …

“What I like about here is that one isn't really facing the digital opponent, you are engaging with real people.”