Drinks and Checkmates: These Young Britons Providing Chess a New Breath of Life

One of the liveliest spots on a weekday evening in east London's famous street couldn't be a restaurant or a urban fashion label temporary shop, it is a chess club – or a chess and nightlife combination, precisely speaking.

Knight Club embodies the unlikely fusion between chess and the city's fervent nightlife culture. It was founded by Yusuf Ntahilaja, 27, who began his initial chess club in the summer of 2023 at a smaller bar in a nearby area, a short distance from the present location at Café 1001 on the iconic lane.

“I wanted to make chess clubs for people who look like me and people my generation,” he explained. “Typically, 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 “successful evening” at the weekly club event will attract about 280 attendees.

At first glance, the venue feels closer to a DJ event than a chess club. Mixed drinks are being served and tunes is playing, but the chessboards on each table aren't just ornamental or there as a novelty: they are all occupied and encircled by a queue of spectators eagerly anticipating for their chance to play.

One regular, in her mid-twenties, has frequented Knight Club regularly for the past four months. “I had little understanding of chess prior to I came here, and the first time I ever played, I competed in a game against a expert player. That was a quick victory, but it made me intrigued to study and keep playing chess,” she said.

“The event is about half social and 50% participants genuinely wishing to engage in chess … It's a nice way to relax, which doesn't involve going to a typical nightspot to meet other people my generation.”

An Activity Revitalized: Chess in the Contemporary Age

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 online games in the world. Across media, the streaming series a hit show, as well as the author's recent novel a literary work, have created a distinct iconography associated with the game, which has attracted a new generation of players.

However a great deal of this newfound attraction of the chess club isn't always about the technicalities of the play; rather, it is the ease of social interaction that it facilitates, by pulling up a chair and engaging with a person who could be a complete stranger.

“It is a great clever disguise,” remarked one organizer, founder of a local venue in London, a bookshop, reading room, coffee house and bar, which has hosted a well-attended chess club weekly since it began four years ago. Freud’s objective is to “take chess from its elite status and transform it into similar to pool in a casual pub”.

“It is a really easy vehicle to meet people. It somewhat removes the weight of the need of conversation away from interacting with people. One can do the awkward part of making an introduction and chatting to someone across a game instead of with no context around it.”

Expanding the Community: Social Gatherings Beyond the Capital

In Birmingham, Chesscafé is a recurring chess event held at a city cafe, just outside the city centre. “We found that individuals are looking for places where one can go out, interact and enjoy a good time beyond going to a pub or club,” said its creator and coordinator, Karan Singh, 21.

Alongside his friend a partner, 21, Singh bought chessboards, created flyers and began the chess club in January, while in his final year of university. In less than a year, Singh reported Chesscafé has grown to draw over 100 young players to its gatherings.

“A chess club has a specific reputation to it, about it being reserved. We really try to go the contrary direction; it is a social party with chess as part of it,” he said.

Discovering and Engaging: A New Cohort of Players

For many, chess clubs are an introduction to the game. One participant, in her late twenties, is learning how to play chess with fellow visitors of the weekly event at Reference Point. She became curious in the pastime was sparked after an enjoyable night moving to music and playing chess at one of Knight Club's occasions.

“It's a unique concept, but it works,” she said. “It encourages in-person interactions instead of digital activities. It is a no-cost third space to encounter new people. It's welcoming, you don't need to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

Kezia jokingly likened the trendiness of chess with the youth to the facade of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an attempt to feign intellectualism while projecting the appearance of “hipness”. Whether the chess trend has cultivated a authentic passion in the game isn't something she is quite sure about. “It is a wholesome phenomenon, but it’s largely a trend,” she said. “Once you're playing against people who are truly serious about it, it rapidly turns less fun.”

Serious Gaming and Togetherness

It might seem like a bit of fun and games for individuals looking to use a game set as a networking tool, but competitive participants do have their role, albeit off the main party area.

Another organizer, in her early twenties, who helps organise Knight Club,says that more skilled players have established a league table. “Participants who are in the league will play one another, we will go to early rounds, advanced stages, and then we'll eventually have a league winner.”

A dedicated player, in his twenties, is a serious player and chess teacher. He joined in the league for about a year and participates at the club almost every week. “This is a nice option to engaging in intense chess; it gives a sense of belonging,” he said.

“It's interesting to see how it becomes more of a communal activity, because in the past the only individuals who played chess were those who rarely socialize; they simply remained home. It's usually only a pair playing on a chessboard …

“What appeals to me about here is that one isn't really facing the computer, you are facing live opponents.”