Cocktails & Chess Victories: The Youthful British People Providing Chess a New Breath of Vitality

Among the most energetic spots on a Tuesday evening in the East End's Brick Lane isn't a dining spot or a urban fashion label pop-up, it's a chess gathering – or rather a chess club-nightclub fusion, precisely speaking.

Knight Club represents the unlikely fusion between the classic game and the city's fervent nightlife culture. It was started by Yusuf Ntahilaja, in his late twenties, who launched his initial chess club in the summer of 2023 at a more intimate bar in a nearby area, not too far from the present location at a popular cafe on the iconic lane.

“I wanted to create chess clubs for people who share my background and people my age,” he explained. “Usually, chess is only placed in environments that are dominated by senior individuals, which isn't inclusive enough.”

Initially, there were just 8 boards between sixteen people. Now, a “good night” at the regular Knight Club will attract about two hundred eighty attendees.

Upon arrival, Knight Club feels closer to a DJ event than a traditional chess meeting. Mixed drinks are flowing and tunes is playing, but the chessboards on every table aren't just decorative or there as a novelty: they are all in use and encircled by a line of spectators eagerly anticipating for their turn.

Jimmy Ifenayi, 24, has frequented Knight Club regularly for the past four months. “I had little understanding of chess prior to my first visit, and the first time I tried it, I played a game with a expert player. It was a quick victory, but it made me fascinated to learn and keep playing chess,” she said.

“This gathering is about half social and half participants actually wanting to play chess … It's a nice way to relax, which doesn't involve going to a club to see others my age.”

An Activity Reborn: The Ancient Game in the Contemporary Era

Lately, chess has been firmly established in the societal spirit of the times. Its appeal of online chess expanded rapidly throughout the global health crisis, making it one of the most rapidly expanding online games in the world. In popular culture, the streaming series The Queen’s Gambit, as well as the author's latest novel Intermezzo, have created a certain iconography associated with the sport, which has drawn in a new wave of players.

However much of this newfound appeal of the chess club isn't necessarily about the intricacies 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 may be a total stranger.

“It's a brilliant clever disguise,” remarked one organizer, founder of Reference Point in London, a bookstore, library, cafe and lounge, which has hosted a popular chess club every Wednesday since it began several years back. Freud’s objective is to “take chess from its elite status and make it feel like billiards in a dive bar”.

“It is a really simple tool to get to know people. It somewhat removes the pressure of the need of conversation from socializing with people. You can handle the awkward bit of making an introduction and talking to a new acquaintance across a board rather than with no kind of context around it.”

Expanding the Community: Chess Nights Outside London

In Birmingham, Chesscafé is a recurring chess night taking place at York’s Cafe, just outside the downtown area. “Our observation was that people are looking for places where you can socialize, interact and enjoy a fun evening outside of visiting a bar or club,” said its founder and organiser, Karan Singh, 21.

Alongside his friend a partner, 21, Singh bought chessboards, printed flyers and began the chess club in the start of the year, during his last year of college. Within months, he reported Chesscafé has grown to draw over 100 youthful participants to its events.

“Such a venue has a specific reputation to it, about it seeming reserved. We really try to move in the contrary direction; it is a convivial get-together with chess involved,” he emphasized.

Learning and Playing: An Alternative Cohort of Chess Enthusiasts

For many, chess clubs are an entry point to the game. One participant, in her late twenties, is learning how to participate in chess with other attenders of the weekly event at Reference Point. She became curious in the game was sparked after an pleasurable evening moving to music and playing chess at one of the club's events.

“It is a strange concept, but it functions well,” she commented. “It promotes in-person interactions rather than screen-based activities. It's a free third space to meet strangers. It's inviting, you don't need to necessarily be good at chess.”

Kezia humorously likened the trendiness of chess with the youth to the superficial image of the “performative male”, an effort to simulate intellectualism while projecting the veneer of “coolness”. Whether the chess trend has fostered a genuine interest in the game is not something she is entirely sure about. “It is a positive trend, but it’s very much a trend,” she observed. “When you compete with people who are truly dedicated about it, it rapidly becomes less fun.”

Competitive Play and Togetherness

It may seem like a bit of lighthearted activity for individuals aiming to employ a game set as a networking tool, but serious participants certainly have their role, albeit away from the dancefloor.

Another organizer, in her early twenties, who helps running the club,explains that more competitive players have established a league table. “People who are part of the competition will play each other, we'll progress to early rounds, semi-finals, and then we will eventually 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 weekly. “This is a welcome option to engaging in intense chess; it gives a feeling of belonging,” he expressed.

“It is interesting to observe how it becomes more of a communal activity, because in the past the sole people who played chess were those who didn't socialize; they simply remained home. It is usually only two people playing on a game board …

“What I like about here is that you're not really facing the computer, you're engaging with real people.”