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Among the liveliest venues on a Tuesday night in the East End's famous street isn't a restaurant or a streetwear brand temporary shop, it's a chess club – or a chess and nightlife fusion, to be exact.

This unique venue represents the surprising crossover between the classic game and London's dynamic nightlife culture. It was founded by a young entrepreneur, 27, who began his initial chess club in the summer of 2023 at a smaller bar in Aldgate, a short distance from the current location at a popular cafe on the iconic lane.

“I wanted to create chess clubs for individuals who look like me and those my generation,” he said. “Usually, chess is only put in environments that are dominated by older people, which isn't diverse sufficiently.”

On the first night, there were just eight boards between sixteen people. Today, a “good night” at the weekly Knight Club will attract approximately two hundred eighty people.

Upon arrival, Knight Club feels more like a music night than a chess club. Cocktails are flowing and music is playing, but the chessboards on each table aren't just ornamental or there as a novelty: they are all occupied and surrounded by a line of spectators eagerly anticipating for their turn.

One regular, in her mid-twenties, has been attending the club regularly for the past several months. “I possessed little understanding of chess prior to my first visit, and the first time I ever played, I competed in a game against a grandmaster. That was a quick win, but it left me intrigued to study and keep playing chess,” she noted.

“The event is about 50% social and half people actually wishing to engage in chess … It is a nice way to decompress, which doesn't involve going to a typical nightspot to see others my generation.”

An Activity Revitalized: Chess in the Contemporary Age

In recent years, chess has been cemented in the societal zeitgeist. Its appeal of digital chess proliferated during the global health crisis, establishing it as one of the most rapidly expanding online pastimes in the world. In popular culture, the streaming series a hit show, along with Sally Rooney’s latest novel a literary work, have created a distinct iconography surrounding the sport, which has attracted a fresh generation of players.

However a great deal of this recent attraction of the chess club isn't necessarily about the technicalities of the play; rather, it is the simplicity of social interaction that it facilitates, by taking a seat and playing with a person who could be a total unknown individual.

“It's a great Trojan horse,” remarked Jonah Freud, founder of a local venue in the city, a bookshop, reading room, coffee house and bar, which has organized a popular 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 dive bar”.

“It is a really easy tool to meet people. It somewhat takes the weight of the need of small talk from interacting with people. You can handle the awkward part of introducing yourself and chatting to a new acquaintance over a board instead of with no context involved.”

Expanding the Network: Chess Nights Beyond London

Elsewhere in the UK, a similar initiative is a recurring chess event held at York’s Cafe, near the downtown area. “We found that people are looking for spaces where you can go out, interact and have a good time outside of visiting a pub or nightclub,” stated its founder and coordinator, a young leader, in his early twenties.

Together with his friend a partner, also young, he purchased game sets, printed flyers and began the chess club in January, during his final year of university. In less than a year, Singh said their event has grown to attract over 100 youthful players to its gatherings.

“A chess club has a specific reputation to it, about it being quiet. Our approach is to go the contrary direction; it is a social party with chess as part of it,” he emphasized.

Discovering and Playing: An Alternative Cohort of Players

For many, chess clubs are an entry point to the game. Zoë Kezia, in her late twenties, is picking up how to play chess with fellow attenders of chess night at the venue. Her interest in the game was piqued after an pleasurable night moving to music and playing chess at one of the club's events.

“It is a strange idea, but it works,” she said. “It encourages face-to-face interactions instead of screen-based pastimes. It's a no-cost third space to meet strangers. It is welcoming, one doesn't need to necessarily be good at chess.”

She humorously compared the popularity of chess among young people to the superficial image of the “performative male”, an attempt to feign intellectualism while projecting the veneer of “coolness”. Whether the chess craze has fostered a authentic interest in the sport is not a notion she is entirely convinced by. “It's a positive phenomenon, but it’s largely a trend,” she observed. “Once you're playing against people who are truly dedicated about it, it quickly becomes less fun.”

Serious Play and Togetherness

It might seem like a bit of lighthearted activity for those aiming to use a game set as a networking tool, but competitive participants certainly have their place, even if away from the dancefloor.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, 22, who assists in organise the club,explains that increasingly skilled players have established a league table. “People who are part of the competition will face each other, we will progress to early rounds, semi-finals, and then we will finally have a champion.”

A dedicated player, 23, is a serious player and chess instructor. He has been the competition for about a twelve months and participates at the club almost every week. “This offers a welcome alternative to engaging in intense chess; it provides a sense of community,” he said.

“It's interesting to observe how it evolves into more of a communal activity, because in the past the sole individuals who engaged in chess were people who didn't socialize; they simply stayed home. It is usually just two people competing on a chessboard …

“The thing I like about this place is that you're not actually facing the computer, you're engaging with real people.”