Cocktails and Chess Victories: The Young British People Giving Chess a Fresh Lease of Vitality

One of the most energetic locations on a Tuesday night in the East End's Brick Lane isn't a restaurant or a urban fashion label pop-up, it's a chess club – or rather a chess club-nightclub fusion, precisely speaking.

This unique venue embodies the unlikely blend between the classic game and the city's dynamic nightlife culture. It was founded by Yusuf Ntahilaja, 27, who began his initial chess club in August 2023 at a smaller bar in a nearby area, not too far from the current location at a popular cafe on Brick Lane.

“My goal was to create chess clubs for individuals who look like me and people my generation,” he said. “Usually, chess is only put in spaces that are full of senior individuals, which is not inclusive sufficiently.”

Initially, there were just 8 boards between sixteen people. Now, a “good night” at the weekly Knight Club will draw approximately 280 people.

At first glance, the venue seems closer to a music night than a chess club. Mixed drinks are being served and tunes is playing, but the chessboards on every table aren't just ornamental or there as a novelty: they are all in use and encircled by a queue of onlookers eagerly anticipating for their chance to play.

Jimmy Ifenayi, 24, has frequented Knight Club regularly for the last several months. “I possessed no knowledge of chess prior to I came here, and the first time I tried it, I played a game against a expert player. That was a quick victory, but it made me fascinated to study and continue enjoying chess,” she said.

“The event is about 50% social and half people actually wanting to engage in chess … It's a nice way to unwind, which avoids going to a typical nightspot to meet other people my age.”

A Game Revitalized: Chess in the Contemporary Age

In recent years, chess has been cemented in the cultural zeitgeist. Its appeal of online chess expanded rapidly during the pandemic, establishing it as one of the most rapidly expanding internet games globally. In popular culture, the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, along with Sally Rooney’s recent novel Intermezzo, have created a distinct imagery associated with the game, which has attracted a fresh wave of players.

However a great deal of this recent appeal of the chess night isn't necessarily about the intricacies of the play; rather, it is the simplicity of social interaction that it facilitates, by pulling up a seat and playing with a person who may be a total stranger.

“It's a brilliant clever disguise,” said one organizer, founder of a local venue in the city, a bookshop, library, cafe and bar, which has organized a well-attended chess club weekly since it opened four years ago. Freud’s objective is to “take chess from its elite status and make it feel similar to pool in a dive bar”.

“It's a really easy tool to meet people. It somewhat removes the weight of the necessity of small talk away from socializing with people. One can handle the uncomfortable bit of making an introduction and talking to someone over a game instead of with no kind of shared activity around it.”

Growing the Community: Chess Nights Outside the Capital

In Birmingham, a similar initiative is a regular chess event held at York’s Cafe, just outside the city centre. “We found that people are looking for places where you can socialize, socialise and have a fun evening beyond going to a bar or club,” said its founder and coordinator, a young leader, 21.

Together with his friend Abdirahim Haji, also young, he purchased chessboards, printed flyers and began the chess club in January, during his final year of college. In less than a year, he said Chesscafé has grown to draw more than 100 youthful players to its events.

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

Learning and Engaging: A New Generation of Chess Enthusiasts

For many, chess clubs are an introduction to the activity. Zoë Kezia, 27, is learning how to participate in chess with other attenders of chess night at Reference Point. Her interest in the pastime was sparked after an enjoyable evening moving to music and engaging in chess at a previous Knight Club's occasions.

“It's a unique idea, but it functions well,” she said. “It promotes face-to-face exchanges instead of screen-based activities. It's a free neutral ground to meet strangers. It is welcoming, one doesn't have to necessarily be good at chess.”

She humorously likened the trendiness of chess with young people to the superficial image of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an attempt to feign intellectualism while projecting the veneer of “coolness”. If the chess trend has fostered a genuine passion in the game isn't a notion she's entirely sure about. “It's a wholesome trend, but it’s largely a trend,” she observed. “When you compete with opponents who are truly serious about it, it quickly becomes less enjoyable.”

Competitive Gaming and Community

It might all be a bit of fun and games for individuals aiming to employ a chessboard as a social vehicle, but serious players certainly have their role, even if off the dancefloor.

Another organizer, 22, who assists in running the club,says that increasingly competitive players have formed a competitive ranking. “People who are part of the competition will play one another, we will go to early rounds, advanced stages, and then we'll eventually have a champion.”

A dedicated player, 23, is a competitive competitor and chess teacher. He joined the competition for about a year and participates at the club almost weekly. “This is a welcome option to engaging in intense chess; it provides a sense of community,” he said.

“It's fascinating to observe how it becomes more of a communal pastime, because previously the only people who engaged in chess were people who didn't socialize; they simply remained home. It's usually only two people playing on a chessboard …

“What I like about here is that one isn't actually playing against the computer, you're engaging with real people.”