🔗 Share this article

One of the most vibrant venues on a weekday night in east London's Brick Lane isn't a restaurant or a streetwear brand temporary shop, it's a chess club – or a chess and nightlife hybrid, precisely speaking.

This unique venue embodies the unlikely crossover between chess and London's dynamic evening entertainment scene. It was founded by a young entrepreneur, 27, who began his initial chess club in the summer of 2023 at a more intimate bar in a nearby area, not too far from the current location at a popular cafe on the iconic lane.

“My goal was to make chess clubs for people who look like me and those my generation,” he explained. “Typically, chess is only put in environments that are dominated by older people, which is not inclusive sufficiently.”

Initially, there were just eight boards shared by sixteen people. Today, a “good night” at the regular club event will draw about two hundred eighty attendees.

At first glance, the venue feels more like a music night than a chess club. Cocktails are being served and music is in the air, but the chessboards on each table aren't just ornamental or there as a novelty: they are all occupied and surrounded by a queue of spectators waiting for their turn.

Jimmy Ifenayi, in her mid-twenties, has been attending the club often for the past several months. “I had no knowledge of chess prior to I came here, and the initial occasion I tried it, I competed in a game with a expert player. It was a swift victory, but it left me fascinated to learn and keep playing chess,” she noted.

“This gathering is about half networking and 50% people genuinely wishing to engage in chess … It's a pleasant way to unwind, which avoids visiting a typical nightspot to meet others my generation.”

A Game Revitalized: The Ancient Game in the Modern Era

In recent years, chess has been cemented in the societal spirit of the times. The popularity of online chess proliferated during the pandemic, establishing it as one of the most rapidly expanding online games in the world. Across media, the streaming series The Queen’s Gambit, as well as Sally Rooney’s recent novel a literary work, have created a distinct iconography surrounding the game, which has drawn in a new generation of enthusiasts.

But much of this recent appeal of the chess night isn't necessarily about the technicalities of the play; rather, it is the ease of connecting with others that it facilitates, by taking a chair and engaging with someone who could be a complete stranger.

“It's a brilliant clever disguise,” remarked one organizer, co-founder of a local venue in London, a bookstore, reading room, coffee house and bar, which has organized a well-attended chess club weekly since it opened four years ago. Freud’s aim is to “take chess from its elite status and make it feel like pool in a casual pub”.

“It's a really easy vehicle to meet people. It somewhat takes the pressure of the need of small talk away from socializing with people. You can handle the uncomfortable bit of making an introduction and talking to someone over a board instead of with no shared activity around it.”

Expanding the Community: Social Gatherings Beyond London

Elsewhere in the UK, a similar initiative is a recurring chess night held at York’s Cafe, near the city centre. “We found that individuals are looking for places where one can go out, interact and enjoy a fun evening outside of visiting a bar or club,” stated its creator and organiser, a young leader, in his early twenties.

Together with his friend a partner, 21, Singh purchased game sets, created flyers and started the chess club in January, while in his final year of college. In less than a year, he reported Chesscafé has expanded to draw more than 100 youthful participants to its gatherings.

“Such a venue has a specific reputation to it, about it being reserved. We really try to go the contrary direction; it's a social party with chess as part of it,” he emphasized.

Discovering and Engaging: A New 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 participate in chess with fellow visitors of chess night at the venue. Her interest in the game was sparked after an pleasurable evening moving to music and engaging in chess at one of the club's events.

“It is a strange idea, but it works,” she commented. “It promotes face-to-face interactions instead of screen-based activities. It's a no-cost neutral ground to meet strangers. It is inviting, one doesn't have to necessarily be good at chess.”

Kezia jokingly likened the trendiness of chess among the youth to the facade of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an effort to simulate braininess while projecting the veneer of “coolness”. If the chess trend has cultivated a authentic passion in the game is not something she's quite convinced by. “It's a positive trend, but it’s very much a fad,” she observed. “When you're playing with people who are really dedicated about it, it quickly becomes less fun.”

Competitive Play and Community

It may seem like a some lighthearted activity for those looking to use a chessboard as a social vehicle, but competitive participants certainly have their place, albeit away from the dancefloor.

Another organizer, in her early twenties, who assists in organise the club,says that more skilled attenders have established a competitive ranking. “Participants who are in the league will face each other, we'll go to early rounds, advanced stages, and then we'll eventually have a champion.”

Ryames Chan, in his twenties, is a competitive competitor and chess teacher. 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 feeling of belonging,” he expressed.

“It is interesting to see how it becomes more of a communal pastime, because previously the only people who engaged in chess were people who rarely socialize; they simply stayed home. It's usually only two people competing on a chessboard …

“What I like about this place is that you're not actually facing the digital opponent, you're facing real people.”