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One of the most vibrant locations on a weekday night in east London's Brick Lane isn't a restaurant or a urban fashion label pop-up, it's a chess club – or a chess club-nightclub combination, precisely speaking.

This unique venue represents the surprising blend between chess and the city's fervent evening entertainment scene. It was started by Yusuf Ntahilaja, 27, who began his first 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 individuals who look like me and those my generation,” he said. “Typically, chess is only put in spaces that are dominated by senior individuals, which isn't inclusive sufficiently.”

Initially, there were just eight boards shared by sixteen people. Today, a “successful evening” at the regular club event will attract approximately two hundred eighty people.

At first glance, the venue feels more like a music night than a chess club. Cocktails are being served and music is playing, but the game boards on each table aren't just decorative or there as a gimmick: they are all occupied and surrounded by a queue of spectators eagerly anticipating for their chance to play.

One regular, in her mid-twenties, has frequented the club often for the last four months. “I possessed no knowledge of chess prior to I came here, and the first time I tried it, I competed in a game against a expert player. It was a quick win, but it made me fascinated to learn and keep playing chess,” she said.

“The event is about 50% social and half participants genuinely wanting to engage in chess … It is a nice way to unwind, which avoids going to a typical nightspot to meet others my generation.”

A Game Reborn: Chess in the Contemporary Era

Lately, chess has been firmly established in the societal zeitgeist. The popularity of online chess proliferated throughout the global health crisis, making it one of the fastest-growing online games in the world. In popular culture, the streaming series a hit show, as well as Sally Rooney’s recent novel Intermezzo, have created a distinct iconography associated with the sport, which has attracted a new wave of enthusiasts.

However much of this recent appeal of the chess club isn't always about the technicalities of the game; rather, it is the ease of connecting with others that it facilitates, by pulling up a chair and playing with someone who could be a total stranger.

“It's a brilliant clever disguise,” said Jonah Freud, co-founder of a local venue in the city, a bookshop, library, cafe and bar, which has hosted a well-attended chess club every Wednesday since it opened several years back. His aim is to “remove chess from its elite status and make it feel like pool in a casual pub”.

“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 do the awkward part of introducing yourself and chatting to someone over a board instead of with no kind of shared activity involved.”

Growing the Network: Social Gatherings Outside London

Elsewhere in the UK, Chesscafé is a recurring chess event taking place at a city cafe, near the downtown area. “We found that people are looking for places where one can socialize, interact and enjoy a fun evening outside of visiting a bar or nightclub,” said its founder and organiser, a young leader, 21.

Together with his associate Abdirahim Haji, also young, Singh purchased game sets, printed flyers and started the chess club in the start of the year, while in his final year of college. Within months, Singh reported their event has expanded to attract more than 100 young participants to its gatherings.

“Such a venue has a specific reputation associated with it, about it seeming quiet. Our approach is to move in the opposite direction; it is a convivial party with chess as part of it,” he emphasized.

Discovering and Engaging: A New Cohort of Chess Enthusiasts

Among numerous attendees, chess clubs are an introduction to the game. One participant, in her late twenties, is picking up how to participate in chess with other visitors of chess night at the venue. Her interest in the game was sparked after an enjoyable night moving to music and playing chess at a previous the club's events.

“It is a strange concept, but it functions well,” she said. “It encourages face-to-face exchanges 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 good at chess.”

She jokingly likened the popularity of chess among the youth to the superficial image of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an effort to simulate intellectualism while signaling the appearance of “hipness”. Whether the chess craze has cultivated a authentic passion in the sport is not something she is quite convinced by. “It is a positive trend, but it’s very much a fad,” she said. “When you compete against opponents who are truly dedicated about it, it rapidly becomes less enjoyable.”

Serious Play and Togetherness

It might seem like a some fun and games for individuals looking to employ a game set as a networking tool, but competitive participants certainly have their role, even if off the main party area.

Another organizer, 22, who helps organise the club,says that increasingly competitive attenders have formed a league table. “People who are part of the competition will face each other, we'll go to early rounds, advanced stages, and then we'll eventually have a league winner.”

Ryames Chan, in his twenties, is a competitive player and chess instructor. He has been in the league for about a year and participates at the club nearly every week. “This offers a nice option to playing intense chess; it gives a feeling of belonging,” he said.

“It is interesting to observe how it becomes more of a communal activity, because previously the sole people who engaged in chess were those who rarely go outside; they simply remained home. It is typically only a pair competing on a game board …

“The thing appeals to me about this place is that you're not actually playing against the digital opponent, you are facing real people.”