Drinks and Chess Victories: The Young British People Providing Chess a Fresh Breath of Life

One of the liveliest spots on a Tuesday night in east London's Brick Lane couldn't be a dining spot or a urban fashion brand temporary shop, it is a chess club – or a chess and nightlife combination, to be exact.

This unique venue embodies the unlikely fusion between chess and London's fervent evening entertainment culture. It was started by Yusuf Ntahilaja, in his late twenties, who launched his initial chess club in August 2023 at a more intimate bar in Aldgate, a short distance from the current location at Café 1001 on the iconic lane.

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

Initially, there were just eight boards between 16 people. Now, a “successful evening” at the weekly club event will attract approximately 280 attendees.

Upon arrival, the venue feels closer to a DJ event than a chess club. Mixed drinks are flowing and tunes is in the air, but the game boards on each table are not just decorative or there as a novelty: they are all occupied and encircled by a line of onlookers waiting for their chance to play.

One regular, 24, has frequented the club often for the last four months. “I possessed little understanding of chess prior to I came here, and the initial occasion 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 half networking and 50% participants actually wishing to engage in chess … It is a nice way to relax, which avoids visiting a club to see others my generation.”

A Game Reborn: The Ancient Game in the Contemporary Era

Lately, chess has been cemented in the cultural zeitgeist. The popularity of digital chess expanded rapidly during the global health crisis, establishing it as one of the most rapidly expanding internet pastimes globally. Across media, the Netflix series a hit show, along with the author's latest novel Intermezzo, have created a certain iconography surrounding the sport, which has drawn in a fresh wave of players.

However a great deal of this recent attraction of the chess night is not always about the technicalities of the game; instead, it is the ease of connecting with others that it facilitates, by taking a seat and playing with someone who may be a complete stranger.

“It is a brilliant Trojan horse,” remarked one organizer, co-founder of Reference Point in the city, a bookstore, library, coffee house and lounge, which has hosted a popular chess club every Wednesday since it began four years ago. Freud’s aim is to “take chess from its elite status and make it feel like billiards in a casual pub”.

“It's a very simple vehicle to get to know people. It kind of removes the pressure of the necessity of small talk away from socializing with people. You can handle the awkward bit of making an introduction and talking to a new acquaintance across a game instead of with no kind of shared activity involved.”

Expanding the Network: Social Gatherings Beyond the Capital

Elsewhere in the UK, Chesscafé is a recurring chess night taking place at a city cafe, just outside the city centre. “Our observation was that people are seeking spaces where you can socialize, socialise and have a fun evening beyond visiting a bar or nightclub,” said its founder and coordinator, Karan Singh, in his early twenties.

Alongside his friend a partner, also young, Singh purchased chessboards, printed promotional materials and started the chess club in January, while in his last year of college. Within months, he reported Chesscafé has expanded to attract more than one hundred youthful participants to its gatherings.

“A chess club has a particular reputation associated with it, about it seeming quiet. We really try to move in the opposite direction; it's a social get-together with chess as part of it,” he emphasized.

Learning and Playing: An Alternative Cohort of Chess Enthusiasts

For many, chess clubs are an entry point to the activity. Zoë Kezia, 27, is picking up how to play chess with fellow visitors of the weekly event at Reference Point. Her interest in the pastime was piqued after an pleasurable night dancing and playing chess at one of Knight Club's occasions.

“It's a strange concept, but it functions well,” she commented. “It promotes face-to-face exchanges rather than screen-based pastimes. It's a free third space to meet strangers. It is welcoming, you don't need to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

Kezia humorously compared the trendiness of chess among the youth to the facade of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an effort to simulate intellectualism while projecting the veneer of “coolness”. Whether the chess trend has cultivated a genuine passion in the sport isn't a notion she's quite convinced by. “It's a wholesome phenomenon, but it’s largely a fad,” she said. “Once you compete against people who are truly dedicated about it, it quickly becomes less enjoyable.”

Serious Gaming and Togetherness

It may seem like a bit of lighthearted activity for those looking to use a chessboard as a social vehicle, but serious players do have their place, even if away from the main party area.

Another organizer, 22, who assists in running the club,says that increasingly competitive players have established a league table. “Participants who are part of the competition will play one another, we'll go to quarter-finals, advanced stages, and then we will eventually have a champion.”

A dedicated player, 23, is a serious competitor and chess teacher. He has been the competition for about a twelve months and participates at the club nearly every week. “This is a welcome option to playing serious chess; it provides a sense of belonging,” he said.

“It is fascinating to observe how it evolves into increasingly a communal pastime, because in the past the only people who played chess were those who rarely go outside; they simply remained home. It's usually only two people playing on a game board …

“What appeals to me about this place is that one isn't really facing the digital opponent, you're facing real people.”