Chess club turns cultural hub as young Londoners leap at the chance to meet offline
Volunteer-run Knight Club is a space to connect, drawing over 100 players each Tuesday who bond over chess games as DJs play dance music.
Combining dance music, social media buzz and one of the world’s oldest pastimes, London chess group Knight Club draws dozens of players each week, creating a social space its organisers say is much needed by the city’s younger generations.
The club has quickly grown into a cultural hub since launching last year, drawing over 100 players to its weekly Tuesday sessions, where live DJ sets compete with the clatter of chess pieces on boards.
In a world dominated by digital communication, the club – run largely by volunteers under the age of 25 – wants to offer a physical alternative to scrolling on screens.
“Having a game, or having something to bond over, or to start a conversation, enables really deep connections to be made from the get-go,” said 22-year-old organiser Lucia Ene-Lesikar.
“There’s a lot of creative people, but there’s also people who work in finance or work in tech or work in healthcare – so there’s a whole range of people.”