Chess club turns cultural hub as young Londoners leap at the chance to meet offline
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.
Playing chess helps people start conversations and bond together, says Lucia Ene-Lesikar, 22, one of the organisers of the Knight Club. Photo: Reuters
Manu Marmolejo, from north London, cooks some Mexican tacos during a session at the Knight Club, a diverse chess club based in London that has grown to almost 1,000 members in a year. Photo: Reuters
'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.'
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