The nighttime chess clubs revolutionising the game.
On a rainy Tuesday night, Yusuf Ntahilaja surveys the bottom floor of BeauBeaus cafe on Gravel Lane in Spitalfields. The place is busy. Drill music plays over groups of girls and guys huddled around tables: a sea of cargo pants, puffer jackets and multicoloured beanies. But laid down on the tabletops is a more monochrome spread arranged in rank and file. Tonight is chess club.
“It was important for me to create a place for young people,” Ntahilaja says. “People who want to be a nuisance don’t come to play chess.”
BeauBeaus chess club is not the only club in town. Since the pandemic, nighttime chess clubs have been popping up all around London as young people search for community and connection not based solely around alcohol. More often than not, music provides the hook for drawing new players.
Every other week, The Standard Hotel – increasingly becoming London’s de facto launch party venue – hosts Chessidency. At Chessidency, the founders Donna and Haseeb are more likely found in the booth spinning vinyl than staring at a board. Clue is in the name: Chessidency needs its resident DJs focused on the vibe.
Reference Point, a library, bookshop and bar, also hosts a chess night on Wednesdays where the music plays until the licence runs out at 11pm. That’s where Ntahilaja first started playing in London.
“People who want to be a nuisance don’t come to play chess”
Originally from Tanzania, the 26-year-old moved to the UK three years ago but has been building up communities ever since he lived in Johannesburg, South Africa. He wanted to start a chess club that could reframe the 1,500-year-old game in a way that felt more culturally relevant to young people.
His flat is around the corner from BeauBeaus, a community cafe owned by the 23-year-old British-Nigerian artist Slawn. Eighteen months ago, Ntahilaja walked in and asked if he could start a chess club there. He got their blessing. The “third space”, as Ntahilaja describes BeauBeaus, is named after Slawn’s son. Recently, Beau’s grandad even DJed at the chess club.
Now, to foster new encounters, Ntahilaja has set up a league. There are rappers who come consistently. Once they have checked out, Ntahilaja often finds them outside doing “cyphers” – freestyle rapping over a phone speaker.
“It’s good to see people connecting across generations,” says Ntahilaja.
GAME ON
