When Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit , in which Anya Taylor Joy plays a young chess prodigy, became a surprise hit of 2020, it propelled its star into the pop culture mainstream. And chess suddenly became a new hobby for many people stuck at home and itching to pass the time.

Free online platform Chess.com – where users can play strangers, bots and friends – more than doubled its monthly active users from eight to 17 million between October 2020 and April 2022. But post-Covid – as dating apps get deleted , we all try to find alternatives to doomscroolling and teens become Luddites – at Melbourne’s social chess clubs, players have sought out both the thrill of playing the game and the connection it offers in the analog world.

These clubs are “taking on non-traditional spaces [instead of] the backrooms of schools and community centres … and they add music, good food and socialising,” says Maleik Njoroge, who started Migrant Chess Club at the end of 2024. He also sold hand-made chess dhurrie sets (a chess mat crafted from the same techniques and materials as handwoven dhurrie rugs, paying homage to the Indian “origin stories” of the game) under the label All Tribes Are Beautiful.

The name, he says, reflects his own migrant status, as well as the fact that he “transform[s] a place into a chess club”, travelling and sharing the game with others. The club doesn’t have regular events, but Njoroge partners with businesses to create relaxed social nights for friendly matches. The most recent event at Up There , a fashion boutique in the CBD, was a “curated experience” that saw chess, music, fashion and food coalesce. There was beer from Brisbane’s Range Brewing, food from Carlton’s Fenton Farmhouse, a limited-edition T-shirt designed in collaboration with Up There and music by DJ Amin Payne. The events are usually free, as Njoroge wants chess to be accessible to everyone.

Another club is Acid Chess Club Thursdays. Started in 2021 by friends James “Benji” Benjamin and Jack Irvine, the idea came to them during lockdown when they began to take an interest in the game. With beginnings in a modestly sized co-working space in Thornbury they ran together, the weekly club initially drew a small crowd before they upgraded to Good Gnocchi in Carlton North. After a break, in February 2023, the club relaunched at Collingwood Yards rooftop bar Runner Up , where it now regularly attracts crowds of more than 50 players.

Events are held fortnightly, alternating between Learn & Play nights and tournaments with “hectic”, “chill” and “open” streams, catering to both adrenaline-fuelled competitors and relaxed players. The casual Learn & Play nights offer friendly matches and lessons for “anyone who wants something more chill, because at our roots, we’re a social club”, says Benjamin.

The atmosphere of Acid Chess Club Thursdays is lively, casual and friendly. Benjamin, whose day job is in events, finds the club to be “the most diverse collective of people, from all around Melbourne”. Bringing people together and growing a community has been key, especially after “some people found it difficult to assimilate back into society after lockdown”, he says. In June 2024, Acid Chess Club expanded internationally with a sister club in London.

Chess is a typically male-dominated game – only 42 of the 2088 grandmasters that have been named by the International Chess Federation have been non-male-identifying. Hosna Eqbal created Ms Chess in March 2024 to provide a space for women, LGBTQI+ and non-binary players. Eqbal found chess “intimidating” at first. She recalls memories of her high school chess club where “there was always this underlying rarity when it came to girls in chess”. Ms Chess aims to be a safe space for everyone to play, and encourages a “low-stakes, chilled and not-so-serious” atmosphere. Held monthly, the club moves between venues such as Skydiver Records , Capers and Highnote. Last month, Ms Chess was invited by Ace Hotel Sydney to host Pleasure & Play, a night of low-stakes chess coupled with drinks and a live DJ.

Eqbal says the rapid growth of Ms Chess proves the necessity for “female or minority-run spaces”. She believes people are drawn to chess clubs because we are “going back to analog ways of socialising”, craving human connection and organic ways of meeting new people.

“At the end of the day, whether it’s a tournament or not, we’re all just really interested in dialogue between people,” says Eqbal. “That could be the silence of a chess game or having a chat and beers over chess – it’s really just the idea of being together.”