Lysine acetylation is an epigenetic mark that is principally recognized by bromodomains, and recently structurally diverse YEATS domains also emerged as readers of lysine acetyl/acylations. Here we present a crystallography-based strategy and the discovery of fragments binding to the ENL YEATS domain, a potential drug target. Crystal structures combined with synthetic efforts led to the identification of a submicromolar binder, providing first starting points for the development of chemical probes for this reader domain family.