ChessFest is back after the roaring success last year which saw Trafalgar Square at capacity.
Free for all the family: chess lessons from professional teachers, simultaneous displays, speed chess, blindfold chess, puzzle rush, challenge the master, human chess on the giant board and online matches against ChessFest Liverpool and ChessFest Hull.
ChessFest brings chess to a wider audience to showcase its inclusivity and educational benefits.
England’s leading players will participate.
Event come days before an anticipated announcement from the PM on supporting chess.
Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC), a charity that uses chess to enhance children’s educational and social development, is announcing the return of the one-day takeover of Trafalgar Square on Sunday 16th July as part of ChessFest – a three-day event which encourages kids and adults to get ‘on board’ with the world’s oldest game.
10,000 visitors are expected at Trafalgar Square for the free event, which is open to all. Trafalgar Square will be covered in chess sets, the centrepiece of which will be a giant board occupied by 32 actors dressed as fantasy chess pieces, who will replay iconic games from chess history.
Members of the public will be able to challenge the UK’s top two players Michael Adams and David Howell and other England internationals in simultaneous matches. There will also be free tuition from professional chess teachers, with separate teaching zones for adults and children.
A giant screen will broadcast live chess matches played online between children from London, Liverpool, and Hull as well as a ‘Battle of the Prodigies’ between the USA and England. England will be represented by 8-year-old chess genius Bodhana Sivanandan the reigning World Under 8 speed chess champion. Bodhana, from Harrow, mastered the game during the days of lockdown and last year nearly won the British Women’s Blitz championship.
ChessFest aims to build on the surge in popularity of chess after the success of Netflix show ‘Queen’s Gambit’ and showcase its universal appeal as we approach ‘International Chess Day on 20th July.
Sunday’s Trafalgar Square public event:
● Free chess lessons for children and adults from professional chess teachers and top UK players
● ‘The World Giant Chess Championship’ – 10 giant chess boards for people to play on
● A human chess game based on fantasy characters performed by professional actors
● 100s of chess tables for children and chess fans to play each other
● Challenge a Grandmaster in a simultaneous or at speed chess
● Blindfold Chess exhibition
● Giant screens broadcasting online games between players in London, Liverpool, and New York
ChessFest comes days before World Chess Day on July 20th.
ChessFest hopes to leave a legacy for London as CSC will work with local councils to install giant chess sets and concrete chess tables in London parks to enable chess to be played all year round as in New York, Paris, Amsterdam, and other cities.
(The opening of ChessFest will also see 300 children from 30 schools around the UK in the charity’s Classroom Chess programme invited to Manchester Square Gardens in London on Tuesday July 12th and Wednesday July 13th for a day of chess fun. This closed school event, will see the children try on 15th and 16th-century century armour from the Wallace Collection and become real ‘knights’ on the chess board, alongside tournaments and chess lessons.)
