London Chess Classic
The London Chess Classic is an established chess Major showcasing some of the world’s top ranked players who battle it out in the capital over nine days. Established in 2009, and run on an annual basis, the London Chess Classic is one of the best-known tournaments in the world and the strongest tournament on the UK chess calender. It is unique in that it is staged in support of our charity, Chess in Schools and Communities.
The London Chess Classic features the top UK chess players such as Michael Adams, David Howell, Nigel Short, Luke McShane and Gawain Jones. Previous participants also have included former world champions Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, Vishy Anand, and Veselin Topalov, as well as the current world chess champion, Ding Liren, as well as a number of the world’s elite such as Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, D. Gukesh, Hans Niemann.
School Events
Over 2,500 children from 100 primary and secondary schools across the UK attend for a day of chess activities including lessons, simultaneous displays and a tournament. They also get to meet the Grandmasters and some lucky ones get to make the ceremonial first move in the main event. The London Chess Classic typically has five days of school activity which showcase the benefits of teaching chess in school.
The Pro-Biz Cup
The Pro-Biz Cup is an annual event that runs alongside the London Chess Classic. It brings the best business minds and the world’s leading Grandmasters together in a fun tournament to raise money for Chess in Schools and Communities.
Businesses bid to play with their favourite players and the ones who bid the highest get the chance to team up with a Grandmaster in a three round pairs chess tournament. The amateur and grandmaster play as a team and will take it in turns to make moves in rapidplay games with each team allowed two one-minute time-outs per game to discuss strategy or perhaps just a killer move!
