ChessFest 2023 in the media
The UK’s largest chess event took place on Sunday 16th July in London’s Trafalgar Square. Now in its third year, the annual open-air chess festival saw over 14,000 people attend the free event organised by CSC, to promote and raise awareness for the game we all love.
After two previous years of scorching 30+ degree temperatures, the 2023 event took place under cooler conditions and thankfully remained rain-free. The highlight of the day was the living chess displays which have been the centrepiece of previous events. With actors taking the place of the pieces, they re-enacted some of the best games played by UK players, with GM David Howell on hand to commentate on the re-enactment of his game against Ivan Sokolov from the 2009 Staunton Memorial.
(photograph from The Daily Telegraph, 17th July 2023)
ChessFest also offered a ‘Challenge the Chess Master’ where the masters had two and a half minutes to the public’s five, with prizes to those who managed a win or a draw. The number of masters was steadily increased throughout the day from the scheduled four to nine to cope with the long queues that formed. GM David Howell, GM Gawain Jones, GM Luke McShane, GM Ravi Haria, GM Stuart Conquest, IM Andrew Martin, IM Harriet Hunt, IM Richard Palliser, IM Tom Rendle, IM Callum Kilpatrick, IM Malcolm Pein, WGM Katarzyna Toma, FM Tim Wall, FM Jonathan Pein and FM Akshaya Kalaiyalahan all took turns. Even titled players, like GM Jonathan Roswon and IM Gavin Wall, who had turned up to spectate were co-opted into the fun.
At the other end of the spectrum, one of the UK’s brightest prospects and the World U8 Rapid & Blitz champion, Bodhana Sivanandan challenged the USA’s own prodigy, 9-year old, Megan Paragua, in a match played live on the internet from Trafalgar Square and broadcast on the giant screen with commentary for the public. Although, ahead in both games, Bodhana lost the match 0.5-1.5 but captained a team of London Juniors to a win in a match played against ChessFest Liverpool – who were having their own outdoor festival at Liverpool ONE – Chevasse Park.
New for 2023 was the interactive chess puzzle competition organised by ChessKid starring the voice of the online platform, FunMaster Mike (FM Mike Klein). All children attending ChessFest were given new accounts to ChessKid and given 10-minutes to solve as many puzzles as possible on their mobile phone or device. Hundreds took part, with the giant screen showing a live leaderboard. If the results are anything to go by, the future of UK junior chess is looking bright with some awesome scores being recorded.
To cap it off, Chess in Schools tutors were offering children and adults a free chess lesson in the Teaching Zone. Lessons ranged from how the pieces moved to the ultra-advanced nuances of the Accelerated Dragon. A total of 35 tutors provided close to 500 lessons throughout the day.
ChessFest also took part in Nottingham on Saturday 15th July and in Hull on Sunday 16th July, with the juniors from Hull emerging victorious in their online challenge game against London.
(from The Yorkshire Post, 17th July 2023)
In addition to these public events, CSC organised two days of school activities in Manchester Square Gardens in central London, on 12th and 13th July. Schools from around the country joined us for a tournament, chess lessons, games on giant chess sets, a simultaneous game against Grandmaster Stuart Conquest, International Master Shreyas Royal, or World Champion Bodhana Sivanandan. The Wallace Collection kindly supported the event, giving the children the opportunity to try on genuine pieces of armour from their collection. Schools from outside London received travel bursaries for their trip and the chance to visit Madame Tussauds on the way home.
