ChessFest Trafalgar Square
A huge thank you to everyone who came to Trafalgar Square on Sunday for ChessFest 2025. Over 20,000 visitors enjoyed a range of fun, family-friendly chess activities:
- Our troupe of actors put on four fabulous performances, re-enacting the famous Evergreen Game.
- Some of England’s top chess stars (Nikita Vitiugov, Mickey Adams, et al) took on all-comers in simultaneous games.
- Many thousands of blitz games were played in our Challenge the Master tent.
- England junior stars Bodhana Sivanandan and Supratit Banerjee defeated their counterparts from North America in a live match.
- Grandmasters Gawain Jones and Matthew Sadler delivered an amazing queen sacrifice to win a blindfold consultation game.
- CSC tutors delivered hundreds of free lessons to players of all standards in one of two teaching tents.
- A game of giant blitz chess between two masters turned out to be as much a test of physical speed and stamina as chess ability.
- FunMaster Mike and his team entertained all the ChessKids with two Puzzle Rush competitions.
ChessFest Portishead
New for 2025, ChessFest opened in the Somerset coastal town of Portishead on Saturday 12th July. ChessFest truly took over the whole town for the day:
- Zone 1 – Casual Chess at Aqua. Visitors enjoyed a game of chess with brunch and coffee in this great restaurant on Portishead Marina. The chess was still carrying on 3 hours after ChessFest had finished!
- Zone 2 – Elite Chess on Parish Wharf. International Master Chris Beaumont took on four players simultaneously while blindfolded!
- Zone 3 – Kids’ Zone outside Portishead Leisure Centre. ChessKid’s FunMaster Mike who ran activities for children of all ages.
- Zone 4 – Schools’ Competition at Portishead Primary School (9am-11am). Children from across the town took part in an outdoor tournament.
- Zone 5 – Ark of Angels in Jubilee Park. 32 adults and children took the place of chess pieces in two live performances.
Special thanks go to the CSC Bristol team for an amazing inaugural event. We know they are already planning for next year!
Still to come… ChessFest Liverpool
ChessFest returns to Chavasse Park at Liverpool One for a fifth year on Sunday 20th July. Please join the event for:
- Free chess lessons for adults and children, delivered by CSC tutors
- Social games of chess on one of many boards across the park
- Giant chess games – a test of skill and stamina
- Simultaneous displays – take on a one of our visiting chess masters
- Blitz chess tournament – test your skills at speed chess
Last year, over 1,000 people enjoyed a day of free, family-friendly fun at ChessFest Liverpool. We hope to see you there.
Government announces funding for chess
Just as our Trafalgar Square event was coming to a close, one of CSC’s highest profile ambassadors, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves was announcing a huge boost to English chess: a £1,500,000 financial package aimed at “identifying, supporting, and elevating young people who have the potential to compete at the top level“. The Chancellor, herself a junior chess champion, is a regular attendee at our events, and recently came to see a school from her Leeds West constituency take part in a CSC tournament in London, taking on eight of the players simultaneously while she was there.
This funding builds on a series of grants introduced under the previous government. On this week’s funding, Rishi Sunak commented, “Chess isn’t just a great game. It also builds the kind of skills young people need to thrive in an increasingly complex and competitive world.”
We await more details of the new grants. Under the previous funding, 100 schools introduced chess lessons and chess clubs for their pupils, with 42 of these being delivered via CSC’s Schools Programme.