Budapest, September 16, 2025 – Chess is not just a sport, but a way of thinking, a creative adventure, and a shared experience. This is the message once again carried forward by the Judit Polgár’s Global Chess Festival, which will welcome visitors for the eleventh time on September 30, in the impressive halls of the Hungarian National Gallery.
At this large-scale, all-day event, thousands of visitors will have the chance to meet the world-famous Polgár sisters in person while discovering the many faces of chess. This year’s festival highlight is RubikChess, a unique mixed-pair team game that combines the strategic elements of chess with the logical challenges of the Rubik’s Cube.
Judit Polgár, founder and chief organizer of the Global Chess Festival, emphasized about this year’s program:
“The Global Chess Festival is a special experience for me every year. I personally take part in both designing and organizing the programs. This year, I’m especially looking forward to the community simul, where I’ll be playing simultaneously on six boards, each against a different community. There will be Spanish and Hungarian teams, a former chessboxing world champion, and the world’s largest chess platforms will also join the game. It’s all very exciting! Visitors can also try the world’s first AI-powered chess robot, while the Momentán Theatre group will engage the audience in interactive improvisation games. Every program element represents value for us – our goal is to convey these in an enjoyable way for all generations. I believe that play and thinking together are inspiring, and this inspiration is what we want to share in every moment of the festival.”
Norbert Fogarasi, representing Morgan Stanley, the festival’s main sponsor, added:
“Chess is a perfect example of how play can evolve into a source of deep thinking, strategy, and innovation. At Morgan Stanley’s Budapest office, we have spent years building initiatives that nurture creativity, perseverance, and collaboration in playful ways – from team-building challenges and internal chess tournaments to our global online competition that now brings together more than a thousand players from over 40 cities worldwide. We have seen firsthand how play encourages colleagues to think more openly, explore new solutions with greater confidence, and excel at the highest levels of the financial world – whether in technology or quantitative financial modeling. This is why it is both important and a true honor for us to support Judit Polgár’s Global Chess Festival for the seventh consecutive year, an event that so powerfully demonstrates the role of play as a source of inspiration across society.”
The festival will also host a RubikChess tournament with 50 teams, the lineup filling up quickly after the event was announced. In this special-format competition, one member of the mixed pair battles on the chessboard while the partner solves a Rubik’s Cube puzzle – their solution directly influencing the progress of the chess game.
As every year, the festival promises plenty of new experiences, exciting encounters, and unforgettable moments – whether for beginners, aspiring masters, children, or adults.
The 11th Judit Polgár’s Global Chess Festival invites everyone to step into the magical universe of chess!
Programmes: globalchessfestival.com/index.php/en/