ChessFest at Trafalgar Square in central London is UK’s largest one-day chess event, it’s aimed at anyone who loves or wants to learn chess and is completely free. It’s organised by Chess in Schools and Communities, a UK charity whose mission is to improve children’s educational outcomes and social development by introducing them to the game of chess.
This year’s event was incredible! We especially loved the following activities:
- hundreds of chess boards including twelve giant chess sets for casual chess against other ChessFesters,
- a giant human chess match, 32 professional actors resplendent in costume take on the role of the chess pieces and re-enact famous games from chess history (Garry Kasparov vs Deep Blue, Bobby Fischer vs Boris Spassky),
- chess puzzles at the ChessKid tent (we loved their prizes too!),
- free chess lessons for children led by the Chess in Schools tutors.
Despite the heatwave in the UK, we spent a few hours exploring everything that ChessFest has to offer and can’t wait to be back next year. What a wonderful (and also really hot) family day out!
