Chancellor of the Exchequer visits CSC event

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, has a strong chess pedigree, becoming a British Junior Champion in her youth. We were delighted to welcome her to one of our ChessFest school events in Manchester Square Gardens, Westminster, to meet one of her constituency schools that was taking part.

Valley View Primary School had travelled down to London for the day, with their costs being supported by a travel bursary from CSC. While at the event, they received chess lessons from our tutors, took part in a tournament against their peers from across the country, and played in a simultaneous display against Grandmaster Chris Ward. They also had the opportunity to take on the Chancellor herself, with Rachel playing all eight pupils at the same time.

Rachel has long been a supporter of CSC, being one of the charity’s most high profile ambassadors. She has subsequently announced 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".

This funding builds on a series of grants introduced under the previous government. On this latest 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."