ChessFest in Trafalgar Square

ChessFest returned to Trafalgar Square on Sunday 12th July, offering thousands of visitors a day of free, fun, family friendly chess activities. Now in its sixth year, ChessFest has firmly established itself as the UK’s largest chess event, one at which players of all standards can come together to test their ability, learn some new skills, or simply enjoy the entertainment on a giant screen at the foot of Nelson’s Column.

Despite the long-lasting heatwave, ChessFest again attracted large crowds of visitors. Our tutors delivered many hundreds of free chess lessons in two teaching tents. In the Challenge the Chess Master tent, twelve titled players were kept busy for several hours, taking on all-comers at blitz chess. Our grandmasters, including England Internationals Nikita Vitiugov, Mickey Adams, and Gawain Jones braved the sun to deliver rolling simultaneous displays around the famous fountains in the centre of the square. Other visitors played endless games of casual chess on over 300 boards spread over Trafalgar Square, tried their hands at puzzle competitions run by ChessKid, or competed on one of our giant chess sets.

The highlight of the day was, as ever, four performances on our famous living chess board. This year, our troupe of actors, led by MC Owen and GM Chris Ward re-enacted the Immortal Game, the most famous game of chess ever played which celebrates its 175th anniversary this year. You can read more about these performances here.

ChessFest is organised by CSC and generously supported by XTX Markets. Our huge thanks to the many volunteers, tutors, and chess masters who worked so hard to deliver a great celebration of the game of chess!