2021

Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC), a charity that uses chess to help children's educational and social development, organised ChessFest, a three-day programme of events to encourage everyone to get ‘on board’ with the great game of chess, in July 2021.

ChessFest took place from 16th-18th July 2021 at two locations across central London, drawing on the chess theme of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass”, culminating in a day of chess activities open to the public at Trafalgar Square on Sunday 18th July.

The opening day at Manchester Square saw children from primary schools across the UK invited to the capital for a day of chess fun, with a chess lesson, tournament, and a Mad Hatter’s Chess Party on the agenda. Children also visited the V&A museum to see their exhibition of Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser, the first school visit since the start of the pandemic.

The closed school’s event, on Friday 16th, also saw the children try on 15th and 16th-century armour from the Wallace Collection, and become real-life ‘knights’ of the chessboard.