1st-Ever ChessKid National Festival Brings Together Kids And Creators

The inaugural 2024 ChessKid National Festival, which took place over four days on President's Day weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, was advertised as "The Ultimate In-Person Chess Celebration."

431 kids participated in 11 possible tournaments—including blitz and even bughouse—and also met chess stars such as IM Levy Rozman (GothamChess) and the Botez sisters. The event, which was organized in conjunction with the Charlotte Chess Center, memorably featured quirky side-events such as Chess Fencing and the Super Soaker Challenge, stretching the limits of what's possible when kids who love chess come together.

• Meet The Stars: Simuls, Hula Chess, Super Soaker Challenge, Chess Fencing, And More
• K-8 Championship: Third Seed Edges Out Top Seed By Tiebreaks

Meet The Stars: Simuls, Hula Chess, Super Soaker Challenge, Chess Fencing, And More

Besides participating in chess tournaments, kids also met their favorite chess streamers and creators—with 140 signing up for the GothamChess VIP Experience. The lineup included WFM Alexandra and Andrea Botez, Rozman, WGM Jen Shahade, Canty, Rensch, Klein, and GM Daniel Naroditsky.

Fun weekend down at #CKNationalFest! Thanks for the pic @alexandrabotez ♟️ pic.twitter.com/y1WBXfYETM

— Darren Elias (@DarrenElias) February 19, 2024

There were some standard chess events like lectures and simuls...

...and others that were not so standard.

Like the Super Soaker Challenge against Rozman. Kids received one pre-filled water gun and could spray YouTube's chess teacher any time during the games.

Rozman didn't lose a single game and reported that the hardest part was getting water shot into his ear.

There were plenty more unusual events. Have you ever seen a chess master eat pie—like this?

Let's not forget Hula Chess with Shahade.

Sure, there was a bughouse tournament and a puzzle bee. There was also the less orthodox Bullet Chess Challenge, a chance to play Naroditsky or Rozman with time odds (30 seconds for them, about a minute for the challenger).

Day three featured a girls-only event, which included book signings and autographs, as well as photo opportunities with Shahade and the Botez sisters.

Face painting was a must.

all chess tournaments should have face painting 👑@ChessKidcom #cknationalfest pic.twitter.com/AgPGkJkifz

— Sam Copeland (@Sam_Copeland) February 19, 2024

Chess Fencing also made its debut—yes, that's right. Klein, partnered with Sasha, played against Rensch, teamed with Anna, who were part of a USA Fencing event held in the same convention center.

When the fencer scored a "point" (sometimes called a "touch" in fencing), then the chess player would make a move on the board—so one could make three or four moves in a row.

Of course, the other major reason all these kids came to Charlotte was to play in a chess tournament. There were seven six-round Swiss tournaments with sections based on age and rating.

K-8 Championship: Third Seed Edges Out Top Seed On Tiebreaks

Three 2000-plus rated kids participated in the tournaments and at least four countries were represented: the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Krishna Rallabandi, rated 2012, was the third highest-rated player in the top section. He scored four wins and made two draws only against the eventual second and third-place finishers. Andrew Wu also finished with 5/6 points but was just shy of first based on tiebreaks.

K-8 Championship Final Standings | Top 10

(Click here to see the full standings of all the tournaments.)

In the following position from round one, Krishna found an awesome tactic to win material at once. Can you? White to move and win material.

Klein, who besides being the one and only FunMaster is also the Head of ChessKid Content & Scholastic Growth, said the following about organizing this event for the first time:

The ChessKid National Festival was the culmination of a year's worth of work by the team to bring the same fun and joy of the online experience to a real-life event. As a veteran of around 100 national scholastic events in my lifetime, I knew exactly the kind of events that we could add. And they were non-stop: the face-painter, balloon artist, giant Peshka, survivor simul, hula chess, fencing chess, everything was so well received by parents and kids. Although even Gotham and me were playing second fiddle to the free popcorn machine. We've both defeated grandmasters, but it's hard to beat salt.

The ChessKid National Festival was the culmination of a year's worth of work by the team to bring the same fun and joy of the online experience to a real-life event.

—Mike Klein

2024 ChessKid National Festival was a live, in-person festival where kids and their families could meet the ChessKid community, meet their favorite chess celebrities, and compete in tournaments.

Previous reports:

• Botez Sisters, GothamChess, & Other Chess Celebrities Join The ChessKid National Festival
• ChessKid Announces First National Festival Taking Place Early 2024 (Now Open To K-8)