6th Polgar Chess Festival

PRESS RELEASE: The annual Polgar Chess Festival, in its sixth edition by now, has firmly established itself as a very prestigious social event, where celebrities, athletes, artists, scientists, businessmen, politicians and most importantly children like to participate and have fun for an entire day.

The EU Youth Talents vs Judit Polgar simul, the world’s N°1 female chess player, as an ambassador of Chess in School program adopted by the European Parliament, is giving a 27 board simul to children representing the 27 nations of the EU. The event also serves as a promotion of the European Year for Solidarity between Generations by implementing the Generations Chess Clash into the program. The Polgar Chess Day provides meaningful programs for three generations sharing the same passion, from 4 years old kids to 99 years old chess enthusiasts, to grandchildren, grandparents and parents.

Left to right: Susan, Judit and Sofia

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The Day of celebration of chess included a number of new activities such as chess boxing, spectacular chess dance, as well as an amazing escape by the escape artist David Merlini.

Celebrity guests included George Soros, Bessel Kok, Alisa Maric, Andrea Temesvari, Ivan Fischer, a number of Ambassadors to Hungary (Serbia, Israel, and Canada), and countless other people from the world of sports, theatre, politics, business, and media, etc.

Of course the highlight for the chess fans was the traditional yearly 100 board simul by the three sisters. In addition, there were two other simuls, one against mayors from various parts of Hungary, and another against kids from all EU nation countries.

The notion that chess is not attractive to the media is simply wrong. It can be so exciting if it is done right as thousands of people showed up to be a part of this wonderful annual event.

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PURPOSE OF THE EVENT
* Promote chess as a game that can bring together people of different ages, races, ethnics, genders, social-, and economical background in an activity they can all enjoy
* Bringing attention to chess as a teaching tool to schools because it directly contributes to academic performance and makes kids smarter, more critical thinker, better problem solver, and more independent decision maker while enjoying themselves.
* Invite families to get involved in chess and make it part of their everyday life as a source of common pleasure
* Inspire children by giving them the chance of playing against world class representatives of the sport

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Photos, videos and event information from the Susan Polgar Chess Blog.