Simuls, Rubik and a Guinness Record at 8th Polgar Chess Festival
On Saturday, October 4 the 8th Aquaprofit Polgar Chess Festival was held in the Palais of Arts in Budapest, and Chess.com was present!
Several hundred children, parents and special guests attended the 8th Polgar Chess Festival, organized by Judit Polgar and her sister Sofia. Both were present and involved in different events all day.
Kids and their parents could choose between a huge range of activities, such as simuls, a Chess Palace promenade, blitz performances, a magician, arts and crafts, and a conference on chess and education.
Chess Palace 3D, representing the Judit Polgar’s educational program, became part of the
National Curriculum in Hungary. Judit, her children, and her sister, Sofia pose in the Palace.
The program included a fairytale chess game with the fantasy cartoon characters Shrek and Fiona, played by Karoly Gesztesi, one of the most popular actors in Hungary, and Judit Polgar.
Among the prominent guests were Erno Rubik, the inventor of the famous Rubik’s Cube; Zurab Azmaiparashvili, the recently elected ECU president, and many other Olympic and world champion athletes, artists, and leaders of the business and political worlds.
Judit Polgar with Erno Rubik who invented the world famous
Rubik’s Cube exactly 40 years ago this year.
The festival ended with a simul given by Judit Polgar, who has been leading the FIDE world rankings for 25 years, setting a Guinness record also announced at the festival.
A special event was the second Chesskid.com youth match Hungary-USA. It was played over four boards with for each team a player U8, U10, U12 and U14. The time control was 10 minutes + 5 seconds increment and it was held over two rounds.
USA took the lead with a 2.5-1.5 victory in the first round, but then Hungary won the second round with the same score! With a 4-4 final score, the Hungarian team was perhaps the moral winner as it lost a winning position due to a mouse slip!
Chess.com was present at the festival and here's our video, which includes short interviews with Judit and Sofia Polgar, Erno Rubik and also 8-year-old Kata and 10-year-old Gellért Karacsonyi, who were performing a simul, not just participating in one. :-)
