The biggest European cultural chess festival in Budapest was once again organised by the JPCF
The 8th Aquaprofit-Polgar Chess Festival was organised under the patronage of Mrs. Androulla Vassiliou, Member of the European Commission. In the morning the Representation of the European Commission in Hungary, Tamas Szucs and Judit Polgar opened the Generations Chess Clash, a multi-generational chess competition, sponsored by the European Commission. Each team was composed of a child, a parent and a grandparent. In a European Union cultural exchange project a group of Swedish girls visited the festival and played a simul against great Hungarian chess talents Gellert and Kata Karacsonyi. The Chess Festival offered full day family programmes in the Budapest Palace of Arts where children were invited to the 3D Chess Palace, participate in interactive chess tutoring, competitions and arts & crafts. The Chess Festival provided a great opportunity to parents who wished to introduce their children to Educational Chess. The entertaining programmes included a fairy tale chess game with the fantasy cartoon character Shrek and Fiona impersonated by Karoly Gesztesi, one of the most popular actors in Hungary, and Judit Polgar. The commentary was done by grandmaster Peter Leko.
Along the many contests and events JPCF hosted the 2nd Chess Palace International Educational Conference, supported by OTP Fay Andras Foundation. Presentations at the conference included the topic of the digital age, how the Chess Palace programme helps in every aspect the changes in children’s thinking in these challenging times; about a highly successful Swedish chess teaching program; concerning teaching opportunities in the digital age and the potential of the most complex strategic board game; integration of the Chess Palace programme in public education and in the general school curriculum; social impacts of chess in Spain. Among the prominent guests were Erno Rubik, the inventor of the famous Rubik’s Cube and Zurab Azmaiparashvili, the recently elected ECU president and many other Olympic and world champion athletes, artists, and leaders of the business and political world. The Chess Festival ended with a simultaneous exhibition given by Judit Polgar, who has been leading the FIDE world rankings for 25 years setting a Guinness record, was also announced at the festival.
