ChessFest drew tens of thousands to the square for free games, and I left with several humbling losses and a genuine new hobby

I went to ChessFest expecting to watch other people play chess for twenty minutes before wandering off for lunch. I left three hours later having played six games, lost four of them, and made a genuinely embarrassing amount of small talk with strangers about the Sicilian Defence, a phrase I could not have defined with any confidence before that afternoon.

What The Day Actually Involved

ChessFest, held in Trafalgar Square on 12 July this year, is billed as the UK’s biggest outdoor chess event, and this year’s edition reportedly drew more than 25,000 people across the day, transforming the entire square into a sprawling outdoor chess club complete with free games, beginner lessons, and family activities running alongside the more serious boards where you could genuinely feel the concentration radiating off both players from several metres away.

The Beginners’ Tables

I found my way, sensibly, to the beginners’ section, staffed by volunteers with what can only be described as saintly patience, explaining castling to me for what was very obviously not the first time that day. My opponent, a retired chap who told me he had been playing for sixty years, beat me in what felt like four moves, though he was kind enough to walk me back through exactly where it went wrong, which somehow made losing considerably more enjoyable than winning normally is.

Why This Worked So Well In Trafalgar Square Specifically

There is something genuinely lovely about a free, low barrier event happening in one of the most recognisable, most photographed public spaces in the country, precisely because it briefly reframes the square as somewhere ordinary Londoners actually use rather than simply somewhere tourists photograph lions and pigeons. Londonist’s own coverage of the day noted a similarly festive, unexpectedly inclusive atmosphere, chess grandmasters playing casual games alongside children barely tall enough to see over their own board.

The Unexpected Social Element

What genuinely surprised me was how sociable the whole thing felt. Chess has, in my mind at least, always carried a slightly solitary, faintly intimidating reputation, and yet the actual atmosphere on the day was closer to a village fete, strangers cheerfully offering advice mid-game, entire families gathered round a single board, and a genuinely good natured queue for the beginner tables that moved considerably faster than any London queue has any right to.

A Small Confession About My New Hobby

I have, in the week since, downloaded a chess app, lost several more games to what I strongly suspect is a fairly weak computer opponent, and mentioned the Sicilian Defence in conversation at least twice more than was strictly necessary or welcome. This is, I am aware, exactly the kind of mild, faintly embarrassing enthusiasm that follows anyone home from a genuinely good free event in this city.

Whether It’s Worth Your Sunday Next Year

Entirely, unreservedly yes, whether you already play or, like me until recently, could not have told you which piece the knight actually was. More of my occasional, enthusiastic conversions to new London hobbies can be found at my author page on The London Prat.

SOURCE: https://bohiney.com