Judit Polgár Global Chess Festival in Budapest

For the first time, the Judit Polgár Global Chess Festival was held in a hybrid format: this Saturday's event took place both in the Hungarian National Gallery and online through two channels, focusing on the relationship between chess and education.

This year's biggest innovation was the Educational Chess Summit, where participants proved that chess has a place in the classroom because of its skill-building potential.

In her presentation, British Grandmaster Rita Atkins gave practical examples of how chess can be integrated into mathematics lessons. Educational researcher Lorena García tried to convince the audience of the self-confidence and anti-anxiety effects of chess, while international chess expert Jesper Berger Hall showed that chess can not only help to develop child prodigies, but can also be an effective tool for teaching young people with learning difficulties.

His conversation with Ernő Rubik, the inventor of the Rubik's Cube, on the links between chess, creativity and innovation was also screened.

"The Educational Chess Summit is also a cultural journey, as it illustrates the many ways in which we think about this world," the main organizer, two-time Olympic chess champion Judit Polgár (seen in red on the picture) said. She described the event as historic, as Budapest has never hosted such a conference before.

Dana Reizniece-Ozola, CEO of the International Chess Federation, also spoke, as did Maríya Gabriel, Member of the European Commission responsible for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, who is also the event's patron.