Global Chess Festival

[4] These include Japanese-American multimedia artist, peace activist Yoko Ono and her long-time collaborator Sam Havadtoy, Chilean singer-songwriter Juga,[8] Hungarian pianist Gergely Bogányi and French composer Jason Kouchak.

[9] Among the special guests were Arkady Dvorkovich, president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), Vladimir Kramnik,[10] 14th world champion, and the legendary trio of the three Polgar Sisters.

Ken Rogoff, a professor at Harvard University, showed how he could use his experience as a chess player in his earlier career with a special focus on the human factor.

Neuroscientist Sylvester E. Vizi, former president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, gave a lecture on artificial intelligence, which was also discussed by international female chess master Natasha Regan and grandmaster Matthew Sadler, co-authors of the bestselling book on AlphaZero.

[12] One of the highlights was a historic talk between Garry Kasparov, former World Champion and Judit Polgár, the greatest female chess player of all time.

Judit Polgár was in conversation with Hungarian legendary sport athletes Rita Kőbán and Tímea Nagy, and also with inventor Ernő Rubik.

The event was under the patronage[19] of the Member of the European Commission Ms. Mariya Gabriel responsible for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.

In 2022 the festival was held on 8th October 2022 as a hybrid event, live in the Hungarian National Gallery and on online channels.

Among the speakers were: Adriana Salazar, Rita Atkins, Marta Amigó, Philippe Vukojevic, Stefan Kindermann, Ashwin Subramanian, Jerry Nash, Anastasia Sorokina, Malcolm Pein, Nicolás González García, Jesper Bergmark Hall, Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Judit Polgár, Zurab Azmaiparashvili and Leontxo García.

The Inspiration Cup tournament was organized for the 2nd time with the participation of prominent players, such as world No 7 Anish Giri, and which was won by Team Dracarys (Sofia Polgár and Yona Kosashvili).

The Grand Decision chess party featured Polgár, Sachdev, Santeramo, and grandmasters Vasily Ivanchuk, Miguel Illescas, and David Howell.

Sources:[24][25] The 10th Judit Polgár’s Global Chess Festival took place on September 17-18, drawing over 6,000 visitors to the Hungarian National Gallery and BOK Hall, with more than 250,000 online participants.

The 4th Educational Chess Summit featured 23 international speakers,including Pep Suarez (Spain), Dijana Dengler (Singapore), Maurice Ashley (USA), Fernando Moreno (USA), and Maria Anna Stefanidi (Cyprus) discussing chess’s impact on education and mental health.

The Goodwill Ambassador of Chess in Education Awards were given to Dijana Dengler, Fernando Moreno, Csilla Őryné Gombás and Zsombor Rózsa.