The 9th edition of the London Chess Conference took place from 17-19 March 2023. The theme of the 2023 London Chess Conference was Chess and STEM – exploring the ways in which chess relates to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
The participants and speakers represented 32 countries with the opportunity to form partnerships and collaborations with each other for furthering the use of chess in education.
The first session of the Conference took place on Friday, with the start at 13:00 CEST. The pre-recorded session was hosted by Leontxo Garcia who welcomed the participants and the speakers.
The speakers were:
- Author & Educator Victoria Winifred (USA) – Using Chess to Promote Literacy in Preschoolers
- Marianna Amiraghyan (Armenia) – Pre-school Chess Project in Armenia
- Miriam Monreal Aladren and Jordi Prio Burgues (Spain) – Creative pre-chess
- Founder and president of the educational initiative Schach fur Kids e.V (chess for kids) Ralf Schreiber (Germany) – Chess pedagogy for children from the age of 3
- Tatiana Ogneva – Chess as a tool for developing the logical-spatial structure in preschool children
- Chess Teacher Elvia Zarina Monreal Reyna (Mexico) – ADEZ Chess Pieces with Caborca arrows
- High school teacher/Chess Trainer Kostas Giouvantsioudis (Greece) & Eirini Mousiadou (Greece) Kindergarten teacher/Chess Trainer I Greek Chess Federation – Different Chess Playful activities
The second session of the first day started at 15:00 CEST with the following programme:
- Anzel Laubscher (South Africa) – Think like a child, teach like an adult
- Alessandro Dominici (Italy) Councilor of the ECU EDU Commission & CEO I Alfiere Bianco SRL – Erasmus CGS Project for Early Years Skills
- Teacher and author|Thinkers Publishing Christel Minne (Belgium) – Someday I’ll Be a Queen
- Coordinator Chess Academy Apeldoorn & Science Project Manager Early years chess – Karel van Delft (The Netherlands) – Early years chess
- Chessable Audience discussion
- Q & A with the presenters
Sessions 3 & 4 were held on Saturday, 18th of March with the following topics and speakers:
- How Chess Develops Critical Thinking – Jerry Nash (USA) – Chairman of FIDE Chess in Education Commission
- Chessable Research Awards – Alexey Root (USA), Chessable Chief Science Officer
- Chess and STEM – How chess has had an impact on attainment and enrichment for Primary aged children – Allen Tsui (STEM UK), Head of Computing and STEM Enrichment | Willow Brook Primary School Academy
- Audience discussion, Q & A with the presenters
- ChessKid for STEM – Mike Klein (USA) aka FunMasterMike, CCO and Carey Fan (USA), CEO | ChessKid
- ChessForEDU, Mini Game for education in primary schools – Pep Suárez (Spain), CEO | ChessForEdu SL
- Technology to support Teaching Chess – Boris Bruhn (Germany) , Member of the FIDE Education Commission
- Chess on TikTok – Michał Kanarkiewicz (Poland), CEO & Founder of the Kanarkiewicz Chess Academy
- Audience discussion, Q & A with the presenters
Sessions 5 & 6 were held on Saturday afternoon with further discussions on Chess and STEM:
- Chess and Robotics: Controlling a robot on a chess board – Rolf Niemann (Sweden), Education Coordinator at the Vattenhallen Science Center Lunds University
- Chess and Artificial Intelligence – Paolo Sartorelli (Italy)
- Bringing Chess Diagrams to Life – Paweł Kacprzak (Poland), Founder of Chessvision.ai
- Audience discussion, Q & A with the presenters
- Learning mathematics through play – Monika Musilek (Austria), Professor at the University of Education Vienna & Tiago Hirth (Portugal) Researcher at the University of Lisbon, CIUHCT, Ludus
- Chess as a Bridge to Mathematical Thinking – Vince Negri (UK), Founder and UX Consultant | GameAhead Consulting
- Chess and Mathematics in Primary School – Hari Neocleous (UK), Maths Teacher | The Maths Nuts
- Chess in Secondary School Mathematics – Rita Atkins (Hungary), Secretary of the FIDE Education Commission
- Audience discussion, Q & A with the presenters
The final day of the Conference started with the Chess Teacher Training and Accreditation with Alison Sharp (CSC) as the moderator of the round table discussion. ECU Educational Commission members Philippe Vukojevic (Belgium) and Pep Suárez (Spain), and FIDE Educational Commission members Boris Bruhn (Germany) and Anzel Laubscher (South Africa) were the main speakers.
Session 8 followed with the following programme:
- The benefits of chess for children who struggle at school – Marion Schöttelndreier (Sweden), Assistant Principal at the Hedda Andersson High School, Lund
- Chess as a playground for creativity – Beatrice Rapaccini (Italy), Mathematics Teacher in the I.I.S P. Cuppari High School
- The Brain on the Curriculum: chess for mental health in special education – Mikkel Nørgaard (Denmark), Chief Learning Officer in the Danish Scholastic Chess Federation
- Infinite chess, Chess for kids with autism spectrum disorder – Anastasia Sorokina (Australia), FIDE Social Project Leader | WOM Chairperson | Chairperson of ACF Social Commission
- Audience discussion, Q & A with the presenters
The final two sessions took place Sunday afternoon featuring discussions on the following topics:
- National Education Projects – Round Table Discussion, Host: Stefan Löffler (Germany)
- Chess at School; programme in Catalonia – Marta Amigó Vilalta – Vice-president of the Catalan Chess Federation & Coordinator of the Chess School Program in Catalonia | Educational Department of the Government of Catalonia
- CiE in Pakistan – Hanif Qureshi (Pakistan) – President of the Chess Federation of Pakistan & member of the FIDE Education Commission
- Education Through Chess – Romania’s National Educational Project – Mădălina-Maria Lejean-Anușca (Romania), Secretary of the ECU Education Comission & Manager of National Project “Education Through Chess” within the Romanian Chess Federation
- Invitation to Research: Post-COVID Global 50 – Mark Nowacki (Singapore), Head of Research of the FIDE EDU CHESS Research Workgroup
- How to teach chess effectively – Tamara Sargsyan (Armenia), Researcher at the Chess Scientific Research Institute (CSRI), Republic of Armenia
- Chess for Freedom: Quantitative study of the impact of chess program on the incarcerated males, Cook County Case – Mikhail Korenman (USA), Chess Project Manager | Cook County (Chicago) Sheriff’s Organization
- Audience discussion, Q & A with the presenters
The London Chess Conference was broadcasted live through the FIDE YouTube Channel and all session records can be replayed here.
The Conference was organised by ChessPlus Limited working in partnership with the core sponsors the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the European Chess Union (ECU), and Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC).
Text by: European Chess Union
