Reeves challenges PM to chess game but questions ‘plan for 100 sets in UK parks’
The shadow chancellor, a former junior chess champion, said green spaces in her constituency would ‘love’ to receive one of the boards.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Rachel Reeves has challenged Rishi Sunak to a chess game amid reported plans to install 100 sets in public parks – but noted “it doesn’t look like there are very many to go round”.
The shadow chancellor, a former junior chess champion, said green spaces in her constituency would “love” to receive one of the boards, but questioned the number reportedly to be made available.
The Prime Minister, also a keen player, is set to announce a funding boost of £500,000 for the English Chess Federation, with plans to expand the game in schools and parks, Bloomberg reported.
Funding from Sport England cannot be accessed for the game as it is not officially recognised as a sport in England.
Ms Reeves told BBC Radio 2 on Thursday: “I really hope we get one at a park in Leeds West … all of them would love to have one of these chess sets.
“It doesn’t sound like there’s many to go around, but also if Rishi Sunak fancies a game of chess, I’m happy to take him on too.”
An announcement is expected later this month and the Government is in talks with the federation about the best ways to invest in the game, Bloomberg reported.
The plans would involve installing 100 chess sets in public parks and expanding instruction in schools, according to the outlet.
Mr Sunak expressed his desire to get more British children playing chess, describing it as a “great skill” during a visit to Washington in June.
He said: “You know, I’m actually doing a little bit of work now on how we can get more people in the United Kingdom to play chess, because it’s so good for you.
“It’s a great skill and it’s really good for helping you think and it’s a great hobby.”
Malcolm Pein, the English Chess Federation’s international director, said this would mark the first time that the Government has supported chess in “any serious sense”.
He told the PA news agency that some of the reasoning behind the funding push now was a need to “upskill” and make “Britain smarter” as well as chess being “enormously popular”.
Mr Pein added that the “transferable skills” could be used in cyber defence and computer programming jobs.
He also said that, at the moment, England’s chess players are “doing very badly” but there is some success for their younger players, who could get coaching with new funding.
The International Chess Federation currently ranks England’s male team as 18th and the female team as 24th.
Mr Pein said the federation wants to allocate money to computer analysis of games and travel expenses for competitions along with getting more female players involved.
Chess is a recognised sport in “most other countries”, Mr Pein said, but not in the UK so the federation cannot access funding from Sport England.
He said: “We don’t mind if the support comes from Sport England, or if it comes from the Government as long as it comes.
“Although what I would say is that the amounts of money that have been given to chess are very small compared with other sports, when you consider (our) participation statistics (which) totally dwarf most other sports.”
Mr Pein also said he hopes that schools get classroom chess lessons so female players do not feel the urge to “run away” from a club that only has male players as members.
“We think chess should actually be taught as an academic subject, if only because it means that girls play at the same rigorous participation (rate) as boys,” he said.
Downing Street and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have been contacted for comment.