The only free day at the Chess Olympiad offers a perfect opportunity to rest, recharge, and gather thoughts before the second half of the tournament. It’s also a wonderful chance to explore Budapest and participate in various chess activities.

The day was filled with chess events across the city. In the morning, filming for Juga’s unreleased chess song, “Queen Trap,” took place at the Hungarian Museum of Fine Arts. Juga, renowned in the chess world for her hit songs with chess themes, embarked on an ambitious project to highlight the best female chess players and women in chess roles—organizers, streamers, photographers, and arbiters.

Participants included Alexandra Kosteniuk, Pia Cramling, Jovanka Houska, Natalia Zhukova, and many others. This artistic project, in collaboration with the FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess, will result in a short music film to be released on Juga’s channels.

During the filming, a heartwarming moment occurred when Jorge proposed to Maria, and she said yes. Both play for Panama’s national teams at the Chess Olympiad. They met and bonded over chess when Maria moved to Panama from Venezuela. This beautiful moment can be seen on the @fidewomen Instagram channel, with the witty comment, “The queen got trapped.”

Judit Polgar’s Global Chess Festival opened at the National Gallery. Over the past ten years, it has become a must-attend event, offering a full-day family experience centered around chess. The festival features games, workshops, chess tournaments, and more. This year’s festival patron is Ernő Rubik, the famous Hungarian inventor known for the Rubik’s Cube.

Judit Polgar played a simul against eight communities, featuring creators and representatives from various fields. The legendary Polgar sisters—Susan, Sofia, and Judit—held a popular autograph session. Argentine chess prodigy, 10-year-old Faustino Oro, an international master with a 2434 FIDE rating, also visited the festival and participated in the activities. The festival will continue on the second day with the Educational Chess Summit at the Intercontinental Hotel.

While many chess players explored the city, world champion Ding Liren and challenger Gukesh D had a significant engagement—a photoshoot and filming session for the upcoming World Championship match in Singapore. Their paths may cross again soon, as they could face each other on the chessboard in the highly anticipated India vs. China match in Round 7!

After the photoshoot, the world champion headed to the football field to participate in a friendly football tournament for chess players. Many Olympiad participants joined in, divided into six teams: Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, Hungary, and FIDE. After intense matches, Team Europe emerged victorious, with the Americas finishing second, Asia third, and FIDE fourth.

The highlight of this wonderful day was a concert by chess grandmaster and Hungarian legend Lajos Portisch.

At 87, he still sings opera arias. From 6 pm, he performed German, Italian, and Hungarian opera arias at the Petőfi Museum of Literature.

Written by WGM Anna Burtasova

Photos: Michal Walusza, Mark Livshitz and Mihály Nagy

Official website: chessolympiad2024.fide.com