Rachel Reeves has challenged Rishi Sunak to a game of chess amid reports that 100 tables will be installed in British public parks to boost the profile of the game. The shadow chancellor, who became the British girls’ chess champion aged 14, welcomed the reported proposals, and hoped her constituency of Leeds West would benefit. But she questioned whether there would be enough sets to go round. 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.” The prime minister is expected to announce a funding boost of £500,000 for the English Chess Federation, Bloomberg reported, with an announcement to expand the game in schools expected later this month.
Funding from Sport England cannot be accessed for the game as it is not officially recognised as a sport in England. Sunak has 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.” The proposals may fall under the prime minister’s plans to end the UK’s inherent “anti-maths mindset” that he believes has hampered efforts to improve numeracy. In a speech to students, teachers and others in north London planned for Monday, the prime minister is expected to argue that a failure to consider numeracy as basic a skill as reading was costing the UK economy huge sums. “I won’t sit back and allow this cultural sense that it’s OK to be bad at maths to put our children at a disadvantage. My campaign to transform our national approach to maths is not some ‘nice to have’. It’s about changing how we value maths in this country.”