Rachel Reeves mocked as she splashes out £1.5m on chess lessons | Politics | News
Rachel announced that Rachel Reeves has invested £ 1.5 million in searching for the government’s search for chess wonders and transforming them into future grandmothers. After crying at the House of Commons, Chancellor tried to emphasize the positive one with a social media mail he congratulated and congratulated young players at a last event for his children.
“After playing chess at a young age, I know the transformational effect on young people. So today we allocate £ 1.5 million to identify, support and raise the highest -level players with the potential to compete at a global level.” Probably paying attention to the fact that the game had an increase in popularity in the UK, millions of people are now playing regularly.
However, many people who responded to the message in X have not been convinced that the money of the taxpayers was well used.
First, Pete Sanford shared a picture of Mrs. Reeves, who appeared miserable during the Prime Minister’s questions: “Tell the truth: You lost all of them …”
Firas Modad said: “Is the British economy part of the 4D chess movement, Rachel?” He said.
In the meantime, Stephen Sutton felt more important things to spend money: “These hopeless things. How about a basic plan to prevent us from breaking us?”
And Mark Hendray asked: “Why? The country has been broken. Taxpayers cannot get any more taxes. Then why does it spend on things that are not basic?”
According to estimates, six to nine million people play chess online or on the board. The rise of digital platforms significantly expanded the access of the game, especially among young demographies.
Online participation has exceeded the traditional club game. Chess.com, one of the biggest platforms, reports about 8.9 million registered users in the UK – placed the country between the top three globally, only behind the US and India. On the other hand, as a member of the official chess club, more players fell to digital formats by 41% in the last decade.
According to the latest figures, the demographic division between British players remains inclined, about 69% male and 31% female.
The British Chess Federation has accepted the need for more attempts to encourage wider participation among women and young players. While the ordinary game increased, the number of registered competitive players remained relatively flat.
In the beginning of 2025, BBC launched a series of Prime-Time Chess Contest, Chess Masters: The Endgame. The eight -part series on BBC Two and IPlayer attracted the highest viewers of about 900,000 viewers per episode.
The show, which was hosted by Sue Perkins and the interpretation of Grandmaster David Howell’s interpretation, was common to bring the game to a mainstream audience and to exhibit its emerging British talents.
The people’s interest in chess has led to an increase in consumer demand. Retailers reported that the sales of chess sets increased and took part in the advertising and fashion campaigns. Michael Adams, the highest -level player in England, has been among the most powerful of the country for more than twenty years.
The current world champion is China’s Ding Liren, which won the title in 2023. However, despite the permanent charm of human competition, no player today cannot realize the most powerful computer engines that dominate the game at the highest analytical level.
