Dresden and chess - a very special connection. And not just since Dresden hosted the Chess Olympiad in 2008, putting it at the center of the chess world. Grandmaster Wolfgang Uhlmann comes from here, chess is taught at the city's sports high school and its best student Elisabeth Pähtz is now not only Germany's best-known chess player and the nation's only female chess professional, she is also in the top 20 of the world's elite women chess players.
So it was only natural that the topic of chess should also find its way into the Palais Sommer and that is exactly what it will do this coming weekend. Palais Sommer is transforming Neumarkt into a symbolic chessboard and inviting the city's chess enthusiasts to a sporting comparison on July 13 and 14.
The event kicks off on Saturday (July 13) at 10 am with a blitz open tournament for everyone. Chess fans can compete on 40 boards using the Swiss system. A second round of blitz chess begins at 12 noon.
On Sunday (14 July), Elisabeth Pähtz herself will do the honors. In addition to another Blitz Open (from 10 am), well-known friends and creators of the Palais Sommer will compete with the chess grandmaster in a VIP simultaneous match from 11 am. At 5 pm, the 39-year-old Erfurt native will then compete in a live game with her father and teacher Thomas Pähtz.
The two will not only let the audience look over their shoulders, but will also be part of a premiere. Because under the motto "Chess meets art" there will be the first chess concert. The Kaisers New World formation will accompany the action on the chessboard with music - without a script and completely spontaneously. In addition, the painter Oskar Staudinger entertains with a large live painting performance.
At the end of the chess weekend, the popular singer Barbara Thalheim will be on stage on Sunday evening (from 8 pm).
So it's all set for a weekend on 64 squares and a game that wasn't the favorite pastime of kings for nothing.
