The first Chess for Freedom Conference, the three-day event, organized by FIDE and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office (Chicago, USA), was held in Chicago, USA from the 17th to 20th of May, 2023.

More than 40 participants, including FIDE officials, representatives of national chess federations and prison staff involved in programmes that introduce chess to inmates, dicussed concepts of using chess as a rehabilitation tool for incarcerated people. Experts from all over the world shared information about their national initiatives and approaches to teaching chess in prisons.

On the first day of the conference, the FIDE delegation visited the Cook County Jail, where chess programme was introduced to inmates more than 10 years ago.

On the second day, they participated in the plenary sessions, featuring many experts from the worldwide chess community presenting their national initiatives and approaches to teaching chess in prisons. Participants were greeted by the FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich: “We are here to summarize, analyze and share our best practices accumulated since the start of the project. We will put together our methodologies in teaching chess to prisoners as well as holding chess competitions inside correctional facilities and among them. I hope that we will engage more countries and be able to promote this programme around the world.”