Trade & Industry meets the Suburbs
Trade & Industry meets the Suburbs is a Swedish event to promote the integration of ethnic minorities and to work against segregation in society, using chess as a bridging tool. Chess can be played by everyone regardless of background or socioeconomic status, as the event highlights. The centrepiece is a tandem chess tournament where a business executive is paired with a child from the suburbs in a team where they alternate moves (without discussion).
24 teams compete and the format of the tournament is a round-robin with 6 teams in 4 groups. The group winners qualify for semifinal matches and, finally, there is a knockout until a winner is crowned. The time control is 3 minutes for all moves plus a 2-second increment per move. Among the players are Jan Stahlberg, Partner of EQT, Soren Mellstig, Chairman of Trelleborg Group and the astronaut Christer Fuglesang. The event is being held publicly in the Stockholm Central Train Station.