The American IM John Bartholomew has said his upcoming visit to Battersea is “going to be a blast”.
Speaking on his hugely-popular YouTube channel, IM Bartholomew added that it will be the first time he has played a simul abroad.
John is flying to the UK on December 6 to take part in the London Chess Classic and promote his crowdfunding appeal for the chess site Chessable.
Hours after landing, he will take on 20 players at once in a simultaneous match at Battersea Chess Club as part of the Chessable campaign before holding another event in east London the following day.
Speaking about his trip, John said: “The day I get to London there is a simul that is being held by the Battersea Chess Club, which I am informed is London’s oldest continually existing chess club since 1885.
“These guys were nice enough to invite me to do a simul there and on this trip I am doing some promotion for Chessable, you might know that Chessable is crowdfunding our investment and we’re trying to raise money and this simul is one portion of this promotion that we’re doing.”
He added: “It’s going to be a blast, I’m just looking forward to it because I’ve never actually played a simul in different country before.
“I’ve played plenty of simuls in the US but I’ve never actually been invited to play a simul at a club abroad, so that’s going to be pretty cool.”
If you’d like to find out about the events and more rewards in John’s campaign click through to the Crowdcube site here.
