Rachel Reeves plays chess with locals on visit to Ukraine
Self-professed “geek” Rachel Reeves has played chess since she was a child, and was a teenage champion.
When Mykola and Vasyl headed to Taras Shevchenko Park in Kyiv to play chess, they wouldn’t have expected to have a match against the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Yet on Rachel Reeves’ visit to Kyiv, she took a break to play games against the pair.
Ukraine has a strong culture of outdoor chess, with many parks having tables with boards built in.
Shevchenko Park, where the Chancellor played, is known as “chess courtyard”.
They are designed to help war veterans and keep up that sense of community spirit in the face of Russia’s invasion.
Ms Reeves has played chess since she was a child, and was a teenage champion.
She told the Guardian: “I am — I was — a geek. I played chess. I was the British girls’ under-14 champion.”
Ms Reeves has also spoken previously of slights from “posh boys” at chess tournaments who thought they could beat her because she was a girl from a comprehensive school.
The Chancellor met with Ukraine’s Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, on her visit to Kyiv over the weekend, alongside British and Ukrainian defence companies producing cutting-edge battlefield technology that is supporting the war effort.
She paid respects to those killed during Russia’s invasion at the memorial wall at the iconic St Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, and also saw damage at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, one of Europe's holiest sites, that was hit by a major Russian attack earlier this month.
Ms Reeves said: “The UK's support for Ukraine is ironclad. I'm proud to visit Kyiv to see the benefits of UK investment.
"Our partnership is not only helping Ukraine on the battlefield, but providing the financial firepower to build back stronger, help vulnerable people and protect critical infrastructure.
"Ukraine's security is Europe's security and we will continue to support the people of Ukraine."