About us
The people behind the walk
Founder of Chess Free Tour BCN and guide
Marc Pera
A primary-school teacher, passionate about chess and in love with Barcelona. He is an organiser at Catalunya Escacs Club, where he drives activities, classes and events to bring chess to people of all ages.
He has also been coordinator of the chess section at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Throughout his career he has taught chess in schools, clubs and cultural venues, and has also worked for the Catalan Chess Federation.
For him, chess is much more than a game: it is culture, education, creativity and a way of connecting with others. Alongside this, he researches the history of chess in Catalonia and its relationship with society and schools.
He has also had the chance to travel to different places around the world and take part in many tours. Through these experiences he has discovered different ways of telling the story of a city, its history and its culture.
That's why, with Chess Free Tour BCN, he wants to leave his own mark on his home city, Barcelona. The experience brings together three of his great passions: chess, local culture and gastronomy.
Marc invites you to walk, play, taste tapas and see Barcelona through new eyes, all while sharing a good time.
Author of “The benefits of chess”
Ramon Pérez
A primary-school teacher and educational psychologist, specialising in the research and application of educational chess during school hours as a tool for students' cognitive, social and emotional development. In practice, he stands out as coordinator and teacher of the EduEscacs programme at the FEDAC schools, where he brings the discipline to children from early years to secondary school, and where he created the TRACIS method. This pedagogical approach —based on tactics, reflection, analysis, communication, interaction and systematisation— aims above all to strengthen executive functions, critical thinking and school performance.
Beyond the classroom, his work extends to training, research and outreach. He works as a teacher trainer within the 'Chess at School' programme of the Government of Catalonia and the Catalan Chess Federation, is a member of the Chess and Educational Research Observatory at the University of Girona (UdG) and coordinates the reference portal eduescacs.cat. He also collaborates internationally with the US organisation Chess in Education (CIE) and is the author of two key books: Escacs educatius per a l'èxit escolar (2025) and Ajedrez en clase: donde no hablar está prohibido (2026). All this converges on the central focus of his work: researching how the benefits of educational chess can be effectively transferred to essential academic competencies such as reading comprehension, mathematical problem-solving and self-regulation.
