Charity Event Raises Over $7,500 For West Bengal, India
An Indian charity tournament held June 4-7 on Chess.com raised just over $7500 for the state of West Bengal, India, which was paralyzed by the Cyclone Amphan a couple of weeks ago. This event was a joint effort by Chess.com and Samay Raina, one of India's leading stand-up comedians.
The tournament was held in four categories on the Chess.com live server and was broadcast live on Raina's YouTube channel and on ChessTV. More than 2,000 users played across four days making this event a great success.
Guest appearances during the live show included GM Vidit Gujrathi, GM Adhiban Baskaran, Tanmay Bhat, Biswa Kalyan Rath, Raftaar, Abhishek Upmanyu, WFM Alexandra Botez, Vaibhav Sethia, and many more. The commentators included Samay Raina (host), IM Sagar Shah, and IM Rakesh Kulkarni (yours truly).
Here's the full show from day two for replay:
To participate in the event, users had to donate a minimum of $1.50 (INR 110 approx). A player could play on all four event days if their rating allowed. The rating groups were divided into four categories: 0-800, 0-1400, 0-1800 and one open to everyone on the final day.
There was an overwhelming response by Chess.com users throughout the globe with more than 2,000 players taking part across four days. On each event day, the players played a three-hour arena. Then, the top-four headed for a knockout to determine the top-four standings. The top four of every event won diamond memberships in prizes.
Big "Thank You" to all our wonderful users for making the Chess for West Bengal charity event a great success!
— Chess.com - India (@chesscom_in) June 9, 2020
More than 2000 players took part to raise more than $7500.
Grateful to @chesscom & @ReheSamay for all their help and efforts.
Replay here ➡️ https://t.co/pTVaDptsO5 pic.twitter.com/kAKcaWXROr
More importantly, $7,500 was collected by Chess.com donations and some more via other platforms and raised for the people affected by the Cyclone Amphan in West Bengal.
"I'm delighted with the response from the users and appreciate their generous contribution. I also hope they enjoyed playing it," said Raina, the instigator behind the event. "Raising money was our main intention but it was great to see everyone come together and play for a noble cause. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did."
Rakesh Kulkarni is the Director of Indian Social Media for Chess.com and a correspondent on chess in India.
Rakesh has earned the International Master title and is a former Commonwealth Blitz Champion and a Commonwealth Bronze medallist in the junior category. Rakesh has a Masters of Commerce degree in Management & Business administration. He now is a professional chess player and trains young talents across the globe on chess.com
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