GMs Xiong and Li Win "Support our Heroes" Fundraiser

On Friday May 1st, Chess In Action, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, hosted a charity blitz fundraiser tournament called “Support Our Heroes” on chess.com. The objective of the event was to rally support for the thousands of doctors, nurses, emergency responders, aides, transport specialists, and other first responders who risk their lives every day fighting COVID-19. Before the onset of the pandemic, Chess In Action had focused on offering accessible chess support and training for children in the Greater Houston area.

Given the urgency of the crisis, brothers and co-founders Jason Wang and IM Justin Wang sought to encourage the chess community to provide an impactful response by supporting our health care workers. Consistent with this purpose, Chess In Action carefully selected two organizations that benefit from this event -- NYC Mayor’s Emergency Fund “Food For Heroes” program that delivers hot meals to medical workers, and the Sino Professional Association that delivers PPEs to hospitals nationwide. The event was enthusiastically supported by the chess community. Altogether, 76 players participated in the Open section, which was topped by GM Jeffery Xiong and GM Ruifeng Li at 8/9 (Xiong won on tiebreaker). FM Josiah Stearman finished close behind with 7/9. In addition, 38 players participated in the U1500 section. Here is one fun game from the event I played against IM Annie Wang.

[pgn] [Event "Support Our Heroes"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2020.05.01"] [Round "?"] [White "JustinWang1234"] [Black "TheHappyFarmer"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A14"] [WhiteElo "2598"] [BlackElo "2443"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:00:44"] [BlackClock "0:00:06"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. b3 O-O 6. Bb2 b6 7. e3 Bb7 8. Qe2 c5 9. c4 Nbd7 (9... Nc6 {to prepare d4.} 10. Rd1 dxc4 (10... d4 $6 11. exd4 cxd4 12. Ne5 Rc8 13. d3) 11. bxc4 Qc7 {It is the same position with the Knight on c6 instead of d7. The knight is probably better on c6 because it can move to a5 or b4 in some cases.}) 10. Nc3 Qc7 11. Rac1 Rac8 12. d3 $6 {I was worried that if I move the Knight on f3 away, my opponent will play d4, but here White has cxd4 and Nb5, winning the pawn.} (12. Nh4 $142 {is perfectly playable here and White is able to play f4 on the next move.}) 12... Rfd8 13. Rfd1 Qb8 14. Nb1 {Now this move is necessary because the queen is not under attack after Nb5 anymore.} Qa8 15. Ne1 dxc4 16. bxc4 Bxg2 17. Nxg2 Nb8 { The knight belongs to the c6-square.} 18. f4 Nc6 19. g4 Rd7 20. g5 Ne8 21. Nc3 Rcd8 22. a3 Nd6 {Now Black brings the knight to the f5-square which is a better square than e8.} 23. Ba1 $6 {White is trying to play Qb2 on the next move, but after Nf5, the d3-pawn would be hanging.} (23. h4 $142 Nf5 24. Ne4 { White will play h5-h6 next.}) 23... Nf5 24. Ne4 Bf8 25. Ng3 $6 {White's knight is already good on e4.} (25. Rb1 $142 {The rook is better on b1 to protect against b5.}) 25... Nce7 26. Nh5 $6 {The knight blocks the h4-h5-h6 play for White.} (26. Rb1 $142 {is still a useful move.}) 26... Ng6 27. Rd2 Qc6 28. Rcd1 $6 (28. Ng3 $142 {The g3-square is a better square for the knight than the h5-square.}) 28... Qc7 $6 (28... b5 $142 {is already possible.} 29. cxb5 Qxb5 $17 30. e4 $2 Nd4 31. Bxd4 Rxd4 32. f5 exf5 33. exf5 Re8 34. Qf2 Ne5 $19) 29. Qf2 Qc6 {This is a small waste of tempos, but White's position is still much worse.} 30. Bc3 (30. Ng3 b5) 30... a6 $17 31. e4 $2 {This move gives the d4-square to the knight, and any attempt to create counterplay on the kingside creates too many weaknesses.} (31. Ng3 b5 32. cxb5 axb5 33. Nxf5 exf5 34. h4 $17 {gives White some chances, but it is still probably lost.}) 31... Nd4 32. Bxd4 Rxd4 33. Ng3 (33. f5 Ne5 34. Qg3 Nxc4 $19) 33... b5 34. Ne2 R4d7 $19 { White cannot stop the loss of material.} 35. cxb5 axb5 36. Qg3 (36. Qe3 c4 37. d4 Ra8 38. Ra2 b4 $19) 36... c4 37. d4 (37. Qe3 cxd3 38. Rxd3 Bc5 $19) 37... Qxe4 38. Nc3 Qc6 39. Qe3 Ne7 40. Ne4 Nf5 41. Qe1 Nxd4 42. Qe3 Nf5 43. Qe2 Rxd2 44. Rxd2 Rxd2 45. Nxd2 c3 46. Nb3 Qd5 47. Qc2 Nd4 48. Nxd4 Qxd4+ 49. Kf1 Bxa3 50. Ne1 Qxf4+ 51. Ke2 Qe5+ 52. Kf1 Bc5 53. Qd3 b4 54. Nf3 Qd5 55. Qe2 b3 56. Qb5 c2 57. Qe8+ Bf8 58. g6 c1=Q+ {In the end, White was not able to generate an attack on the kingside due to a waste of several tempos. Overall, Black played almost all the best moves, with only a few minor inaccuracies.} 0-1[/pgn]

Live commentary for the Open section featured US Women’s Champion WGM Jennifer Yu and IM Andrew Hong. For the U1500 section, live commentary was provided by CM Michael Zheng, NM Arthur Xu, and Donald Johnson. You can replay the stream at https://www.twitch.tv/jenniferryu/videos and https://www.twitch.tv/savagezerking/videos respectively. The event raised over $2500, contributed by 83 donors from 22 different states. A warm thank you to all our participants and donors! This would not have been possible without the support of our chess community.