Chidobe Awuzie, the Cincinnati Bengals cornerback and all round good guy, is working with Chess.com and Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Greater Cincinnati to host a special chess workshop for kids this holiday season.
The 28-year-old professional football player and avid chess fan will be showing his game plan to children at St. Boniface School in Ohio along with FM James Canty III and IM Kassa Korley from Chess.com.
Awuzie, who has his own bot on Chess.com, demonstrated his chess skills by winning the inaugural BlitzChamps NFL I tournament last year.
He followed that up by finishing runner-up to Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Drue Tranquill in the even stronger BlitzChamps II in June this year. Awuzie often compares his chess game to how he plays on the football field.
The event is aimed at around 44 children ranging from second to sixth grades and ninth to 12th grades. Korley and Canty will host a “Chess for Life” presentation followed by a simul also involving Awuzie. Students will be gifted chess sets and one month of Chess.com Diamond or ChessKid Gold subscriptions.
BBBS is a non-profit organization with the mission to “create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.” It is one of the oldest and largest youth mentoring organizations in the U.S.
As part of the program, adult volunteers are matched with children from age five to young adulthood in communities across the country for mentorship.
Awuzie’s visit to St. Boniface School in Cincinnati’s Northside will take place on Tuesday, December 12, from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. ET. Watch out for updates on Chess.com.
