A group of strong-minded and strong-legged chess enthusiasts banded together and walked 13 miles (21 kilometers) across New York on March 16 to raise over $11,000 for The Gift of Chess.
This charitable organization seeks to transform lives through chess, aiming to donate one million chess sets globally by 2030 to expand opportunities and create connections across society.
Russell Makofsky spearheaded the walk, which started at the George Washington Bridge and finished at the Brooklyn Bridge. In true chess fashion, several stops to play games and connect with the local community (and pick up a slice of New York pizza) were included along the way.
Makofsky launched The Gift of Chess in 2021 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, originally to distribute 10,000 chess sets to public school students across New York City.
Since then, the organization has expanded and donated over 75,000 chess sets to countries around the world, with another 41,000 currently being shipped. Key initiatives include work in education, prisons, and refugee outreach.
This year’s walk is the first of what Makofsky hopes to be many more, with next year’s event planned for March 16 once again. The significance behind the date? His birthday, and the fifth anniversary of FM Tanitoluwa Adewumi‘s story being published in the New York Times.
“Chess means so much to so many people,” Makofsky said at the start of the walk. “Everybody that’s fighting for education, fighting for opportunity, fighting for equality, fighting to be heard—I’m walking with you guys today.”
Everybody that’s fighting for education, fighting for opportunity, fighting for equality, fighting to be heard—I’m walking with you guys today.
— Russell Makofsky
Along the way, members of the local chess community joined Makofsky on his trek, like IM Kassa Korley and board members of The Gift of Chess, Tyrone Davis III and Ryan Rodrigues.
Korley, a prominent fixture of the New York chess scene himself (and a Chess.com staff member), says: “Russell has run successful chess programs in NYC for years, and he’s now using his entrepreneurial talents to expose young people to chess in places that otherwise wouldn’t have it—and potentially change the trajectory of many lives in the process.”
There were also plenty of others walking alongside Makofsky, even if they weren’t physically there with him in New York. Simultaneous events took place in Kenya, Nigeria, Gambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Zambia, Uganda, and Ghana, all locations in which The Gift of Chess has helped run programs and initiatives.
Find out more about The Gift of Chess on their official website. There are plenty of ways to get involved through volunteering opportunities, ambassador roles, donations, and more.
The Walk With Us fundraiser remains open on a rolling basis, with next year’s event scheduled for March 16.
