For chess and charity

By Kelli Comer

Last fall, Mastery School of Hawken sophomore Amogh Tripathi and Revere High School junior Anant Adury of the Northeast Ohio Chess Club ran the Northeast Ohio Open, a chess tournament held at Twin Haven Reception Center in Twinsburg. This impressive event garnered nearly 40 players from across the country, including U.S. Chess Federation National Master and International Master players.

“In the midst of chess, we partnered with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Summit County,” Amogh says. “Through this partnership, we donated $750 to the Creative Kids Program, which offers the opportunity for kids in Summit County with mental health issues to participate in extracurricular activities, such as chess.”

The Northeast Ohio Chess Club’s mission is to enrich the lives of those in Northeast Ohio through the advancement of critical thinking by promoting opportunities to play the game of chess, with hopes of spreading awareness to reach even more people across the country.

The club promotes the game of chess locally through tournaments and events throughout the Northeast Ohio area, spreading awareness to those who may be curious and want to learn the game. The club actively teaches and helps members analyze the games of other players in an interactive and educational fashion.

Supporting NAMI was at the forefront when organizing the tournament. “The thinking is, that along with the psychology associated with playing chess, there is a deep correlation with chess and mental health,” Amogh explains. “Chess has been known to help with numerous mental health difficulties.”

Find the Northeast Ohio Chess Club on Facebook @NEOChessClub. To learn more about NAMI, visit NAMISummit.org.