By Mane Berikyan
Nearly 100 students in the Los Angeles area gathered to play in a “Chess Tournament for Artsakh” hosted by the All-Armenian Student Association and chess clubs from LA-area universities including the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Southern California (USC) and the California State University of Northridge (CSUN).
The event, which brought together young Armenians and chess players of all skill levels for a day-long tournament, raised over $4,400 for Teach for Armenia’s Artsakh Emergency Response fundraiser to support the more than 20,000 forcibly displaced students from Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Many of these students are now in Armenia seeking shelter and new schools for enrollment. We are deeply grateful to our long-time partner All-ASA for responding to the crisis by rallying critical support for our emergency response within its network of student associations,” Katrina Shakarian, Head of Development at Teach For Armenia, told CivilNet.
“With All-ASA’s support, over the next year we aim to help up to 5,000 students from Artsakh access coordinated services, integrate into new environments, and heal from the scars of war.”
Teach for Armenia is a non-profit organization in Armenia working to provide educational opportunities for children through various programs and initiatives.
The chess tournament was a first-of-its-kind event organized by All-ASA, a student-run nonprofit which represents Armenian Student Associations in colleges and universities across the United States and worldwide. It was part of a month-long fundraising campaign in November, recognized by the organization as Artsakh Awareness Month, which raised several thousand dollars for TFA’s campaign.
Anna Ramazyan, a UCLA student and an executive board member at All-ASA who organized the tournament, said the event helped bring exposure about Armenian issues to non-Armenian audiences. More than one-third of the participants were non-Armenian students, she pointed out.
“Chess is more than a board game to me,” Ramazyan said. “Chess is a game where everyone gets together and peacefully plays regardless of nationality, religion or culture.”
Cash prizes were awarded to the top 10 players, made possible by funding from local business sponsors and buy-in donations from players.
The recipient of the first place award was Gabriel Sam, a fourth-year student at UCLA and a member of the university’s chess club. Sam, a chess player of 14 years who has a USCF rating of 2340, said he was there in support of a “great cause.”
Many Armenian players at the tournament echoed the sentiment.
Hunter Pruett, a student at Glendale Community College, underscored the importance of Teach for Armenia’s mission.
“They’re helping build Armenian education, which is really the future of the country,” he said.
The post LA students gather to play chess for Artsakh appeared first on CIVILNET.