Number 108
Image source: Chess.com
NFL Chess King, Justin Reid,
Defends BlitzChamps Title
Featured Focus:
Athlete-Driven Impact, Direct Financial Support,
Youth Development
Scope of Impact: National
Eight NFL players recently converged on the chessboard to take part in the BlitzChamps tournament. This annual event champions the strategic acumen of these athletes while raising significant funds for charitable causes. Here’s what you should know:
Reigning Champion: Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid cemented his dominance, securing his second consecutive BlitzChamps title by defeating Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray in a captivating final match.
Impactful Philanthropy: Each participating NFL player competed for a share of a substantial prize pool, with all proceeds directed to their chosen charities. This initiative transforms competitive chess into a powerful vehicle for social good.
Beyond the Game: BlitzChamps illustrates how diverse talents among professional athletes can drive meaningful community impact, fostering a culture of giving and intellectual engagement.
We love the charitable outcome of this chess tournament, but we’re equally satisfied with how this initiative showcases a different side of these football players. It makes us go back to the “shut up and dribble” scandal and the age old effort to paint athletes as mindless jocks.
I don’t think we realize the mental capacity needed to understand, retain, and execute an NFL (or insert any other sport) game plan. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that athletes would be great chess players.
Competing to benefit charities is the entertaining cherry on top. It reminds us of DL #70, the Tampa Bay Giving Bowl, organized by The Baker & Emily Mayfield Foundation. We love these kinds of initiatives.
How many of you knew this was the fourth edition of this Blitzchamps tournament…??
Ok, let’s take a step back even further. How many of you had heard about the Blitzchamps tournament before reading about it on WIN | WIN…??
That’s what we thought!
We love that chess.com was streaming the tournament to make it accessible for a wider audience, but there’s so much more they could do to get visibility for this initiative. For example, instead of holding the tournament during the middle of the Stanley Cup Final and the NBA Finals, what if they leveraged the platform of the Pro Bowl or the Superbowl to magnify fans awareness and engagement?
Right now, there are only eight players participating each year. We’d love to see a format with one player representing each of the NFL teams to turn it into a mini March Madness bracket. Maybe even a peer-to-peer fundraising mechanism to help fans donate to the charities represented in the tournament.
And lastly, we think would be pretty easy to find one or more brand sponsors to increase the prize pool, and the impact. There’s so much potential for more!
Other than poker and chess, what other types of tournaments could be organized to benefit charities across the country, and showcase the varied skillsets of professional athletes?
