Changing Lives One Chess Set At A Time

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The first thing I noticed about Russell Makofsky was how busy he was. When he joined our scheduled video call, he was on a bus and later caught an Uber before finally getting home. Through the halts and crackle of intermittent reception, he told me of a recent visit to Portland, Maine, to set up a refugee shelter with chess sets. Earlier that day, he launched a bi-lingual chess center in Times Square. It immediately became clear to me that Makofsky’s drive and passion for the cause are instrumental to the success he and The Gift of Chess team have. 

Joining us on our call was recent MIT graduate, Wall Street financial analyst, and founding board member for The Gift of Chess Tyrone Davis III. He is leading the company in raising money through corporate sponsors and getting hands-on in the distribution of chess sets across America and the globe. 

Russell, tell me more about the inception of The Gift of Chess. You worked with Tani Adewumi, a Nigerian refugee, who earned the Fide Master title at 10 years old while living in a homeless shelter and garnered national attention. How did his story impact you?

R: I always wanted to do humanitarian work, and I never understood you could give out a chess set and someone could use it to build a community. Tani’s story showed me the power of chess to change a life. The impact his story made connected me to a larger global community, and I heard from people everywhere, “if Tani can do it, we can do it.” 

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, many of us lost physical and social interactions. Especially for kids, this was incredibly difficult. This became the impetus to create The Gift of Chess. By gifting chess sets, our hope was that kids and adults could rebuild their communities and reconnect in person. We used chess as a tool for human interaction. 

Many humanitarian organizations only have one initiative. You have four: youth, global, prison, and refugee outreach. Why are you focusing on four and do you worry about distributing funds and attention equally between them?

R: It really comes down to an opportunity to serve. Refugees are flooding into NYC, and we deal with things as they arise. In prisons, there is a lack of programming and opportunities. In Africa, there were almost no chess sets. In fact, in the 2022 African Championship run by FIDE, do you know whose chess sets they were using? Ours. When a door opens, we have to go right through it. I don’t care if we spend 99% of our budget on refugees, but if we have an impact, great. 

In under two years you have achieved a long list of accomplishments including sponsoring the Intercontinental Prison Championship, partnered with multiple banks, and begun distribution throughout Africa. Recently Malala Yousafzi highlighted you on her blog. What do you credit your success to?

R: Willingness to try. Willingness to get on a train, plane, or automobile. Willingness to walk, talk, and put ourselves out there and execute. Tyrone got on a plane from MIT on spring break to Lagos, Nigeria, to help distribute chess sets to the slums. Who does that? He did. Tyrone and I went into prison cells on Rikers Island and stood shoulder to shoulder with guys serving hard time to distribute chess sets. Who does that? We did.

T: Also, realizing the power of chess to bring people together and empower them. When you understand that going to communities without access to the game and giving them an outlet for their minds allows them to escape their physical confinement, everything leads back to that empowerment. We are bringing it to people and allowing chess to do the work.

Tyrone, you recently traveled to Lagos, Nigeria, to distribute 500 chess sets alongside Tunde Onakoya and Chess in Slums. Russell, you just opened a bilingual chess center in Times Square. What does it mean for children and their families to receive this support?

R: For the people who go to our center, the microcosm of chess gives them a chance to work and be good at something. Being an immigrant or refugee, you face so many disadvantages. Chess empowers and connects kids and their families across language barriers and other obstacles they face. Most importantly, chess doesn’t discriminate. It’s universal, and over the board, you can beat someone of any status despite your background. Tyrone can allude to this. When he first started coming around, he interacted with everyone and was treated equally.

T: The ability to demand respect. I’ve experienced that, and I hope the kids in Lagos feel the same thing where they can demand respect in all aspects of their life and not just over a chessboard. They will realize they have intrinsic value in life. It doesn’t matter your background. Giving that child the power to do this themselves transcends chess. 

Tyrone, Not only are you bringing chess to disadvantaged communities, but now you want to manufacture chess sets in Africa. How are you currently sourcing sets and funding these initiatives?

T: At first it was through family and friends, now it’s corporate events and crowdsourcing donations. We want to build industry around this game. This is a chance for us to create economic opportunities for Africans. Chess can bring them not just community and mental stimulation, but economic freedom. Most of the sets you buy today are from China. We can diversify that and distribute that prosperity to other countries.

What is the product life cycle like from idea to completion?

R: These are ideas to bring something into existence. We aren’t going back to Rikers or Lagos. We’ve planted a seed, and it’s their turn to make it grow. Real sustainable growth will come through an established ecosystem for mass distribution. To scale distribution sustainably, we partnered with Edovo to connect us with over 200 facilities in the United States to distribute our app and grow the community. When I went to Hutchinson Correctional, I met Tony Ballard, our Director of Prison Outreach. With his help, we plan to continue our distribution of chess as a cognitive rehabilitation tool to those currently and previously incarcerated.

What are your goals for the future of The Gift of Chess?

T: As previously mentioned, we want to build an industry in Africa by manufacturing chess sets, whether it's 3D printing or injection molding. We want the communities to benefit from the game, not just intellectually or socially, but also financially. 

R: Furthermore, we are in a global crisis in many areas: lack of education, lack of opportunities, the refugee crisis, and mass incarceration. Chess is a low-cost catalyst for change. You can introduce chess to a wide variety of social issues, and it can be effective because it touches on many issues. It gives people the capacity to think independently and, more importantly, to connect with each other.

Some responses have been abbreviated for brevity and clarity.