Zoomers Set For Hand & Brain ChessTV Takeover This Saturday

Chess.com's Team Battle series continues on Saturday, April 11 at 12 p.m. Pacific Time (20:00 Central European Time) on Twitch.tv/Chess. This month's theme, Zoomers Play Chess will feature a teenage clash between Chess.com's top teen streamers.  

IM Hans Niemann and Andrea Botez will play against IM Carissa Yip and NM Justin Liang, with the majority of proceeds going to NoKidHungry, an organization dedicated to providing food for children in need, particularly those most affected by COVID-19.

The match will last three hours, featuring a 15+10 time control. The two teams of two players will play hand and brain to score as many points as they can before time runs out.

The COVID-19 crisis warrants fundraising for needful communities, and I’m glad we can fulfill this charitable cause with our match. 

—IM Carissa Yip

This team battle's prize fund will feature $500 in cash as a starting point with 40 percent of all in-stream donations going towards the prize fund with the remaining 60 percent going towards charities aimed at serving those coping with mental health challenges during the prolonged quarantine.

"As us zoomers say: easy dub,” said Carissa Yip on the match. "But on a more serious note, the ongoing COVID-19 crisis warrants fundraising for needful communities, and I’m glad we can fulfill this charitable cause with our match."

Justin Liang, a national master and active Twitch streamer, will be making his debut on Saturday as Carissa's teammate.

Liang had the following to say about the upcoming match: "Hans has adopted me, and I've adopted Andrea, so that evens out. But also having Carissa as a partner definitely makes this look like an easy win."

Along with playing for the prize pool, the players will compete on behalf of charities aimed at combating the negative mental health effects attributed to prolonged isolation, and viewers will be able to donate to them during the stream.

"It’s going to be difficult for me to carry Hans, but I know I can do it. Hans will bring the trash talk, and I will bring the energy," said Botez on teaming up with Niemann. Last January, Niemann reached the Puzzle Battle World Championship semifinals after upsetting GM Hikaru Nakamura.

Niemann, the American International Master with two grandmaster norms to his name, will be making his Team Battles debut. While he can regularly be found on the Chess.com servers playing blitz and bullet against the best players in the world, he was looking forward to the upcoming change of pace.

“I’m excited to be representing the zoomer chess community. This match has a lot of personalities and I looked forward to some eventful trash talk," Niemann said. “I’m also very happy to raise money for NoKidHungry. I live in New York and I’ve volunteered at chess in the schools which helps underprivileged kids through the game of chess. I have friends who rely on school for meals so I’m very happy that this stream will go to making sure every kid has food.”

The last edition of Team Battles saw over $3,500 donated during the stream which contributed towards COVID-19 research and prevention around the world.

This team battle continues a series of creative clashes, including Femme Batale, Chess.com vs Chessbrah, and more on Twitch.tv/Chess and Chess.com/TV.