Really cool event from local non-profit Words Beats and Life: a hip hop chess tournament called Bum Rush the Boards. Registration is $10 and it takes place on April 21 at the Columbia Heights Rec Center, 1480 Girard Street NW. This is their 7th edition of the tourney, and here’s what they have to say about it:
By connecting hip-hop to chess, WBL has created a chess tournament that exposes youth to the arts and strategies that requires them to think ahead, to manage talent and to size up their adversaries. We recognized that these skills were not only useful in both chess and hip-hop, but in business and life, as well. Members of the Wu- Tang Clan, one of hip-hop’s most influential rap groups, have long served as the hip-hop community’s most impactful chess ambassadors. Their unique ability to merge the strategies and principles of chess and kung fu opened the minds of a whole generation to new strategies for success. It is our intention that this festival will continue that legacy.
The event is for all ages, and aside from the tourney, there will be
- New games in the Remix Room.
- 2012 Bumrush the boards Mixtape and Music Video
- A Chess Invitational – hop-hop artists, scholars, journalists, athletes, elected officials, and their staff invited to participate.
And the chess tournament is part of a larger festival, with a happy hour, two hip-hop concert, and more. Here’s the full schedule.
To get you in the hip-hop chess mood, here’s Wu Tang’s “Da Mystery of Chessboxin”:
Photo from WBL’s website.
