They raised money.

They won prizes.

And they spent the better part of a day not playing video games.

About 30 people participated in the first-ever Super Joey Foundation charity chess tournament. The event was held at the Bay Spring Community Center in early March.

Barrington High School freshman Mia He helped organize the event — she volunteers for the Super Joey Foundation, which is a non-profit that works to ensure no child fights cancer alone. 

He said the chess players were split into two groups: Beginner and intermediate, and played three rounds of competition. 

“… after every round the players would get a 10-minute break as they were paired to a new opponent,” He wrote in an email to the Barrington Times. “On this break, we had some small games available where you could solve chess puzzles and play chess games to receive mini-prizes.”

The fans were allowed to stay and watch or they could sit in the lobby and have refreshments. Some parents also dropped off their children for the tournament. 

Chris Mangahas, Xavier Ordonez, and Ivy Lu were the top three competitors in the intermediate group, while Euan Williams, Angelina Ding, and Oscar Chen were the top three in the beginner group. 

“We got some feedback from the families that participated,” He wrote. “One of our young competitors was very sad after he lost the first round. Our volunteers tried to cheer him up by introducing him to some of the small chess games we had available. With the help of the volunteers, he solved the one step checkmate and earned a dum-dum. He immediately started smiling and cheerfully went back for the second round of the chess tournament. 

“We heard from his mother that when he got home, he continued to play chess for the rest of the day.”

He said others were equally happy with the tournament.

“Another family told us that they were very happy that their kids didn’t spend the whole day playing video games,” He wrote. 

The tournament raised $270 which went to the Ronald McDonald House. 

He wanted to thank the town for the use of the Bay Spring Community Center and some tables. Yi Wang, a US Chess Federation Senior Tournament Director, helped with the event, and Levon Ye, an expert level chess player in RI, helped review competitors’ games.