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A 13-year-old boy in Singapore has managed to raise more than S$8,000 for relief efforts in Ukraine by teaching chess lessons.

This amount surpassed his initial fundraising goal of S$3,000, and his subsequent stretched goal of S$6,000.

The boy, Goh Zi Han, was a student under Ukrainian chess Grandmaster Yuri Vovk, and had immediately thought of him when he heard about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, reported the Straits Times.

Wanted to help relief efforts in Ukraine

Goh shared on his campaign page that Vovk and his family were still in Ukraine, and wanted to do his part to help Ukraine.

He decided to embark on a new campaign "ChessforUkraine@Bartley" to raise funds to support the Singapore Red Cross' humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

He shared that before the pandemic, he had sparred with chess players from all around the world, including Ukraine.

"I really hope all of them are safe and well. I would like to do my part for Ukraine through chess!", the secondary one student from Raffles Institution wrote.

Goh is a chess Candidate Master, which is three rungs below the highest title of Grandmaster, according to an interview he did with ST in 2020.

Goh was named the Best Young Player at the Malta Open in 2018, and was the youngest qualifier for the Singapore National Men's Championship 2020, reported ST.

Hosted classes, playing 1v20 chess

Making good use of his chess expertise, Goh decided to hold chess lessons during the March school holidays over two sessions on Mar. 17.

He invited people to participate in face-to-face International Chess lessons in his neighbourhood in Bartley, and make a donation to his campaign.

ST reported that he had initially planned to raise S$3,000 for the campaign, but because the campaign was more successful than he thought, he decided to increase the goal to S$6,000.

His campaign has since surpassed both goals, raising S$8,680 at the time of writing.

For "Part 2" of Goh's campaign, he will be inviting 20 others to compete against him simultaneously.

The event will be streamed online on Apr. 3.

Funds raised will go to helping vulnerable in Ukraine

Proceeds from Goh's campaign will go to the Singapore Red Cross' humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

The campaign website stated that donations will provide "immediate aid for the vulnerable" in Ukraine, which include unaccompanied minors, women with children, elderly and people with disabilities.

Goh told ST that he chose to extend his campaign even after he reached his goal as he "want[ed] people to donate as much as possible to do our part for the cause."

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Top photo via Giving.sg