It was the first esports tournament of its kind! Panda collaborated with Chess.com to host an invitational Chess tournament featuring eight top Super Smash Bros. players facing off against one another, with the help of some of the greatest Chess players in the world as their coaches.
Between February 6th to February 7th, we streamed all the action at The Smasher’s Gambit on Anna Cramling’s Twitch channel! The event also partnered with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, raising money for research towards achieving prevention and a cure for breast cancer.
In total, The Smasher’s Gambit raised over $10,000 for the BCRF and reached 50,000 viewers on Twitch! Viewers who donated to the fundraiser were also entered for a chance to win some BCRF gear throughout the weekend.
The Players and Coaches
The bracket for Smasher's Gambit has been set!
— Panda (@PandaGlobal) February 4, 2021
Opening Round:@gsmVoiD vs @C9Mang0 @PG_ESAM vs @iBDWSSBM @LudwigAhgren vs @Marss_NE @HugS86 vs @TSM_Leffen
Tune in February 6-7th to @AnnaCramling's Twitch channel to catch all the action. pic.twitter.com/vBII9YZYLl
The Smasher’s Gambit featured top Smash players from both the Melee and Ultimate scene. Including Panda’s own Tyler “Marss” Martins, Eric “ESAM” Lew, Team Cloud9’s Joseph “Mang0” Marquez, and Team Dignitas’s Hugo “HugS” Gonzalez. As well as famous Smash content creator and streamer, Ludwig “Ludwig” Ahgren.
Many of these players have faced each other in Smash but had yet to go up against one another in Chess. Since this was a new battlefield for many of them, each Smash player was paired up with a master Chess coach.
Some of the invited top chess players included Qiyo “Nemo” Zhou, Robert Hess, and Alessia Santeramo.
Along with leading the stream, Anna Cramling coached Marss throughout the event. A true Panda power duo!
HugS Wins the First Smasher’s Gambit!
After weeks of preparation, a wild weekend of chess matches, and a total of $10,138.35 raised for @BCRFcure, The Smasher's Gambit finally comes to a close.
— Panda (@PandaGlobal) February 8, 2021
Congratulations to @HugS86 for taking it home. pic.twitter.com/a9pEPDnXjx
After many thrilling rounds of Chess, The Smasher’s Gambit was ultimately won by HugS, who was coached by Woman FIDE Master Alessia Santeramo! HugS was able to claim the champion title after defeating Counter Logic Gaming’s James “VoiD” Makekau-Tyson with a score of 2.5.
Panda is incredibly proud of the success of The Smasher’s Gambit. Our team took a chance in bringing together members of two esports communities and organizing an invitational event that had never been done before. In the end, we were able to raise over $10,000 for charity and create new connections between two esports scenes through a brand new tournament series.
-Kathryn “Ruffian” MacPherson