Stephen Eisenhauer, Dragon Con's Chess Playing Jawa, raises money for local charities

Dragon Con 2022 has come and gone, and this year saw 65,000 guests flood Downtown Atlanta with the joy of cosplay and fandom.

The convention raised more than $190,000 for this year’s chosen charity, which was Open Hand Atlanta, and about three thousand of those dollars came directly from the efforts of 22-year-old Stephen Eisenhauer, also known as the “Chess-Playing Jawa.” 

For the unfamiliar, Jawas are from the world of “Star Wars;” resellers of discarded scrap and wayward mechanicals, about three feet tall and with faces completely hidden behind robes, with the exception of their glowing yellow eyes. Over the last 11 years, “City Lights” senior producer Kim Drobes consistently noticed a particular Jawa at Dragon Con – one that sits at a table with a sign that reads, “Play chess with a Jawa.”