The Chess Drum’s Highlights of 2014!
Chinese men became Olympiad champions for the first time!
Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
The year 2014 was an interesting campaign and The Chess Drum covered the action in 240 published articles. Magnus Carlsen successfully defended his title in November and we have a new Olympiad champion in China… the men!! The balance of power in chess is slowly shifting as recent youth events dominated by both China and India which means 20 years from now, we could be looking at a totally different chess world. New talents are emerging around the globe in far-flung places.
There were some novel tournament ideas such as the Millionaire Chess Open and the Qatar Masters, both first-rate tournaments setting records for prize fund and strength (for open tournaments). Hopefully this means that as a few major tournaments in Europe continue to die a slow death, other regions can reinvent and perhaps make up for the loss.
This year we saw a very contentious FIDE Presidential election. Garry Kasparov gave a valiant showing, but lost a bitter battle by a decisive margin. However Africa was a continent that showed its importance on the world stage and no longer can it simply be a matter of sending a few favors. Africa wants results and sustainability! As Asia has risen, this next decade may be Africa’s chance to shine.
Will Africa begin to rise in 2015?
December
- The Chess Drum’s Highlights of 2014! (31 December 2014)
- New in Chess (2014/8) (31 December 2014)
- Millionaire Chess #2 opens January 1st!! (31 December 2014)
- ‘A Fork, A Spoon and A Knight’ (30 December 2014)
- African Chess: 2014 in Perspective (30 December 2014)
- Gambia gets new chess home! (30 December 2014)
- Chess in Burkina Faso (28 December 2014)
- Lesotho launching “MiniChess” program! (26 December 2014)
- Holiday Message from Jamaican Chess Prez (25 December 2014)
- Moten, HEAF… chess instruction revisited (24 December 2014)
- King Solomon reigns at 2014 African Championship! (22 December 2014)
- 2014 African Individual Championships (Windhoek, Namibia) (21 December 2014)
- Anand wins 2014 London Chess Classic! (17 December 2014)
- ‘Pushing Wood’ at Millionaire Chess (16 December 2014)
- Josh Colas launches GM campaign! (14 December 2014)
- GM Jean-Marc N’Djofang… Draughts’ African Lion (13 December 2014)
- 2014 World Mind Games (Beijing, China) (11 December 2014)
- 2014 London Classic (London, England) (8 December 2014)
- New in Chess (2014/7) (7 December 2014)
- DC Girls Chess…Queens Rule! (5 December 2014)
- 9th Annual ‘Bum Rush The Boards’ (2 December 2014)
- ‘Living Like Kings’… a royal treat! (2 December 2014)
November
- WCC2014: Closing Ceremonies (27 November 2014)
- Nakamura beats Aronian in Showdown! (27 November 2014)
- WCC2014-11: Carlsen defends Title 6.5-4.5! (23 November 2014)
- 2014 South Sudan Chess Nationals (23 November 2014)
- WCC2014-10: Curry hot + Nordic cool = draw (22 November 2014)
- Alpha Phi Alpha hosts 2014 Cleveland Scholastic Chess (20 November 2014)
- WCC2014-9: Carlsen still +1 after quick draw (20 November 2014)
- Lupita Nyong’o to star in ‘Queen of Katwe’ film (19 November 2014)
- WCC2014-8: Draw! Zzzzzzzzzz! (18 November 2014)
- WCC2014-7: Tortuous battle drawn in 122 moves (18 November 2014)
- WCC2014-6: Knightmare loss for Anand! (15 November 2014)
- The Journal of Chess Research (15 November 2014)
- WCC2014-5: Tense draw… match still tied (14 November 2014)
- 2014 Ghana National Championships (14 November 2014)
- Kenya nets 5000 sets from Kasparov (KCF) (14 November 2014)
- Invitation 2014 African Individuals (Namibia) (14 November 2014)
- WCC2014-4: No fireworks in Sicilian (12 November 2014)
- WCC2014-3: Tiger breaks Thor’s hammer! (11 November 2014)
- WCC2014-2: Anand slips, Carlsen ahead (10 November 2014)
- WCC2014-1: Wild Ride… Soft Landing (8 November 2014)
- WCC2014: Opening Day (8 November 2014)
- 2014 World Chess Championship (Carlsen vs. Anand) (7 November 2014)
- 2014 World Chess Championship begins tomorrow! (6 November 2014)
- Cleveland Alphas host Colas, Black (4 November 2014)
October
- Be Someone in Lithonia on 11/15 at 10! (30 October 2014)
- Murphy’s Law: Thoughts on Millionaire Chess (28 October 2014)
- Detroit City Chess Club on Public TV! (26 October 2014)
- Reflections of the Millionaire Chess Open (22 October 2014)
- “Living Like Kings” panel… HOT!!! (20 October 2014)
- Drum Interviews @ Millionaire Chess Open (17 October 2014)
- Wesley So wins 1st Millionaire Open!! (16 October 2014)
- Millionaire Chess Open: Day Three (12 October 2014)
- Millionaire Chess Open: Day Two (11 October 2014)
- Millionaire Chess Open: Day One (10 October 2014)
- HHCF and WCHOF present ‘Living Like Kings’ (10 October 2014)
- October 2014FIDERatings (9 October 2014)
- 2014 Millionaire Chess Open (Las Vegas, NV) (5 October 2014)
- Harlem’sFlower and Chess Man (3 October 2014)
September
- New in Chess (2014/6) (30 September 2014)
- Reflections of 2014 Sinquefield Cup (30 September 2014)
- Carlsson 3rd in 2014 Swedish Closed (20 September 2014)
- Make Chess look like a Million Bucks! (17 September 2014)
- FIDE’s African Problem (13 September 2014)
- Is Caruana the next contender? (11 September 2014)
- Ashley interview on Millionaire Chess, Part 3 (8 September 2014)
- 2014 Sinquefield Cup: Round #10 (7 September 2014)
- 2014 Sinquefield Cup: Round #9 (6 September 2014)
- 2014 Sinquefield Cup: Round #8 (6 September 2014)
- 2014 Sinquefield Cup: Round #7 (4 September 2014)
- 2014 Sinquefield Cup: Round #6 (2 September 2014)
- New in Chess (2014/5) (2 September 2014)
- 2014 Sinquefield Cup: Round #5 (1 September 2014)
August
- 2014 Sinquefield Cup: Round #4 (31 August 2014)
- 2014 Sinquefield Cup: Round #3 (30 August 2014)
- 2014 Sinquefield Cup: Round #2 (29 August 2014)
- 2014 Sinquefield Cup: Round #1 (28 August 2014)
- 2014 Sinquefield Cup (St. Louis, USA) (27 August 2014)
- James “Black Knight” Taylor: 1947-2014 (26 August 2014)
- Relections on Tromso Olympiad (22 August 2014)
- Drum Interviews @ ’14 Olympiad (18 August 2014)
- 2014 Chess Olympiad: Closing Ceremonies (17 August 2014)
- 2014 Chess Olympiad: Round #11 (14 August 2014)
- 2014 Chess Olympiad: Round #10 (13 August 2014)
- Ilyumzhinov wins 2014 FIDE election 110-61 (12 August 2014)
- 2014 Chess Olympiad: Round #9 (11 August 2014)
- 2014 Chess Olympiad: Round #8 (11 August 2014)
- African tensions boil at 2014 Olympiad (10 August 2014)
- 2014 Chess Olympiad: Round #7 (10 August 2014)
- 2014 Chess Olympiad: Round #6 (9 August 2014)
- The Chess Drum with Claudia Munoz (8 August 2014)
- Conrad “Lightening” Holt wins U.S. Open! (8 August 2014)
- 2014 Chess Olympiad: Round #5 (7 August 2014)
- 2014 Chess Olympiad: Round #4 (6 August 2014)
- Darrian Robinson in the news! (5 August 2014)
- 2014 Chess Olympiad: Round #3 (4 August 2014)
- 2014 Chess Olympiad: Round #2 (4 August 2014)
- 2014 Chess Olympiad: Round #1 (3 August 2014)
- 2014 Chess Olympiad: Opening Ceremonies (3 August 2014)
- 2014 Chess Olympiad (Tromso, Norway) (1 August 2014)
- Josh Colas @ 2014 Denker (1 August 2014)
- 2014 Olympiad starts tomorrow! (1 August 2014)
July
- 2014 Olympiad starts tomorrow! (31 July 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Open (Orlando, USA) (30 July 2014)
- Images of Prison Chess… by Oliver Fluck (27 July 2014)
- Hip-Hop Educational Pedagogy? (26 July 2014)
- The Legacy of the ‘Black Knight’ (22 July 2014)
- Dispute solved… all teams on for ’14 Olympiad (21 July 2014)
- New in Chess (2014/4) (19 July 2014)
- Russia women to miss 2014 Olympiad? (17 July 2014)
- Millionaire Chess July 31st deadline coming! (16 July 2014)
- HHCF Grand Opening! (16 July 2014)
- Black Stars @ ’14 World Open (15 July 2014)
- Meeting Walter Harris, Chess Pioneer (15 July 2014)
- Emory Tate wows in NORCAL simul (15 July 2014)
- Aikhoje denounces FIDE fight in Africa (13 July 2014)
- “Gabon-Gate” heats up… legal docs fly (13 July 2014)
- Ghana’s 1st FIDE-rated tourney! (12 July 2014)
- Drum Interviews @ ’14 World Open (10 July 2014)
- Smirin conquers ’14 World Open (10 July 2014)
- 2014 World Open (Arlington, USA) (5 July 2014)
- Kassa Korley gets 3rd IM norm…title! (2 July 2014)
- Visit pontus-carlsson.com! (1 July 2014)
June
- Raising a Champion… The Carlsen Way (30 June 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Junior Closed (Round #9) (30 June 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Junior Closed (Round #8) (29 June 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Junior Closed (Round #7) (27 June 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Junior Closed (Round #6) (26 June 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Junior Closed (Round #5) (24 June 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Junior Closed (Round #4) (24 June 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Junior Closed (Round #3) (24 June 2014)
- FIDE Election Rumble in “Gabon-Gate” (23 June 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Junior Closed (Round #2) (22 June 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Junior Closed (Round #1) (21 June 2014)
- Williams gets 2nd IM norm (18 June 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Junior Closed (16 June 2014)
- 2014 Olympiad drawing near! (15 June 2014)
- Wilkinson in Greece @ FIDE World Court (11 June 2014)
- Emory Tate @ Cali Chess Camp (6 June 2014)
- Follow the Drum Beat!! (1 June 2014)
- New in Chess (2014/3) (1 June 2014)
May
- 2014 Froemke Memorial (Tallahassee) (31 May 2014)
- Sargissian takes 2014 Chicago Open (31 May 2014)
- 2014 Olympiad prep progressing (31 May 2014)
- Will Smith touts Millionaire Chess (30 May 2014)
- Anand in Tanzania June 5th (22 May 2014)
- Sean Miller interviews Shabazz (The Chess Drum) (22 May 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Championships: Kamsky, Krush repeat! (21 May 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Championships: Going to Playoffs! (20 May 2014)
- 2014 Jamaica National Championships (19 May 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Championships: More Thrills (19 May 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Championships: Fire on Board! (17 May 2014)
- Hudson seeking $10K grant… needs votes (17 May 2014)
- Millionaire Chess… “Spread the Word” (17 May 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Championships: Blunderful Round (17 May 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Championships: Akobian on top! (15 May 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Championships: Fit to be Tied (14 May 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Championships: Krush continues rampage (13 May 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Championships: Lenderman leads (13 May 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Championships (Round #3) (13 May 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Championships (Round #2) (13 May 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Championships (Round #1) (13 May 2014)
- 2014 Uganda Olympiad Team (12 May 2014)
- Jamaica’s Wilkinson joins Kasparov2014 (11 May 2014)
- 2014 U.S. Championships (St. Louis, USA) (9 May 2014)
- 2014 Heroes Cup (Barbados) (8 May 2014)
April
- Ashley interview on Millionaire Chess, Part 2 (27 April 2014)
- Theophilus Thompson’s book recreated! (21 April 2014)
- Ivy Amoko: Ugandan Olympiad Ace (18 April 2014)
- Red Bull signs Nakamura (17 April 2014)
- New in Chess (2014/2) (17 April 2014)
- Mutesi, ‘Queen of Katwe’ on 33-day tour! (15 April 2014)
- South Africa’s ‘Moves for Life’ moves on! (12 April 2014)
- Kasparov… Jamaican Chess is ‘vibrant’ (12 April 2014)
- The State of Chess in America (panel) (9 April 2014)
- Millionaire Chess… it’s a go! (7 April 2014)
- Be Someone 2014 Spring Break Camp! (6 April 2014)
- Kasparov2014 campaigns in Jamaica! (5 April 2014)
- Chess Mom for NY Civil Court Judge (5 April 2014)
- The Decision: Millionaire Chess Open (4 April 2014)
- HHCF starts Los Angeles push! (4 April 2014)
March
- World Candidates 2014-14: Anand wins… naysayers silenced (31 March 2014)
- 2014 Subzonal 2.3.5 (Port of Spain, Trinidad) (30 March 2014)
- Diamond hopes to sparkle at 2014 Nationals (30 March 2014)
- World Candidates 2014-13: It’s a rematch! (29 March 2014)
- World Candidates 2014-12: Topalov flees cellar (27 March 2014)
- Ashley Statement on the Millionaire Open (27 March 2014)
- World Candidates 2014-11: Kramnik KOed! (25 March 2014)
- 1st Annual Ron Simpson Memorial (25 March 2014)
- Zimbabwe’s 2014 Olympiad Team (24 March 2014)
- World Candidates 2014-9: Anand bolts ahead! (24 March 2014)
- World Candidates 2014-8: 1.5 pts. separates field (23 March 2014)
- World Candidates 2014-7: Fire on Board… Dead Heat! (22 March 2014)
- World Candidates 2014-6: The Plot Thickens! (19 March 2014)
- World Candidates 2014-5: Peter the Great (18 March 2014)
- World Candidates 2014-4: Aronian bounces back! (18 March 2014)
- Millionaire Chess Information Center (17 March 2014)
- World Candidates 2014-3: Anand crushes (16 March 2014)
- 16 days for Millionaire Chess push! (15 March 2014)
- World Candidates 2014-2: Blood Boils in Round 2 (14 March 2014)
- World Candidates 2014-1: The Tiger Pounces! (14 March 2014)
- 2014 World Chess Candidates (Khanty-Mansiysk) (13 March 2014)
- Nakamura joins Florida Panther chess mission! (13 March 2014)
- St. Louis Legend, Leroy Muhammad (1945-2014) (12 March 2014)
- Uganda wins ‘Battle for Migingo’ (11 March 2014)
- FIDE 2014: The Scramble for Africa (7 March 2014)
- chess24.com launches Olympiad website! (6 March 2014)
- HHCF’s ‘Mind Over Matter’ panel rocks! (5 March 2014)
- Ashley interview on Millionaire Chess, Part 1 (3 March 2014)
- “On the Scene” with Jerald Times (2 March 2014)
- The Congo to host 2015 All-Africa Games (1 March 2014)
- RZA repeats as HHCF King! (1 March 2014)
- 2014 Gambia Open kicks off! (1 March 2014)
February
- Chess through the eyes of Black History (26 February 2014)
- Ilyumzhinov in Togo and Cameroon (26 February 2014)
- Malawi and Tanzania Chess in Action! (24 February 2014)
- Ashley: Why should Chess exist at all? (24 February 2014)
- Douglass’ Chess rises in Memphis!? (19 February 2014)
- Zambia’s touts 2014 Olympiad Squad (19 February 2014)
- West African feds support Kasparov2014 (17 February 2014)
- New in Chess (2014/1) (16 February 2014)
- Guyana Chess elects new Cabinet! (16 February 2014)
- FIDE Women’s Commission busy in Africa (15 February 2014)
- 2014 Candidates one month away! (14 February 2014)
- Happy Birthday! The Chess Drum is 13! (12 February 2014)
- Carlsen marches on after Zurich win! (7 February 2014)
- FIDE election heats up… accusations fly (4 February 2014)
- 2013 African Junior Championships (Tiaret, Algeria) (2 February 2014)
January
- Update on Millionaire Chess (29 January 2014)
- Aronian wins 2014 Tata Steel! (29 January 2014)
- Kasparov campaigns in Nigeria (26 January 2014)
- Chess Adventure in Vietnam (25 January 2014)
- Review: Life of a King (21 January 2014)
- Bernadette Hickman passes away (18 January 2014)
- Rap icon RZA to defend chess title in 2014 (12 January 2014)
- 2014 Tata Steel Chess (Wijk aan Zee) (12 January 2014)
- Drum beats in Vietnam! (9 January 2014)
- Krush to face 50 in Detroit (5 January 2014)
- The Chess Drum’s Highlights of 2013! (1 January 2014)
I truly appreciate the artwork you have been producing over the years. I wish you continued good health and energy to keep the beat drumming for many more years to come. I am looking forward to seeing great things in 2015 God willing!
Thanks Guy! I can say that out of the hundreds of thousands of people who have encountered at least one page of 20,000+ pages of The Chess Drum, only a small number of people show appreciation for the effort expended… and actually tells me. You’re one of them. Thanks for the support. It’s been a long 14-year journey in an often thankless pursuit of recording history and news. Sometimes the encouragement is the difference between continuing the pursuit or finding something else to do.
Daaim, I guess you could be wrong! You have a very very very large community which appreciate your efforts. While the Chess Drum historical significant is still being written, it’s importants and potential will be greatly evoked when the unknowing masses awake to challenge kids to improve the quality of their games and their life.
THANKs TO THE CHESS DRUM AND MR. DAAIM SHABBAZ
Thank you Mr Shabbaz for another great year of great commentary in the chess world, especially in the african american community.