Chess Educator, Ernest Levert passes (1990-2025)

Daaim Shabazz January 11, 2025

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The greatest service one can give to their community is love and time.

Dear Chess Community,

It is with deep regret that I inform the chess community of the passing of Ernest Levert, Jr on January 8th, 2024. He is survived by his wife Ivory, daughter Zamya, and son Zenith. This tragedy occurred only one month before his son Zenith was born. He also leaves to keep his legacy alive, his parents, Ernest Sr. and Dr. Rhonda Hagey-Levert.

Please keep the Levert family in your hearts and prayers.

Daaim Shabazz, The Chess Drum

Tribute to the Black King

Back in November, we ran a story about Ernest Levert, Jr., a resident of Columbus, Ohio. After experiencing intense headaches, he was rushed to emergency on March 23rd. He was treated and released but suffered an aneurysm just 12 days later on April 3rd. Emergency surgery was needed to manage the “brain bleed,” but the aneurysm had resulted in a debilitating condition. Recovery would be a slow process, but the Levert family would fight.

Ernest had several more surgeries and entered rehabilitation at various facilities, including Shirley Ryan in Chicago. Both parents became his caregivers and his mother Dr. Rhonda Levert, an internist in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, facilitated his care with medical staff at Northwestern Hospital.

His wife Ivory cataloged the events on a webpage called “Healing Ernest.” In story-form, the page details the events of the emergency room visit on March 23rd (intense headaches) and hospital admittance on April 3rd (aneurysm), to the birth of their son, and finally, photos with his children during his rehab in Chicago.

*March 23rd: Ernest and wife Ivory after an emergency room visit after he experienced Intense headaches.*

What was inspiring was the way the community came together to offer support to Ivory and the two children. There was a wonderful catalog of personal stories that friends and family told about Ernest. It was evident that he made quite an impression on those in his life. He touched so many, as evidenced by the stories found on Kudoboard.

KudoBoard (well-wishes) Beautiful stories!!

Despite his will to live and the tremendous support from his parents, wife, and children, he was unable to continue the fight. Ernest was only 34. However, it is a cause for celebration of the Levert family. If one looks at his relatively short life, it was one filled with purpose. We were members of the same college fraternity (Alpha Phi Alpha) and we had the same ideas of community engagement. I had several discussions with Ernest about the development of chess in the Black community. The community he built showed their appreciation and sent positive energy as he continued to fight his health challenges. Powerful!

Ernest was fully engaged in creating an environment where boys and girls could come, learn chess, and develop social skills that would breed them the confidence to take on the world. We finally met at the 2023 HBCU Chess Classic in Atlanta and shared in the special moment. He wanted to see this mission of promoting chess at Black universities nationwide.

Ernest making announcements at the 2023 HBCU Chess Classic in Atlanta, Georgia.
Photo by Daaim Shabazz/The Chess Drum

For someone with a biomedical engineering degree from The Ohio State University to choose a career in community development is admirable. He was a “selfless soldier,” a “truth warrior,” and a “conscious community connector.” There are so many lessons to be learned from his life. The stories on the Kudoboard should be required reading to show how beautiful chess can be.

Most of the chess world is shaped not by professional players or celebrities but by community volunteers who bring chess to the masses. Ernest, or “Ern,” was one of those whom you may not have known about, but he certainly held up the light and reflected the brilliance of chess to his community.

We are grateful for all you did, and may your memory and mission live on. Ase’!