Stephen Muhammad, pioneering International Master (1962-2024)

Stephen leaves to cherish his memories: one sister: Cheryle (Harold) Stewart, Plaquemine, LA; four brothers, Michael Booth of Columbus, GA; Ronald Booth, Sr (Gwen), Atlanta, GA; Robert (Genevieve), Booth, Austin, TX; Garth Booth, Palo Alto, CA. A host of nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

Military Brat to Chess Pioneer

Stephen Alaska Booth was born on January 24, 1962, at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, as the fifth of seven children (Cheryle was the oldest and only girl). His parents were Reinard Booth and Jessie Bell Wardlaw, and he got his middle name “Alaska” from his paternal grandfather who was Alaska Golden Booth. His father served as a career soldier (Sergeant Major) and took his family to Munich, Germany, where he was based for three years.

According to his older brother Ronald, the family loved the experience abroad. After returning to the U.S. in 1968, the Booth family settled in Columbus, Georgia, at Ft. Benning (now Ft. Moore) and in 1975 in Tuskegee, Alabama, where Stephen attended Booker T. Washington High School. At around age 10, Stephen was taught chess by his older brother Timothy, who had learned the game from their father.

After losing to Stephen, Timothy refused to play him again. Seeking more competition for his growing chess appetite, Stephen later entered his first tournament. In a 2002 interview with The Chess Drum, Muhammad recounted the experience.

“I believe my first tournament was at Tuskegee Institute University, my father taught Military Science there, so I was allowed to play even though I was in high school at the time. I did not win or anything and I don’t remember my exact score, but I do remember coming away with a terrible headache! That is not where my love for chess began for sure.”

After graduating from Booker T. Washington High, Muhammad spent three years in the Army as a Station Technical Controller. He was able to spend time in Korea, where his father also served. His first rating was 1537, earned at the Army qualifier at Ft. Meade in Maryland in 1981. What happened after that was a rapid increase in his interest in chess.

Upon his discharge, he was hired by American Airlines and settled in the Los Angeles area. There, he developed a reputation on the Santa Monica beach as a keen blitz player. After a couple of successful tournaments as a class player, he was completely hooked. He achieved his National Master’s title in 1989 and became Senior Master only three years later in 1992.

(Note: I met Muhammad (then Booth) in 1990 at the World Open and shared with him my vision of a chess network for Black chess players. Along with Maurice Ashley and Jones Murphy, we discussed many topics in George Umezinwa’s room. Stephen was in the corner smoking a cigar… listening quietly and mostly disagreeing!)

Formative Chess Years in LA

While in Los Angeles, he enjoyed organizing tournaments at his apartment, the unofficial hangout spot for chess. He loved the social aspect of chess and would also talk about his penchant for good beer and cigars. As he continued to improve, he showed success beating strong Grandmasters such as Johann Hjartarson, Eduard Gufeld, Walter Browne, Michael Rohde, Rosendo Carrean Balinas, and Semon Palatnik. The World Open was one of the best stages for Muhammad as he scored many impressive wins.

“My highest rating was 2460, I think that came from the World Open in 1997 where I defeated two GMs and an IM, drew with two GMs and was undefeated until my seventh-round loss to GM Vladimir Epishin. My performance for that event was 2647. The following year I defeated GM Alexander Goldin in the 8th round and was playing GM Alexander Shabalov in the last round for first place! Unfortunately, I did not win what would have been a history-making game.”

Muhammad notable stats…

Peak USCF rating: 2461 (after 1997 Southern Open)
Peak FIDE rating: 2400 (after 2003 World Open)
Notable wins: Sergey Kudrin, Larry Christiansen, Johann Hjartarson, Eduard Gufeld, Walter Browne, Michael Rohde, Alexander Goldin
Notable results: Five-Time Georgia State Champion (1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2007), Wilbert Paige Memorial (1st IM norm); 1997 World Open (2647 TPR), 2002 World Open (2nd IM norm, 2634 TPR), 2003 U.S. Championship (3rd IM norm)

Georgia on My Mind

Muhammad left American Airlines under distressing circumstances, alleging a toxic environment. After leaving the West Coast, Muhammad resettled in Columbus and began to drive two hours to integrate into the Atlanta chess scene. It would be a pleasant situation for him to be close to family and have access to a thriving chess community. There were many changes upon his return to his roots. One of the positive changes was being able to continue his higher education at Auburn University in Alabama.

After being inspired by the 1995 Million Man March, he began studying Islam and the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. In personal testimonials, he was open about the fast life he lived… drinking, smoking, and partying. He would later drop all intoxicants and go on a month-long fast with a concoction that contained cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and honey. He frequently invoked the book How to Eat to Live, which advocates eating one meal a day.

Although Muhammad played in major events (thanks partly to his perks with American Airlines), he did not have many opportunities to play in “norm” tournaments. These are tournaments where you can qualify for international rank or titles. Thus, he fattened up on Georgia tournaments dominating the scene.

Photos by Daaim Shabazz/The Chess Drum

One of the things Stephen loved to do was drive from Columbus to Atlanta and have chess “get togethers.” As soon as he rode into town, he would call the chess crew and was ready to organize an impromptu blitz tournament for a small entry fee. He was always full of energy and laughs during these battles and usually outclassed everyone in these small chess groups.

In the early 2000s, Muhammad started to get more serious about the pursuit of international chess titles. Like many Black chess players, Muhammad was inspired by Maurice Ashley’s 1999 attainment of the Grandmaster title. He had strong results in the World Open, but there were few norm opportunities. In the 2000s, he began his onslaught and racked up impressive results at the Philadelphia tournament. In the meantime, he was able to finish his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering at Auburn University (1998-2001).

The Wilbert Paige Breakthrough

Jerry Bibuld was a sympathizer of Black chess players and often encouraged them to seek norms. He had a vast collection of photographs of players from Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas. He also collected data to build a database on “Afro-American” players. In 2001, Bibuld organized a tournament in Harlem, New York, which was designed to give norm opportunities to players of the African Diaspora.

Dr. Jones Murphy financed the event, and it was held at the Hotel Theresa in the offices of the Harlem Educational Activities Fund (HEAF). Maurice Ashley and National Master Jerald Times worked there as instructors of the after-school program and prepared the area for the tournament. Muhammad was in high spirits and played a thrilling blitz match with Ashley, coming up short. However, it was a good warm-up.

There was a good atmosphere, and everyone was ready to prove their worth. In the end, Muhammad won the tournament for his first IM norm and perhaps the biggest tournament win in his career. He lost only to Kenny Solomon and yielded draws to William Morrison Michael Schleifer, and clinching the tournament with a draw against Uganda’s Grace Nsubuga.

Stephen Muhammad, Winner of 2001 Wilbert Paige Memorial
Photos by Daaim Shabazz/The Chess Drum

Games from Wilbert Paige Memorial

The Wilbert Paige win was a one-of-a-kind tournament, and Muhammad’s win gave him tremendous confidence going forward. In the next five years, he put together impressive results, qualifying for the U.S. Championship three times and earning two more IM norms to clinch the title. His second norm received a nice applause during a meeting of Black players at the tournament.

“We talked over the phone on several occasions, and he showed me his WAR ROOM. I was blown away by the amount of effort he put into chess. Books were everywhere, computers, impressive.”

~National Master Glenn Bady

He also won a few more Georgia state titles before retiring from active play in 2007 to focus more on his religious studies of Islam. He continued to participate in chess camps and give lessons, but he felt pursuing the GM title was not feasible. The Wilbert Paige Memorial was a great event, and there has not been another over-the-board (OTB) tournament quite like it. The Chess Drum was the tournament’s official site and reached its highest viewership since it was founded months earlier. The only blot on the tournament record was the absence of Emory Tate, who was not on good terms with Bibuld.

Many Faces of Stephen Muhammad

Muhammad was a five-time Georgia State Champion, Florida State Champion, and Alabama State Champion. He earned his IM title in 2003 and participated in three U.S. Championships (2003, 2004, 2006). He was the first player of African descent to compete in a U.S. Championship and scored his best result in 2003 (Seattle, Washington) when he clinched the IM title with his third norm (2629 TPR). He often trekked from Columbus, Georgia, to Atlanta and other southern towns, where he was a force until 2007 when he won his last state title.

Here was a nice finish against IM Michael Mulyar…

What was Muhammad really like as a chess player? He played 1.d4 and favored the London system. With Black, he sometimes played the Dutch Defense 1…f5 against 1.d4 and responded 1…e5 against 1.e4. He eschewed heavily theoretical lines but knew the lines he played very well. He was also a master at managing his time in blitz.

Despite his positional style, he had a keen eye for tactics and was an absolute terror in 3-minute blitz. He wanted to be known more for aggressive play than for the positional openings he played. FM Todd Andrews told The Chess Drum, “Dude was a warrior. He beat me in a blitz match like 100-5 the week I worked with him.”

Muhammad used the handle “phasor” and reached over 3000 on the ICC when it was a rarity. He was one of the pioneers in Walter Browne’s World Blitz Chess Association. Ironically, he drew most of his chess inspiration from fiercely tactical players such as Alexander Alekhine, Mikhail Tal, and Garry Kasparov.

“My strongest inspiration during my developmental years would probably be Alexander Alekhine. The player who inspired me most among those to whom I had access would unquestionably be Emory Tate.”

~Stephen Muhammad

Here is a game that he was particularly proud of, and he annotated it for the magazine Georgia Chess.

While he got a lot of motivation from Emory Tate, he also admired Maurice Ashley whom he played in a couple of epic blitz battles. One was during the Wilbert Paige Memorial, but the historic encounter was a 28-game match after the 2003 U.S. Championship.

(Note: Muhammad was in a good mood after earning his final IM norm. He called me looking for blitz action, but I was too tired. He then called Ashley’s room and asked if he wanted some lessons in blitz! Ashley could be heard yelling “Oooooooh!!!!” We met in Muhammad’s room, and a heavyweight battle ensued. There were serious blows as Muhammad got off to a quick start. In one beautiful sequence, he mated Ashley with a knight and queen… Qf7+ Kd8 Ng5-e6+ Kc8 Qc7 mate, playing the moves instantly and slamming the queen down on checkmate. Muhammad started dancing to the music that was playing in the background. Maurice came back and won the next game brilliantly, and he started dancing in his seat. I was glad to be the fly on the wall, although I fell asleep from fatigue. When I woke up, it was past midnight. It was a match of streaks. At one point, Ashley was ahead, but Muhammad rallied, and the match ended 14-14. )

Memorable Blitz Battle! Muhammad vs. Ashley. Notice the timestamps.
Photos by Daaim Shabazz

The Last Stand

On February 5th, 2025, word started to circulate about Muhammad’s passing in December. Local organizer and director Tiffany Harris made the discovery of an online obituary while attempting to contact Muhammad about his pending Georgia Hall of Fame induction. Dan Lucas contacted Daaim Shabazz, and a public announcement was made on The Chess Drum. Those who knew Muhammad were in absolute shock, given his attention to his diet and health. Shabazz talked to his brother Ron Booth for about an hour and a half and got the story.

Generally upbeat and optimistic, he told Ron that he had been feeling extremely tired and short of breath. These were the only apparent symptoms. In August of 2024, Muhammad collapsed in the parking lot of a Walgreens in Columbus. After going to the hospital, tests were conducted, and it was discovered that he had developed an aggressive cancer of the colon. Faced with the devastating news, he fought as best he could and considered his options.

Muhammad made one last stand on Saturday, December 7th. After calls from relatives went unanswered, a wellness check was made. Upon arrival, police found him unconscious at his home in Columbus. He was taken to Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, but doctors were not able to improve his state. He was removed from the ventilator and passed away on Sunday, December 8th. About 100 family and friends celebrated his life on December 21st, 2024, in the Chapel of Progressive.

“And every soul will come, with it a driver and a witness.”

~Surah 50:21

“Brother Stephen” was a very principled man with a strong faith. Despite his diagnosis, he always had his younger brother Michael in mind. Michael was a “special needs” adult, and Muhammad had cared for him after their mother passed away in 2023. Through life lessons, he understood the beauty of submission and the importance of sacrifice. Despite his strong religious orientation, he maintained his cordial persona. He was particularly conscious about the plight of his community and was the minister of a local mosque in Columbus, Georgia for many years.

Whether he spoke of diet, chess, or religion, he understood their principles and wanted to share. Chess had done a lot to grant him honor and respect. In turn, he gave honor and respect to chess and its enthusiasts. While he retired from tournament play, he continued to give lessons and show his passion for chess. For his service, he will be inducted into the Georgia Chess Hall of Fame in April. He would have been proud to receive such an honor. Long live Muhammad!

Peace and Blessings.
May Allah be pleased with his good deeds. Amin.