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Opinion/Editorials
Chess at America’s HBCUs
Chess on collegiate campuses has been traditionally a way to pass time in between classes or to merely blow off steam from the rigors of academic study. A natural bonding activity, chess in America has not found much of a following on the universities and campuses across the land. According…
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Who will be the next Black Grandmaster?
Looking across the chess landscape of Black players, there are many who may have the desire to become Grandmasters… the most coveted title in chess. Several players of African descent have expressed an interest in earning the coveted title. The purpose of this essay is to examine some of the…
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How Bright will Black Stars Shine?
Jacob Wamala is one of the brightest scholastic stars on the horizon. He is the high school co-champion of Massachusetts and has a sister Jessica Wamala who will represent the state at the Polgar tournament for the second year in a row. Photo by Daaim Shabazz. Looking at the history…
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Africa
Can Pan-Africanism work in Chess?
Marcus Mosiah Garvey In the year 1900, people of African descent assembled in London, England for the 1st Pan-African Congress. The congress drew many luminaries from the Diaspora including those from mainland Africa, the Caribbean and the U.S. W.E.B. Dubois and Trinidadian Sylvester Williams were the main organizers of the…
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History of Afro-Brazilian Chess
While in Brazil last March, I often scanned the landscape for any sign of chess activity. Of course, chess is played widely in Brazil and the populous country produces some of the strongest players in Latin America. However, when I asked a lecturer about this history of chess among Afro-Brazilians,…
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USA
Historic Moments: James McCune Smith: Essay on CHESS
There are many heroes in Black history, but many have been long forgotten or at least unappreciated. Chess in the times of the Civil War took on a particular significance as it was often perceived as symbol of refinement and erudition. James McCune Smith was such a man of erudition.…
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Historic Moments
The Caged Bird: The Story of T.A. Thompson
Theophilus Thompson There are many mysteries in chess history, blank spots that have remained unfilled. One of the largest is the life of Theophilus Augustus Thompson, the talented American problemist of African decent. Jeremy Gaige’s Chess Personalia, the leading source of biographical data on chessists, only provides a single entry…
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Drum Majors
Historic Moments: A Conversation with Walter Harris
Every now and then I would gaze at the sliver of paper on my desk and see the name “Walter Harris” with a telephone number. It had been given to me by Charles Covington who keeps in contact with him. He thought it may be a good idea for me…
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