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Jamaica
Historic Moments: ‘Magnificence in Bled: The 35th Chess Olympiad’
“Magnificence In Bled: The 35th Chess Olympiad” Author: Ian WilkinsonPublisher: LMH Publishing LimitedReviewed by: Balford Henry For the past two years “chess don” Ian Wilkinson has not only served the Jamaica Chess Federation (JCF) as its president, but has worked feverishly on completing his book, “Magnificence In Bled: The 35th…
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Europe
Reflections on the Mallorca Olympiad
Looking back on my first Olympiad, it was by all counts a very positive experience. I got to reunite with a few chess friends, see players whom I have covered for the past four years and interact with some of the top chess personalities in the world. On the other…
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Tournaments
Historic Moments: African-American Unity Chess Tournaments (1992)
When those following chess in the Black chess community worldwide are asked about a famous tournament in Harlem comprising of strong chess players of African descent, they will invariably mention the Wilbert Paige Memorial. However, there was a precedent. Maurice Ashley (right) sent a provocative letter calling for an initiative…
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Confessions of a Former Chess Jerk
Confessions of a Former Chess Jerkby Steven B. Dowd, Ph.D. As we age, dates blend, so forgive me for not giving exact dates. I remember Judge George Leighton not because he was an African-American, but because of his sportsmanship. One day David Sprenkle, the future Illinois and now Washington FM,…
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Historic Moments
Historic Moments: Africans in the 2004 FIDE World Championship
Clockwise (L-R) GM Hichem Hamdouchi (Morocco), IM Amon Simutowe (Zambia), IM Ahmed Adly (Egypt) and IM-elect Kenny Solomon (South Africa). The Dawn of a New Beginning The 2004 FIDE World Knockout Championship was a historic event for many reasons. First, it is the next step toward unification; secondly, the tournament…
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Sri Lanka
FM Sunil Weeramantry: Reflections on Libya
Ever so often the chess community is blessed with a special personality. Sometimes that person is heralded as the next great player, but how often do we here about the people that are responsible for helping those players become great? A native of Sri Lanka, FM Sunil Weeramantry has been…
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Generation Chess at the 102nd New York Masters
Generation Chess at the Mastersby GM Maurice Ashley Last year I wrote an article that protested the high incidence of so-called “Grandmaster Draws” in top level chess. The world-wide outpouring of support for this point of view was tremendous: fans from Germany to Australia vented their ire via numerous emails…
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U.S. Open
Historic Moments: 1989 U.S. Open Photo Gallery
Reflections on the 1989 U.S. Open The year of 1989 was an interesting year for Black chess. Maurice Ashley and Emory Tate had begun to get the recognition they had long deserved and had continued to prove themselves. Both starred at the 1988 New York Open earning IM norms. In…
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Opinion/Editorials
Is Chess Being “Outsourced?”
Outsourcing in Perspective With all of the discussion about U.S. jobs moving offshore to low-cost areas, there is an interesting parallel in chess. Both of these phenomena involve the emergence of technology. In the former case, multinational corporations seek to maximize efficiency and profits by moving production to cost centers…
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HBCU Chess
Howard defeats Tuskegee 3-1 in Collegiate Showdown!
In 2002, Vaughn Bennett had begun to contact The Chess Drum about Howard University’s Chess Club and the activities they were organizing. Since then, the prestigious university has increased its activity, which has culminated in an appearance at the Pan-Am Intercollegiate tournament last year in Miami. Around the same time that year,…
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