Media Stories
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Grand Chess Tour meets Didier Drogba!
When one thinks of the Ivory Coast, several things come to mind including their world-famous cocoa, but one unmistakable characterization is that the land of 23 million is a football-crazy nation. During the lead up of the Grand Chess Tour, there were a lot of promotional content including photos of…
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2019 Rapid & Blitz (Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire)
The Grand Chess Tour has begun! Ten of the world’s top players have assembled in Abidjan, the economic capital of Cote d’Ivoire, to launch the first event of the season. World Champion Magnus Carlsen will headline the 2019 Rapid and Blitz field after having had a blistering first half of…
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Detroit Chess podcast features Daaim Shabazz
Detroit’s Derek Wilder hosted his weekly podcast and invited me on the show. We discussed a number of issues including the founding of The Chess Drum, the autobiography of Emory Tate (Triple Exclam), methods of chess improvement, the value of blitz chess, harnessing talent in the Black community, and possibilities…
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Cote d’Ivoire days away from epic chess event!
All chess roads lead to Africa! On Tuesday, May 7th, ten of the world’s strongest players will gather in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire for the Grand Chess Tour Rapid & Blitz. It will feature the resurgent World Champion Magnus Carlsen who recently won his third straight supertournament by winning the Grenke…
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Zim’s Masango wins Zambian Open with 8/8!
It is rare that one gets a perfect score in a chess tournament. The most famous example is Bobby Fischer’s 11/11 at the 1963-64 U.S. Championship in New York City. As a result, he got an interview on the cover of Life magazine. Spencer Masango of Zimbabwe will have to…
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St. Vincent & the Grenadines joins chess world!
ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES CHESS FEDERATION LAUNCHED! GM Nigel Short (FIDE Vice President), The Honorable Ralph Gonsalves (SVG Prime Minister) and Ian Wilkinson QC (FIDE Vice President) President of Jamaican Chess Federation The evening of Monday, March 4, 2019 saw history being created in St. Vincent & The Grenadines…
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Phiona Mutesi reflects on life after “Queen of Katwe”
About 14 years ago, a little girl in Katwe, Uganda followed her older brother who was increasingly occupied with an activity after school. After seeing him disappear inside of a building, she wandered inside and found the Sports Outreach Institute, a sports club where there was a chess club meeting…
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Orrin Hudson “Pays it Forward” in 2019
The Chess Drum has featured Orrin C. Hudson since 2002, nearly two years after the founding of Besomeone, Inc. In dozens of articles on this site, we have seen him tirelessly dedicate himself to helping youth to make better decisions through chess. Hudson recently gave an in-depth interview for AIB…
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Chess in Djibouti!
Djibouti at 2018 Chess OlympiadPhoto by Federation Djiboutienne de Jeu d’Echecs Africa continues to expand and add more countries to the community of chess nations. Djibouti, a country of 9.5 million bordering Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, has reemerged from a long hiatus of almost 20 years. The federation registered three…
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Who will challenge Carlsen in 2020?
The 2018 World Rapid and Blitz Championships ended a couple of weeks ago. World Champion Magnus Carlsen was in the field facing many of the elite players. It is his first event since successfully defending his title against Fabiano Caruana. While he lost his rapid title, he totally dominated the…
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