USA
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Homegoing for Herminio Baez Jr. (1954-2018)
Herminio Baez On yesterday I received the unfortunate news that Herminio Baez, Jr. passed away on Wednesday morning May 2nd. He was 63. The proud chess-playing father left was survived by his loving soul mate of 38 years Daniella Baez, four children including his three sons Antonio, Steven, Chris and…
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Justus Williams at 2018 Bangkok Open
FM Justus WilliamsPhoto by Daaim Shabazz FM Justus Williams of Webster University has spent the semester abroad in Thailand at the satellite campus. He is finishing his second year and appears to be having a great time thus far. He told me back in February, “Thailand has been great so…
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Chicago’s Cops & Kids Chess initiative
America is on fire once again. Another death of an unarmed man at the hand of police officers has evoked nationwide protests. In that aftermatch of numerous similar incidents, organizations are attempting to affect change to prevent these types of tragedies from recurring. Chicago’s David Heiser of Renaissance Knights Chess…
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Caruana holding steady at 2018 Candidates
During this rest day, the 2018 World Candidates tournament is heading toward a very exciting ending. America’s Fabiano Caruana has held sole lead (6/9) for a couple of rounds breaking away from Shahkriyar Mamedyarov (5½/9), also undefeated. Caruana has had a very solid showing thus far and only obstinate defense…
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Tremil Anderson, YouTube chess sensation!
12-year old Tremil AndersonPhoto by LA Chess Club Sometimes serendipity smacks you in the face. Last night while on Facebook I get a Facebook Live alert from Valerie Idehen that Maurice Ashley was playing blitz in Los Angeles’ Starbucks. I tune in and watch him beat several players with 5:1…
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Chicago CC to host GM Ramirez
Blitz Battle on January 27th!Daniel X Jones vs. GM Alejandro Ramirez The Chicago Chess Club will be hosting their first major event of the year when GM Alejandro Ramirez will be coming to the Windy City for a simultaneous exhibition and a match with Daniel X Jones. Promoter Nathan Kelly…
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Trump invites Norwegians to the U.S. Is Carlsen coming?
Prime Minister Erna Solberg and President Donald Trumpdays before his infamous remarks.Photo by CNBC President Donald Trump has had a tumultuous tenure in his year in the Oval Office. Constantly dogged by Tweets, off-color comments, contradictions, he was recently blasted for making disparaging comments about Haitians, Nigerians and Africans in…
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Webster’s New York chess crew makes history
Four young men from New York have continued their ambitions in chess at Webster University under the tutelage of Grandmaster Susan Polgar and Paul Truong. Shawn Swindell was the first to enter Webster and he also plays on the basketball team. He was followed by FIDE Masters Joshua Colas and…
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Revisiting Baraka Shabazz
Baraka Shabazz at Dupont CirclePhoto by Washington Post Recently on Facebook, BJ McCurdy of Los Angeles raised a question on the whereabouts of Baraka Shabazz (unrelated to this writer). For the uninitiated, Baraka was a teenage sensation who experienced a meteoric rise in the late 70s. She was the subject…
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