Opinion/Editorials
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Rene’ Phillips: Victim or Victor?
Rene’ Phillips (left) blitzing with Sulaiman Smith in Atlanta. Photo by Frank Johnson (shootfilm.net). There are many controversies in chess. Lately the chess world has had to address a number of cheating allegations of players who have tried to take advantage of the system. These players are often barred, suspended…
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Chess and the Dynamics of Business
Over the years there have been many attempts to use chess as metaphor to describe a number of different realities. Business is one of those realities finding a connection to the dynamics of chess given the use of strategy and tactics. However, what I find more often than not are…
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Is Chess Dead?
The future of chess has been in question since Bobby Fischer abdicated his world championship crown in 1975. Fischer had broken the Soviet juggernaut single-handedly and was poised to bring chess the type of exposure that would draw sponsorships far and near. However, the title soon fell back into the…
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Vantage Point: Chess and Assassination Plots
Assassination plots have always held intrigue in America, a nation having lost four Presidents to assassins’ bullets. The most widely-studied is the assassination of John F. Kennedy. This assassination had many different vantage points, but the conspiracy evolves around whether Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin or whether it…
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Another World Championship impasse??
Viswanathan Anand of India is the World Champion. OK… most chess players know this and accept this. Of course there are those who even say Anand will not be accepted until he wins the November match. Let’s hope Anand wins! Why? In my opinion, he is a fitting champion and…
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Is Chess Dead?
The future of chess has been in question ever since Bobby Fischer abdicated his world championship crown in 1975. Fischer had broken the Soviet juggernaut single-handedly and was poised to bring chess the type of exposure that would draw sponsorships far and near. However, the title soon fell back into…
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African Origins of Chess?
Exhibit at U.S. Chess Hall of Fame on the ancient Egyptian game, Senet. Copyright © 2001, Daaim Shabazz. Dr. Joseph Bailey, II has recently penned an article titled, “Chess Originated in Africa.” We have all heard this before, but let us be specific! For example, Bailey states in his essay,…
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Greg Kearse on Black Chess in America
Gregory Kearse may be know for two previous articles to Chess Life readers… a July 1998 article on Black Masters and an April 2007 article on Daaim Shabazz. His latest article appears in the latest U.S. Chess Life magazine titled, “Black Chess in America.” In reading the article, I’m not…
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Black History Month (2008)
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) February is “Black History Month” and although we should celebrate history all year around February is the month that we pay special tribute to Black pioneers in the U.S. Over the years, my standing issue is that we are often presented with histories only of U.S.…
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Peace Flags… Kenya
Alex Makatia and Issac Babu Odiah (both of Kenya) at 2004 Chess Olympiad (Mallorca, Spain). Photo by Daaim Shabazz. As you all know, the country of Kenya is gripped in a tragic crisis. While not going into specific details, the nation is literally being torn asunder. Kenya, one of Africa’s…
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