Posted in Drum Majors, Tournaments on Jan 28th, 2012 14 Comments »
Philadelphia is where chess happens! The “City of Brotherly Love” has become the hub for several major U.S. tournaments on the east coast. The Sheraton Hotel is also the home of the Philadelphia International, World Open, the National Congress and the Liberty was having its 44th edition during the King Holiday weekend. The tournament drew [...]
Posted in Drum Majors, Scholastic, Videos on Dec 31st, 2011 14 Comments »
James Black has been the subject of many articles, but his rapid progress is taken on new heights. Black has now vaulted over 2300 in the USCF rating list and recently showed off his famed blitz prowess in beating both IM Greg Shahade and GM Grigory Kaidanov in blitz battles. After Justus Williams demolished the [...]
Posted in Drum Majors, Scholastic on Nov 13th, 2011 8 Comments »
Justus Williams, Josh Colas and James Black, Jr. have a lot more in common than their names beginning with the same letter. All are from New York state, all have won multiple scholastic titles, all earned the title of National Master before their 13th birthday and all have desires to become Grandmasters. All three will [...]
Posted in Drum Majors, Media Stories on Oct 12th, 2011 8 Comments »
Josh Colas has been on a path of excellence since learning chess at age six. Getting his start on tournaments on the east coast, he made a steady rise and reached the 2000 barrier at age 10. Just two years later at age 12, he became a National Master. On the way he has won [...]
Posted in Drum Majors, Europe, Sweden on Oct 6th, 2011 13 Comments »
GM Pontus CarlssonPhoto by Mig Greengard. GM Pontus Carlsson will play on the Sweden squad at the 2011 European Team Championship with GM Hans Tikkanen, GM Nils Grandelius, IM Daniel Semcesen, GM Stellan Brynell. The tournament will take place from November 3-11 in Porto Carras, Greece. Several of the top teams will be on hand [...]
Posted in Drum Majors on Sep 30th, 2011 36 Comments »
NM Jehron Bryant In rapid succession five young upstarts from New York have made waves in the chess scene by making National Master. Kassa Korley, Justus Williams, Josh Colas and James Black Jr. will welcome the newest African-American Master in the New York area, Jehron Bryant. Just last January Jehron celebrated breaking the coveted 2000 [...]
Posted in Drum Majors, Games on Sep 22nd, 2011 5 Comments »
Justus Williams making his mark. Justus Williams, 13, is one of the many talented players in American chess. However, his story is well-known. What is not known (or appreciated) is that he has already shown levels of maturity that will result in his ascending to higher heights in chess. Justus recently scored joint first at [...]
Posted in Drum Majors, Media Stories on Sep 11th, 2011 15 Comments »
Community celebrates 12 year old National Master James Black Jr.By Adia Onyango September 4, 2011. The community of Bedford Stuyvesant came together at Fulton Park to recognize the accomplishments of one of their own residents 12-year old James Black Jr. for achieving the ranking of National Master (NM) in chess. In addition to honoring recent [...]
Posted in Drum Majors on Aug 25th, 2011 2 Comments »
Owen Clarkin sent me notice of a Black chess player from the 1900s named William E. Griffin. The following entry appears to have been a biography from page 34 of the February 1905 American Chess Bulletin. He was born in Missouri and apparently had achieved moderate success. Griffin mentioned that he did not know of [...]
Posted in Africa, Drum Majors, Scholastic, South Africa on Aug 5th, 2011 5 Comments »
Dewain Barber with co-champs Michael Brown & Justus Williams. Photo by Melinda Matthews. Justus Williams shared joint 1st with Michael Brown at the K-8 Championship during the U.S. Open in Orlando. Justus finished on a sparkling 5.5/6 to push his USCF rating to 2265. He beat Cadet champion Arthur Shen in an exciting game. According [...]
Posted in Drum Majors, Games, Tournaments, World Open on Aug 3rd, 2011 9 Comments »
FM William Morrison (right) facing NM William Wright. The World Open is perhaps the largest stage of American chess. The tournament has been in Philadelphia for the past 39 years but after its 40th anniversary in 2012, it will find a new home in Virginia for the 2013 edition. William “The Exterminator” Morrison is not [...]
Posted in Caribbean, Cuba, Drum Majors, Europe, Spain on Jul 29th, 2011 No Comments »
IM Orelvis Perez Mitjans (Spain) Orelvis Perez Mitjans was born in Cuba 35 years ago (28 July 1976) and learned chess the way many of us learn… in an informal setting. Watching chess players in Central Park in Havana he was drawn to the game and soon became engrossed in its intricacies. Years later, he [...]
Posted in Drum Majors, Media Stories, Tournaments on Jul 15th, 2011 No Comments »
1st Annual Emory Tate Honorific Chess Extravaganza Saturday, September 17, 2011 9:00 AM – 1:00 AM Elkhart Sports Center – (U.S. 20 Bypass and CR. 17) International MasterEmory Tate LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! We are presenting to the Midwest, the Emory Tate Jr. Honorific Chess Extravaganza, to be held September 17, 2011, at the Elkhart Sports [...]
Posted in Belize, Central America, Drum Majors, Media Stories on Jul 8th, 2011 2 Comments »
GM Maurice Ashley has been to Belize three times in an attempt to help assist the nascent chess community in the Central American country. He recently penned an artice for ChessBase for their recent holding of their “Chess Olympiad”. The photo report showed a very enthusiastic group of chess players in all the pageantry that [...]
Posted in Drum Majors, Interviews, Media Stories, World Open on Jul 6th, 2011 No Comments »
Harlem, New York is the place where the “Harlem Renaissance” took place and where artistic expression flourished in the early 1900s. One hundred years later, artistry is still flourishing, but in this day and time, chess is the platform. St. Nicholas Park is known to many in the chess world as a place akin to [...]
Posted in Drum Majors, Scholastic, Tournaments, World Open on Jul 6th, 2011 5 Comments »
James Black , Jr. has already had a prodigious scholastic career and he was just coming off of a triple win at the National Youth Championships with three titles. So he went into the World Open with other young aspirants hoping to make an impact. Playing in the under-2400 section, the 12-year old has been [...]
Posted in Drum Majors, Scholastic, Tournaments on Jun 26th, 2011 4 Comments »
FM Kassa Korley scored his first IM norm with a strong showing at the New York International. The Duke-bound FM ended on 5.5/9 earning his first International Master norm and pushing his USCF rating to 2365. Korley scored 50% against six IMs and drew with GM Kidambi Sundararajan of India. He will have shots at [...]
Posted in Drum Majors, Media Stories, Scholastic, Videos on Apr 7th, 2011 2 Comments »
Posted in Drum Majors, Scholastic, Videos on Mar 9th, 2011 4 Comments »
Josh Colas had an interview with Jennifer Shahade and “Chess Scoop” where he talked about his progress as a player. Back in December, Josh broke the age record for a Black player reaching National Master. That record has been held broken several of times since Walter Harris (pictured right) was the first Black player to [...]
Posted in Drum Majors, Scholastic on Mar 1st, 2011 10 Comments »
Justus Williams was recently featured on “The Grio” for a candid interview. The young master gave homage to one of his sports heroes by referring to himself as the “Lebron James of chess.” Of course, Justus is not saying he is as good in chess as Lebron is in basketball, but the swagger, intensity and [...]
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