Posted in Europe, Netherlands, Tournaments, USA on Jan 30th, 2011 7 Comments »
GM Hikaru NakamuraPhoto by Chessvibes.com. In his biggest win of his career, Hikaru Nakamura won the 2011 Tata Steel Chess Tournament held in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. This tournament featured the top four highest-rated players in the world including World Champion Viswanathan Anand and the world’s highest rated player in Magnus Carlsen. Seeded in the [...]
Posted in Scholastic, USA on Sep 24th, 2010 27 Comments »
U.S. National Master Justus Williams After making strides in the past year to make National Master, Justus Williams has accomplished this feat smashing the age record for African-American master for almost three years! The 12-year old Bronx native has had a spectacular year winning the National K6 Championship and traveling to Brazil and Canada to [...]
Posted in Tournaments, USA on Sep 7th, 2010 4 Comments »
GM Julio Becerra The Florida State Championship was held at the picturesque Rosen Shingles Creek in Orlando, Florida. Players from the length and breadth of the state came to compete in the tournament traditionally held during Labor Day weekend. The beautiful hotel complex sit adjacent to a golf course and includes a nature trail. The [...]
Posted in Canada, North America, Scholastic on Aug 21st, 2010 17 Comments »
Michael Song getting set to play Joshua Colas. Justus Williams on top board against William Graif. Photo by Guy Colas. Justus Williams and Joshua Colas recently returned from their first international trips to Brazil and Trinidad, respectively. Both had credible results and were intent on using the experience as preparation for the World Youth Championships [...]
Posted in Drum Majors, USA on Feb 19th, 2010 1 Comment »
Theophilus Thompson Theophilus Thompson is recognized by most as the first Black player of note in the U.S. Born in 1855 in Frederick, Maryland, Thompson took to chess after seeing two gentlemen playing. He learned the moves from observing and was soon kibitzing in the games. It was interesting to note this interaction was possible [...]
Posted in Opinion/Editorials, USA on Feb 19th, 2010 15 Comments »
Baraka Shabazz’s demure pose is a testament to her confidence and poise. This photo was featured in Chicago Metro News, December 4, 1982 as part of Tony Brown Journal segment. Baraka Shabazz (pronounced ba-roka sha-boz) is a famous name is Black chess lore and a name that exudes power. Her arrival on the scene was [...]
Posted in Scholastic, USA on Feb 17th, 2010 39 Comments »
Shaun Smith, Chess-in-Schools (CIS) has organized a training match between two of the brightest stars in the U.S. chess scene. Both Justus Williams (2141) and Josh Colas (2114) are well-known here at The Chess Drum, but the world will see both talents on display at the Internet Chess Club on February 17th and 18th. Below [...]
Posted in Tournaments, U.S. Championship, USA on Feb 9th, 2010 7 Comments »
The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis has released a DVD that choronicles the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship. The video features video footage from the top players in the U.S. and their expressions on a variety of topics. The preview appears to capture the intensity of the event as well as the beauty [...]
Posted in USA on Feb 8th, 2010 21 Comments »
Nakamura at the 2004 World Open. Photo by Daaim Shabazz. Hikaru Nakamura has quite a story to tell. Born in Osaka, Japan and arriving in the U.S. at the age of two, Nakamura has been gracing the pages of chess magazines since he began breaking many of Bobby Fischer’s records. One of the first indicators [...]
Posted in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Egypt, Greece, India, Israel, Russia, Turkey, USA on Jan 3rd, 2010 20 Comments »
Many of the world’s top chess federations will assemble in the Bursa province of Turkey for the World Team Championships. Some of the notable teams represent perennial powers Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Israel and USA. Also included in the field is India, the world’s #6 team Despite the fact that World Champion Viswanathan Anand is busy [...]
Posted in Scholastic, USA on Dec 29th, 2009 7 Comments »
James “Jimmy” Canty III has officially cemented his position as National Master by giving a large simultaneous exhibition. The Senior at Mumford High School took on 30 budding chess players at the Detroit Institute of Fine Arts. Canty became a sensation in Detroit area chess by showing talent as a scholastic player and then competing [...]
Posted in Canada, Drum Majors, North America on Dec 7th, 2009 63 Comments »
IM Michael Schleifer (Canada) Photo by Mark Dutton. It is with great sadness that I learned from Neil Sullivan of the death of International Master Michael Schleifer. According to a Canadian chess board, “Chess Talk“, someone placed a call into the Montreal City morgue to verify the story. Morgue officials stated that he had died [...]
Posted in Norway, USA, Videos on Nov 29th, 2009 11 Comments »
America’s #1 player Hikaru Nakamura is riding a successful year with several strong results including the U.S. Championship title and victories in San Sebastian and Mainz. He flamed out in Melody Amber after falling ill and finishing with a horrible score, but stated that December would be a pivotal moment for him and he looked [...]
Posted in Media Stories, USA, Videos on Oct 12th, 2009 19 Comments »
Posted in USA on Aug 11th, 2009 7 Comments »
Controversy continues in American chess. GM Susan (Zsuzsa) Polgar and FM Paul Truong (who are married) have had their memberships revoked from the United States Chess Federation. This brings to a head the vitriolic media battle within America’s top chess brass. This action was apparently enacted by the USCF Executive Board in a special session. [...]
Posted in Europe, Germany, Media Stories, USA on Aug 1st, 2009 5 Comments »
U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura is on a rampage in 2009 having won six tournaments in a row including the recent San Sebastian in Spain and yesterday the Chess 960 World Championship in Mainz, Germany. He won the championship yesterday against the defending champion Levon Aronian of Armenia and the name “Fischer” was tossed around a [...]
Posted in Audio, Interviews, USA, World Open on Jul 8th, 2009 15 Comments »
Hikaru Nakamura had just finished playing a tough game with Evgeny Najer in the 7th round of the World Open. After winning the game on move 55, the 21-year old knew that the fate would lie in the hands of players who he had battled earlier. Nakamura had to take two 1/2-point byes for the [...]
Posted in USA, World Open on Jul 8th, 2009 4 Comments »
Viktor Mikalevski ponders Gata Kamsky’s next move while Nakamura-Najer reaches the climatic stage. Photo by Daaim Shabazz. In an unusual ending to America’s premier tournament, Evgeny Najer and Hikaru Nakamura topped the World Open field with a final 7-2 tally. What made this result so unusual was that Nakamura had requested two half-point byes for [...]
Posted in USA, World Open on Jun 14th, 2009 5 Comments »
One sure sign that summer is in full swing is when the World Open is near. However, there is also the Philadelphia International, a relatively new tournament that has attracted attention the last few years since its inception. This tournament allows players to play in two strong tournaments back-to-back. The one drawback has to be [...]
Posted in Scholastic, USA on May 27th, 2009 22 Comments »
Darrian Robinson in action against Columbian opponent in Ecuador’s 2006 Pan-Am Games. Photo by Cenceria Edwards. New York is a chess machine. It has been the “mecca” of American chess for more than a century. Fast forward and the age of technology and professional trainers has pushed the development curve down and players are improving [...]
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