Posted in Kenya, Opinion/Editorials, Politics, USA on Nov 5th, 2008 15 Comments »
Illinois Senator Barack Obama has been elected the 44th President of the United States of America handily defeating Arizona Senator John McCain. In this historic event, it turns the page in another chapter of Black history. Having only been declared eligible to vote in 1964, this is a historic moment resonating throughout the African Diaspora. [...]
Posted in Opinion/Editorials on Oct 26th, 2008 1 Comment »
New in Chess (NIC) has been the world’s premier chess magazine for decades. Its slick layout and improved design has been the staple of players’ libraries and sets the standard for chess journalism. Dirk Jan ten Geuzendem has been leading the charge. When the magazine introduced its new color format years ago (2005, #7), it [...]
Posted in Asia, China, India, Opinion/Editorials, Philippines, Vietnam on Oct 25th, 2008 2 Comments »
No… this is not an article about the southeast Asian economies (e.g., Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan). It is an article about the rise of chess in the Asian region. Over the last 20 years, Asian has begun to assert itself and is producing a massive wave of talent. This talent will certainly [...]
Posted in Africa, Opinion/Editorials on Oct 24th, 2008 29 Comments »
In what appears to be an ongoing impasse between three African nations and FIDE Accounts Office, Bermuda’s Nigel Freeman (FIDE Treasurer) has written a letter to Olympiad organizer banning Ethiopia, Uganda and Nigeria from the event in Dresden. In general, nations failing to meet financial obligations to FIDE and have been barred from rating lists [...]
Posted in Olympiad, Opinion/Editorials on Aug 8th, 2008 37 Comments »
The “Bird’s Nest” in Beijing hosted the Opening Ceremonies. Photo by EPA. The quadrennial sports festival known as the Olympic Games has begun with the opening ceremony. The highly-anticipated and widely-watched event will command the attention of billions of viewers over the next 17 days and will result in billions of revenue for the world [...]
Posted in Opinion/Editorials on Jul 27th, 2008 10 Comments »
Posted in Drum Majors, Opinion/Editorials on Jul 9th, 2008 34 Comments »
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 or expelled. However, another question [...]
Posted in Media Stories, Opinion/Editorials on Apr 16th, 2008 1 Comment »
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 was an orchestrated plan by [...]
Posted in FIDE, Opinion/Editorials on Apr 10th, 2008 3 Comments »
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 above all the petty bickering [...]
Posted in Africa, Media Stories, Olympiad, Opinion/Editorials on Feb 15th, 2008 26 Comments »
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, But Western literature admits that [...]
Posted in Drum Majors, Opinion/Editorials, USA on Feb 14th, 2008 No Comments »
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 certain on the specific focus, [...]
Posted in Africa, Opinion/Editorials, USA on Feb 5th, 2008 No Comments »
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. figures to the exclusion of [...]
Posted in Africa, Kenya, Opinion/Editorials, Politics, Videos on Jan 31st, 2008 1 Comment »
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 most stable economies, has taken [...]
Posted in Asia, China, Opinion/Editorials on Jan 30th, 2008 7 Comments »
China (left) vs. regional rival India. Bu Xiangzhi battles Viswanathan Anand on Board One at the 2006 Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy. Photo by Daaim Shabazz. A contingent of Chinese are competing at the Gibtelecom Chess Festival and after eight rounds, they dominate the upper portion of the standings. It appears that the Dragons have [...]
Posted in Opinion/Editorials on Jan 24th, 2008 37 Comments »
I just penned an article that may pique your interest. It examines the “first mover advantage” in chess. I have had many online debates (mostly notably on The Daily Dirt) about this issue and most of the arguments point to white’s plus score in games played in the database. However, there is much more to [...]
Posted in Africa, Botswana, Opinion/Editorials on Jan 3rd, 2008 5 Comments »
Top African chess journalist Kenneth Boikhutswane wrote a very interesting article which points to many of the problems concerning African chess. The story raised the question of why Botswana, one of Africa’s most economically stable countries, was not sending a contingent to the 2007 African Junior Championship held in Malawi last month. The rationale was lack [...]
Posted in Africa, Caribbean, Opinion/Editorials on Dec 28th, 2007 No Comments »
The year 2007 had some interesting developments both in general and within the African Diaspora. The World Cup brought us the first non-European champion since Robert James Fischer and saw Viswanathan Anand rise to the top of the rating charts. There was the exciting knockout tournament featuring the resurgence of Gata Kamsky who will know face [...]
Posted in Hip-Hop, Opinion/Editorials, Tournaments on Oct 15th, 2007 11 Comments »
RZA holds up the HHCF championship belt after sweeping the tournament 4-0. Hip-hop legend “Popmaster Fabel” presents the belt while Adisa Banjoko (co-founder of HHCF), IM Josh Waitzkin and Rakaa Iriescience applaud. Photo by Daaim Shabazz. The 1st Kings Invitational was a magnificent event. Adisa has come a long way in a short time and [...]
Posted in Opinion/Editorials on Oct 6th, 2007 2 Comments »
The Closet Grandmaster blog sent me a note that there was an article on African Chess in Newsweek. In this article, they focus on Zambia’s Amon Simutowe and discusses the challenges and what needs to be done to promote chess on the continent. Scott Johnson actually contacted me for an interview, but we never got together. [...]
Posted in Opinion/Editorials, Videos on Sep 28th, 2007 21 Comments »
Tom Murphy in his office at the famous Dupont Circle. Photo washingtonpost.com Vaughn Bennett just sent me a link to an article from the Washington Post on Tom Murphy, a DC-based legendary chess hustler. Those who have been to Dupont Circle in Washington, DC have no doubt heard his name uttered. Those who have been [...]
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