Interviews

  • Daaim ShabazzSeptember 22, 2012
    5 52

    Drum Interviews @ Istanbul Olympiad

    Olympiad tournaments are full of interesting personalities ranging from professional players, to enthusiastic organizers and to national champions in tiny chess countries. IM Kenneth Solomon The Chess Drum was able to get 12 interviews during the 40th Chess Olympiad including its third with three-time Olympic champion Levon Aronian. Please sit…

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  • Daaim ShabazzJune 14, 2012
    7 6

    Karpov lambastes FIDE (again)

    Anatoly Karpov was in St. Louis to participate in an exhibition match with GM Yasser Seirawan. The encounter ended with the former World Champion winning the match 8-6 (1-1 classical, 1-1 rapid, 6-4 blitz-Karpov). The blitz match was thrilling to watch. Anatoly Karpov During the press conference Macauley Petersen relayed…

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  • Daaim ShabazzApril 22, 2012
    1 1

    Drum chats with Hip Hop Chess Fed

    Adisa Banjoko’s Hip-Hop Chess Federation (HHCF) has received a lot of notoriety of late after having celebrated the organization’s fifth anniversary. The HHCF graced the cover of the February 2012 edition of Chess Life and the subject of a lengthy article. The Chess Drum has written more articles about the…

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  • Daaim ShabazzMarch 27, 2012
    19 28

    Drum speaks with Maurice Ashley

    GM Maurice Ashley (right) set to face FM Robert Lagerman at the 2012 Reykjavik Open. Ashley won in a crushing style. Photo by Hrafn Jökulsson. The Chess Drum’s Daaim Shabazz was able to conduct an interview with GM Maurice Ashley and get an update on what the global icon has…

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  • Daaim ShabazzFebruary 21, 2012
    18 211

    Fischer vs. Carlsen… will history repeat?

    Bobby Fischer and Magnus Carlsen In the 1972 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace, then-championship challenger Bobby Fischer stated that he like to “crush a man’s ego”. He then played Boris Spassky for the World Chess Championship and beat the Soviet player mercilessly even after forfeiting the second game and…

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  • Daaim ShabazzAugust 12, 2011
    3 54

    Interview with FM Kazim Gulamali

    Daaim Shabazz and Kazim Gulamali at the 2003 Peach State Open. Upon visiting the 2011 U.S. Open in Orlando, Florida, I caught up with my long-time friend FM Kazim Gulamali. Kazim is a New York-born, Atlanta-raised resident who began playing chess at the age of three. His father Mumtaz Yusef,…

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  • Daaim ShabazzJuly 6, 2011
    0 83

    St. Nicholas Chess & Backgammon Club

    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…

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  • Daaim ShabazzApril 24, 2011
    5 66

    Warren Seymour: Bahamas Chess Pioneer

    The Chess Drum’s Daaim Shabazz had a chance to chat with Bahamian chess pioneer Warren Seymour. He had finished directing the 2011 Bahamas National Open won by Yan Lyansky. In the 27-minute interview, Seymour talked about his chess beginnings in 1954 and his learning the game by picking up a…

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  • Daaim ShabazzJuly 8, 2009
    15 58

    Hikaru chats with The Chess Drum

    Photo by Daaim Shabazz/The Chess Drum 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…

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  • Daaim ShabazzMay 21, 2009
    0 4

    Maurice Ashley Speaks!

    Award-winning journalist Macauley Peterson caught up with Grandmaster Maurice Ashley and got an update on his recent projects, one of which is a new website called, “Maurice Ashley Trains Champions.” His recent intiatives highlight the ever-increasing thrust in scholastic chess and the efforts being made to make chess more prominent…

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