The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them.” This powerful quote from Liberian president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is shown in the beginning of the trailer for Disney’s Queen of Katwe, a new film starring Oscar Award-winning actress, Lupita Nyong’o. The film follows the true […]
What the unsuspecting, trash-talking chess player didn’t know was that he was sitting across from Maurice Ashley, one of the world’s best chess players. Maurice Ashley is one of the best chess players in the world. This is what happened when he sat down to play against an über-confident chess player in Washington Square Park […]
There were plenty of signs that 16-year-old Joshua Colas was a chess prodigy. “He told me one day, ‘Daddy, I can play you blindfolded,'” his father Guy Colas recounted to The Huffington Post. “And I said, ‘You sure? I’ve never seen you practice.'” Joshua was right; he could not only match his dad but beat […]
From Clutch Magazine: Rochelle Ballantyne, 17, of Brooklyn is taking the chess world by storm. She is on the verge of becoming the first African-American female chess master and her journey has been documented in the film, Brooklyn Castle. Brooklyn Castle tells the stories of five members of the chess team at I.S. 318 middle school in Brooklyn. The film […]
ChessFest” is coming! This unique September Lakewood event, according to organizers, will inspire young people to think ahead, plan, execute and utilize the components of chess to sharpen the mind and motivate them to become someone special. One of the driving forces behind the special event is former Alabama State Trooper Orrin Hudson, who is […]
In just four years, Bronx native Justus Williams went from chess novice to being awarded the level of chess master by the United States Chess Federation at age 12, becoming the youngest African American chess master in history. He describes himself as “the “LeBron James of chess.” Williams was your typical Air Jordan-wearing, music-loving kid […]
Three young African American chess players from the New York City area have each become masters before their 13th birthdays. Fewer than 2 percent of…
The second and third graders tore into the classroom at Harlem Success Academy 2 like a tornado of little arms and legs. A cacophony of giggles and squeals preceded them. Minutes later these little dervishes of energy were studious and silent, but for the click of chess pieces and the clack of the timers they […]
The second and third graders tore into the classroom at Harlem Success Academy 2 like a tornado of little arms and legs. A cacophony of giggles and squeals preceded them. Minutes later these little dervishes of energy were studious and silent, but for the click of chess pieces and the clack of the timers they […]
When Bronx student Justus Williams started third grade at P.S. 70, his mother, Latisha, urged him to take on chess. The hobby was “less common” than basketball, she said. But Justus wasn’t enthusiastic at first. “I thought I was going to be embarrassed,” he said. As it turned out, mom knew best. Justus, now 12 […]
When Bronx student Justus Williams started third grade at P.S. 70, his mother, Latisha, urged him to take on chess. The hobby was “less common” than basketball, she said. But Justus wasn’t enthusiastic at first. “I thought I was going to be embarrassed,” he said. As it turned out, mom knew best. Justus, now 12 […]
