Kevin Pryor chats with The Chess Drum

U.S. Chess Federation President Kevin Pryor has been at the helm for nearly a year and has been enthusiastic about growing membership. He attended the 2025 HBCU Chess Classic at King’s Chapel at Morehouse College to lend support to the outreach initiatives at Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs).

Photo by Daaim Shabazz/The Chess Drum

HBCUs represent 107 institutions that were founded in the latter half of the 19th century to provide opportunities for descendants of slaves to develop skills and learn trades. They remain an integral part of society and produce the majority of the Black professionals in society.

Despite their illustrious histories in social development and leadership, chess has not taken root on these campuses and remains an untapped segment as far as membership is concerned. Pryor wanted to become involved in order to support the development led by The Black Odyssey (TBO), the founding organization of the tournament.

A native of Mount Vernon, New York, Pryor got a taste of the HBCU lifestyle attending Bethune-Cookman University (BCU) in Daytona Beach, Florida. Although he transferred to Liberty University to earn his B.S. and M.B.A., he once expressed a tinge of regret in not completing his matriculation at BCU. (profile)

“I’m currently the College Chess liaison (U.S. Chess). I think we need to have a member from the HBCUs to have a seat at that table.”

~Kevin Pryor

He spent most of his adult life in Florida, and after playing in his first tournament in 2014, he became an organizer, a tournament director, and a certified coach. Later, he rose to become the President of the Florida Chess Association.

William Bowman, Bryan Tillis, Kevin Pryor (FCA President), Jon Haskel, Daaim Shabazz
Photo by Daaim Shabazz/The Chess Drum

Pryor granted an interview and acknowledged the importance of this outreach effort. He advocated reaching African-American schools early on to develop a stronger pipeline for continuous tournament play. He noted that many of the participants at the HBCU Chess Classic were unrated or playing in their first tournament. He envisions a better system for attracting college-age chess players not only for chess sake but also for professional development.

Video by Daaim Shabazz/The Chess Drum