Drum Majors
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2019 African Championships: Round #3
Round #3:Tournament heats up… top seed Bassem Amin goes down! OPEN It was “Fire on Board” at the 2019 African Championships as the top two boards saw titanic struggles lead to decisive results. Amin-Ballahcene and Hamdouchi-Adly represented three different generations of chess. GM Bassem Amin battling upstart GM Bilel BallahcenePhoto…
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2019 African Championships: Round #2
Round #2:Tense battles in Open Section… Lorita Mwango breaks through! OPEN One of the truths about African chess is you never really know how strong a player from the continent is. The idea that Africans play in so few international tournaments is lost on the fact that the continent is…
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2019 African Championships: Round #1
Round #1: Tournament starts off with a few nicks Venue for the 2019 African Individual Chess Championships OPEN In general the top seeds prevailed… except for one result. IM Rodwell Makoto got a taste of home cooking with a loss to an unheralded Tunisian Jmila Omar. Nevertheless, it is a…
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Renewed Energy @ Chicago Open!
The Chicago Open has been one of the marquee tournaments for two decades. It is the first major of the summer season and generally attracts a healthy mix of professionals, norm seekers and scholastic phenoms. However, what made this tournament different was the buzz created by the online battles that…
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Vasif Dararbayli wins 2019 Chicago Open!
Illia Nyzhnyk and Vasif Dararbayli face off in round 7.The game was drawn. Aided by a strong 5.5/6 start Vasif Dararbayli held off a field of strong GMs to win the 2019 Chicago Open. Perhaps the key win was his 6th round win over then-co-leader Jeffery Xiong (2015 Chicago Open…
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The Chess Journey of GM Maurice Ashley
I met Maurice Ashley nearly 30 years ago at the 1989 U.S. Open held just outside of Chicago at the Rosemont Hyatt. At this time, I had already started the groundwork for a chess network for players of African descent. During a graduate-level marketing class, I was able to write…
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Charles Covington… Life Master, multi-talented virtuoso
Life Master Charles Covington is a man of many talents. A former bodybuilder, master magician, draughts expert, USCF Life Master and jazz pianist par excellence, Covington is a renaissance man. The Chess Drum interviewed him back in 2002 and he stated, “Those who know me for my music don’t know…
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Where are they now? Kayin Barclay
Kayin Barclay Hometown: Chicago, Illinois Education: B.A. Morehouse College (2012), M.B.A. Harvard University (2019) Peak Chess Rating: 2215 (USCF) 2220 (FIDE) Chess Accolades: National Master (2012), 2-time state champion (Whitney Young Magnet H.S.), beat GM Jaan Ehlvest Activities: Phi Beta Kappa (honor society) Current Profession: Investment Banker, full-time MBA student…
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Where are they now? Dr. Shearwood McClelland III
Dr. Shearwood McClelland III Hometown: Teaneck, New Jersey Education: B.A. Harvard College (2000), M.D. Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons (2004) Peak Chess Rating: 2311 (USCF), 2210 (FIDE) Chess Accolades: National Master (1994), All-American, 3-time National H.S. Champion, U.S. Junior Open Champion (1997), 2-time New Jersey State Champion, 12 state…
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Colas in the Sunshine state!
FM Joshua ColasPhoto by Webster University (Paul Truong) Joshua Colas is making his rounds. The native New Yorker is studying in the “Show-Me State” of Missouri and is now going to take his talents to the “Sunshine State” of Florida for spring break. The Webster University collegiate is going to…
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