The challenges of Black chess masters

Walter Harris (left), the first Black National Master in the U.S.

Hello Everyone,

Chess recognises no race, no creed. When you sit down to play chess it's just YOU - the essential YOU - and your opponent as an equal individual in his own right.

That is why it is nice to read this interesting article about Black chess masters. It may as well apply to everyone.

Dr. Daaim Shabazz writes:

Let’s address this straight-on. I was once asked by a Latin American whether Blacks were intelligent enough to be Grandmasters. The question was not posed with any malice or ill-will; it was a person asking a genuine follow-up question about the small number of Black Grandmasters I had named for him.

There was once a debate on a White supremacist website stating that it is unlikely that a Black person can be a chess Grandmaster. That was until one of the posters found an article on The Chess Drum about Ashley! Debate ended immediately. First, let’s ask the question, “Is chess really an adequate measure of requisite intelligence?”

One studied showed, Chess is not necessarily a game reserved for people with IQ scores on par with Einstein. In fact, chess strategy may rely more heavily on spatial processing than on logic and computational skills."

You can read the full article here.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com