| James Black Jr. | |
|---|---|
 Black in 2011 | |
| Country | United States |
| Born | 1998 (age 25–26) Brooklyn, New York [1] [2] |
| FIDE rating | 2171 (August 2019) |
| Peak rating | 2232 (July 2012) |
James A. Black Jr. is an American chess player.
| James Black Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Black in 2011 | |
| Country | United States |
| Born | 1998 (age 25–26) Brooklyn, New York [1] [2] |
| FIDE rating | 2171 (August 2019) |
| Peak rating | 2232 (July 2012) |
James A. Black Jr. is an American chess player.
He learned chess from his father at the age of 8, and was mentored by Alexander Stripunsky [3] and Elizabeth Vicary. [4]
In 2011, Black, along with fellow New Yorkers Joshua Colas and Justus Williams, became the youngest African-American chess players to achieve the title of USCF Master; all doing so before the age of 13. [5] In 2016, Black, alongside Colas and Williams, won chess scholarships to Webster University, playing under the team coached by Susan Polgar. [6] [7]
Maurice Ashley is a Jamaican and American chess player, author, and commentator. In 1999, he earned the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM).
Joshua Waitzkin is an American former chess player, martial arts world champion, and author. As a child, he was recognized as a prodigy, and won the U.S. Junior Chess championship in 1993 and 1994. The film Searching for Bobby Fischer is based on his early life.
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Champion, the reigning five-time World Rapid Chess Champion, the reigning seven-time World Blitz Chess Champion, and the reigning Chess World Cup Champion. He has held the No. 1 position in the FIDE world chess rankings since 1 July 2011 and trails only Garry Kasparov in time spent as the highest-rated player in the world. His peak rating of 2882 is the highest in history. He also holds the record for the longest unbeaten streak at an elite level in classical chess at 125 games.
Joseph Henry Blackburne was a British chess player. Nicknamed "The Black Death", he dominated the British scene during the latter part of the 19th century. Blackburne learned the game at the relatively late age of 17 or 18, but he quickly became a strong player and went on to develop a professional chess career that spanned over 50 years. At one point he was one of the world's leading players, with a string of tournament victories behind him, and popularised chess by giving simultaneous and blindfold displays around the country. Blackburne also published a collection of his own games.
Christopher Hikaru Nakamura is an American chess grandmaster, streamer, YouTuber, five-time U.S. Chess Champion, and the reigning World Fischer Random Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he earned his grandmaster title at the age of 15, the youngest American at the time to do so. With a peak rating of 2816, Nakamura is the tenth-highest-rated player in history.
Vera Francevna Mencikova, was a Russian-born Czechoslovak chess player who primarily resided in England. She was the first and longest-reigning Women's World Chess Champion from 1927 to 1944, winning the championship eight times primarily in round-robin tournaments. In an era when women primarily competed against other women, Menchik was the first and only woman competing in master-level tournaments with the world's best players.
Robert James Fischer was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11–0 score, the only perfect score in the history of the tournament. Qualifying for the 1972 World Championship, Fischer swept matches with Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen by 6–0 scores. After winning another qualifying match against Tigran Petrosian, Fischer won the title match against Boris Spassky of the USSR, in Reykjavík, Iceland. Publicized as a Cold War confrontation between the US and USSR, the match attracted more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since.
African Americans are an ethnic group in the United States. The first achievements by African Americans in diverse fields have historically marked footholds, often leading to more widespread cultural change. The shorthand phrase for this is "breaking the color barrier".
Surya Shekhar Ganguly is an Indian chess grandmaster. His peak ELO rating was 2676. Ganguly became an International Master at the age of 16 and a grandmaster at the age of 19.
Susan Polgar is a Hungarian-American chess grandmaster. Polgár was Women's World Chess Champion from 1996 to 1999. On FIDE's Elo rating system list of July 1984, at the age of 15, she became the top-ranked female chess player in the world. In 1991, she became the third woman to be awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE. She won eleven medals at the Women's Chess Olympiad.
Richárd Rapport is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned his grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 11 months, and six days, making him Hungary's youngest ever grandmaster. He was the Hungarian Chess Champion in 2017 and was the fifth-rated player in the world in May 2022.
Chessgames.com is an Internet chess community with over 224,000 members. The site maintains a large database of chess games, where each game has its own discussion page for comments and analysis. Limited primarily to games where at least one player is of master strength, the database begins with the earliest known recorded games and is updated with games from current top-level tournaments. Basic membership is free, and the site is open to players at all levels of ability, with additional features available for Premium members. Consultation games are periodically organized with teams of members playing either other teams of members or masters, including a former US champion and two former world correspondence champions.
Zhansaya Abdumalik is a Kazakhstani chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster (GM). She is the first Kazakhstani woman, and the 39th woman overall, to earn the GM title. Abdumalik has a peak FIDE rating of 2505 and has been ranked as high as No. 11 in the world among women. Abdumalik has been a two-time girls' World Youth Champion as well as a girls' World Junior Champion. She is also a two-time Kazakhstani women's national champion, and has represented Kazakhstan in women's events at the Chess Olympiad, World Team Chess Championship, and the Asian Nations Chess Cup. On April 20, 2022, Zhansaya became the President of the Almaty Chess Federation.
Carissa Shiwen Yip is an American chess player and the winner of the 2021, 2023, and 2024 U.S. Women's Chess Championship. In September 2019, she was the top rated female player in the United States and the youngest female chess player to defeat a grandmaster, which she did at age ten. In October 2019, she became the youngest American woman in history to qualify for the title of International Master until surpassed by Alice Lee in June 2023.
Justus D. Williams is an American chess player who holds the title of International Master (IM).
Joshua Colas is an American chess player who holds the title of FIDE International Master (Elect).
Kassa Korley is an American-born Danish chess player who holds the title of International Master (IM).
Praveen Balakrishnan is an American chess grandmaster from Centreville, Virginia. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster (GM) by FIDE in 2021, and he is a recipient of the 2021 Samford Fellowship. As of January 2022, he is ranked the 35th best player in the United States.