The Chess Drum

The Chess Drum is one of chess media's most distinctive voices, founded in 2001 by Dr. Daaim Shabazz, a chess enthusiast and academic based in the United States. The site was created to shine a spotlight on Black chess players and those of African descent, a community that had long been underrepresented in mainstream chess coverage.

Over more than two decades, The Chess Drum has grown into a comprehensive chess news outlet covering international tournaments, profiles of rising stars, historical retrospectives, and opinion pieces on chess culture and diversity. The site has documented the careers of players like Maurice Ashley (the first Black grandmaster), Pontus Carlsson, and a generation of African and African-American players making their mark on the global stage.

In 2025, Dr. Shabazz was recognized with the Chess Educator of the Year award by the University of Texas at Dallas, an honor previously given to Susan Polgar at its inauguration in 2004. The Chess Drum continues to publish regularly, covering everything from top-level tournament news to community-level chess in Africa, the Caribbean, and beyond.