Celebrating Black Excellence: My Favorite Games By Black Players In 2022

One does not need to search far to find Black excellence in chess. Indeed, you can find unbelievable games played by Black players in any given year.

In honor of Black History Month, I share some of the games by Black players that moved me most in the last year. Perhaps readers will know better recent games by Black players—but these, presented in the blog, had a deeply personal effect on me, and that emotional connection to a game is what cements themes and patterns in memory. 

The best game I've seen in person was played in Foxwoods Open 2022, a tournament in which I also participated. IM Justus Williams, who starred in the documentary Brookyln Castle, took down a FIDE Master with a crushing, sacrificial, Romantic-era style of attack.

When I saw this game, it was the best game I'd seen live. I had no Stockfish on hand, no grandmaster commentary to listen to—only my own devices to predict the outcome—always wondering: will this attack crash through? You can imagine the excitement I felt as Justus chased the black king up the whole board until it faced its doom on the h6-square.

I highly recommend watching the documentary if you haven't already—Justus is so small in it! While I'm at it, let me write this here: I would be surprised if he doesn't become a grandmaster someday.

If you simply turn on Stockfish and heartlessly click through the moves, it's possible you won't be impressed by the following win over GM Mark Paragua by FM Tani Adewumi. Of course, this could be said for most human games.

However, two things must be acknowledged. First, the players had been in time trouble for a long time, playing many moves on the increment in the final round of a tournament with prize money on the line—imagine the nerves. Moreover, I watched this game live (albeit on my computer screen), which is why it had such an effect on me. 

Let's also acknowledge that Tani is 12 years old and his opponent is an established adult grandmaster.

Imagine following every move without an engine and attempting to guess the next one. I had no idea who was better, and with White's king running around the middle of the board, who could guess how this game would end?

I've played Tani three times myself and seen many of his other games, but this one is my favorite. It highlights his fighting spirit; even when he's down (and objectively lost in this case), he just keeps fighting, and when he gets his chance he capitalizes. 

With this game, he won his third IM norm. (He does need to win a fourth in a Swiss tournament, and also reach the 2400 rating minimum, to earn the IM title.) 

I do expect Tani to reach the IM level at least.

I also want to include the following game by chess expert Jessica Hyatt. Making headlines as a teenager after winning a $40,000 scholarship for college, she may very well become the first-ever Black female NM in the U.S.

Last year she beat GM Abhimanyu Mishra, the world's youngest player to earn the grandmaster title. It's speed chess, with time odds, but she is a player to keep an eye out for—I've faced her myself and witnessed her fighting spirit against others.

Which was your favorite game above? Feel free to share your favorite recent gems by Black players in the comments below.