Walter Harris (chess player)
Walter Harris | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Born | September 28, 1941 Harlem, New York, U.S. |
| Died | October 12, 2024 (aged 83) |
| Title | National Master (1960) |
Walter Harris (September 28, 1941 – October 12, 2024) was an American chess player.
Life and career
[edit]Harris was the first African-American chess player to earn the USCF title of National Master.[1] He had a remarkable 5th-place finish in the 1959 U.S. Junior Open. At that tournament, he was unable to rent a room at the tournament's hotel (Sheraton-Fontenelle Hotel) due to racial segregation. Despite his and Anthony Saidy's protests, the hotel managers were adamant, forcing Harris to go to another hotel for accommodations.[2]
Harris, along with Frank Street Jr., Leroy Jackson (Muhammad), and Kenneth Clayton, have been regarded as pioneers of African-Americans in chess in the 1960s.[3]
Harris studied physics at University of California, Los Angeles,[2][4] and was a career physicist.[5]
Harris died on October 12, 2024, at the age of 83.[6][7]
References
[edit]- ^ Shabazz, Daaim (February 17, 2022). "Black History Month 2022-Day 17: Walter Harris".
- ^ a b Shabazz, Daaim (July 15, 2014). "Meeting Walter Harris, Chess Pioneer".
- ^ "Black History in Chess".
- ^ Shabazz, Daaim (March 2, 2007). "The Rising of the Black Star".
- ^ Basch-Gould, Nathaniel (February 11, 2022). "Story Time History: Black Players Who Changed the Game".
- ^ "Walter Harris". Northern Virginia Burial & Cremation Society. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
- ^ Shabazz, Daaim (December 24, 2024). "Walter Harris, America's 1st Black Chess Master, dead at 83". The Chess Drum. Retrieved December 25, 2024.