Women's History Month Chess Spotlight: Jennifer Shahade

March is Women's History Month and we begin by celebrating one of our favorite women in chess, WGM Jennifer Shahade! She is arguably one of the most consistent, innovative and groundbreaking women in chess ever. It is not just because of her chess gaming. It is because of her books, her videos, her podcasts and her drive to push the limits of chess culture (especially where girls, women and other minorities are concerned. Please check out this TED Talk by Jennifer and we encourage you to get any of her books to your daughters, moms, nieces, aunts, sisters and friends. She is truly an inspiration.

The Mic and the Chessmen (REPOST)

This essay on Hip-Hop and chess was written by Grandmaster Maurice Ashley and I in 2014. It ran in Ebony Magazine in 2014. I just found it sitting in one of my drive files. I figured to celebrate Black History Month I would repost it. Enjoy...

-Adisa The Bishop

The Mic and the Chessmen   

By: Adisa Banjoko and Grandmaster Maurice Ashley 

I don’t play either side or the king, I play God/ Heavenly wars played out on hand
carved boards
- Rakaa Iriscience, 64 Squares in the Cipher 

Thinking Like A King 

About seven years ago I was speaking at San Francisco Juvenile Hall talking to teen boys
about and being an author as a career choice. I was promoting my first independent book
release Lyrical Swords: Hip-Hop and Politics in the Mix. Despite often connecting early
and easy with kids this talk was crashing and burning like no other talk I had given
before. I glanced in my backpack and remembered there was a chessboard in there.
I held the board up and asked, “Who here knows how to play chess?”

To my astonishment, about 75% of the room raised their hand. “OK, that’s good!”
I yelled out with a smile. “But who here is the best?! Only keep your hand up if you
know you are thebest.” Only a few hands went down. “Alright here is what's going to
happen” I declared. “We are going to have a tournament. Whoever wins gets a book.
Circle up, let’s do this.”

The energy in the room became electric. I saw racial and other social barriers fall right
in front of me, because of chess. The entire scene blew my mind. 

I asked myself, “How did these kids know so much about chess?  An avalanche of
rap lyrics from Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan, and EPMD collapsed on my brain
simultaneously. Hip-Hop gave methe answer. As I exited the concrete hallways
with the flickering fluorescent lights in the stairwell,I said “This is something big.”
Within the next year, I founded the Hip-Hop Chess Federation
(HHCF) nonprofit 501(c)3 to teach chess and life strategies to at-risk youth.
We use martial arts philosophy to reinforce the lessons that rap and chess teach. 

Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and Rugged Monk of Black Knights (R) playing Chessmaster Emory Tate (L)
and others 

For some, it might easy to default to the Wu-Tang Clan’s rise as the apex of this fusion between
rap and chess. Yet to start and stop it from Enter the 36 Chambers denies the full scope of the
relationship between the game of kings and Hip-Hop. 

The truth is, when Brooklyn’s own Bobby Fischer beat Boris Spassky in September of
1972, chess was huge. Those games were aired on PBS and the network had it’s highest
ratings ever! In November of 1973 a young gang leader from The Bronx named
Afrika Bambaataa founded the Zulu Nation to cultivate Hip-Hop and promote peace
throughout the city and the world. At that same time the movies from the Bruce Lee
and the Shaw Brothers were taking over America. The strategy
ideas from Eastern Philosophy started to spread into the streets of NY. A perfect
cultural storm was brewing.

Street chess games played on the corner, the parks and those played in prisons would
ultimately serve as the glue between these subcultures. Neither chess, nor Hip-Hop
would be the same again. 

Jay Z is respected for his rap and business skills, playing chess in Italian Vogue

Chess gave Hip-Hop political, social and spiritual symbolism for metaphors no other
game hasgiven them.  RZA, Will Smith, 50 Cent and others represent a growing number
of chess playing rappers who have amazing business minds of the industry.  So its not
just good for the art its good for business.   

Reflections of the Grandmaster 

At first look, it might seem strange that there may be any substantial connections

between the world’s most intellectually revered board game and the dynamic

musical art form that is Hip-Hop. Chess, an ancient practice over 1500 years old,

often today conjures up images of rich old men on park benches.To blend that high-brow
image with the effervescent rush of inventive lyrics, pulsating, at times rebellious beats can
seem hard to bring together. But that is only if you are looking at the surface.

Grandmaster Maurice Ashley giving play-by-play coverage of Sinquefield Cup

And yet, the stereotypical differences that seem to create a cavern between chess

and hip hop soon wilt under closer inspection. For one, with the advent of the digital

age and ready-made computer instruction, today’s chess is a game for the young.

The best chess players in the world are under 30. Public

school teams are represented in full glory every year at national scholastic chess

championships, with the most accomplished team in the last ten years, I.S. 318,

coming straight out of Brooklyn.

Even the slow grandfatherly pace no longer holds water. The most popular form

of chess, is Blitz Chess, where players compete with less than five minutes
to complete all of  their moves lest they lose the game on time. At that speed,
chess becomes a blendof sophisticated pattern recognition, intense focus and
spirited improvisation.

Watching two players bang out moves with precious few seconds on the clock can

thrill and hypnotize as much as Mike Relm or DJ QBert   slicing up a turn-table.

Magnus Carlsen is putting a youthful face on the future of competitive chess. 

While chess can be coldly analytic, it’s the perpetually creative and individualized

styles that separates the players at the very top. World Champion Magnus Carlsen

plays in the style of Common. He does not care to insert himself into the battle with a

whole lot of ego. Instead slowly enveloping his opponents with subtle ideas

and smooth syncopations they succumb to his skill and assuredness that

somehow always seems totally effortless. On the other hand, Hikaru Nakamura,

America’s top player, mimics NWA with his gangsta’ style. He comes straight for the

jugular with vicious blow after vicious blow, to eviscerate his opponents

with killer movement. He’s not giving a damn what the world thinks about his overly

aggressive style and brash personality. It may say something about the nature of life

and competition that when the two face off, the calm and cool Carlsen almost always

endures. Stylish doesn’t mean a lack of determination.

American chess player Hikaru Nakamura’s attacking style of play is likened to N.W.A’s
aggressive
rap style.

It should then come as less of a surprise that musicians have embraced the art form

of chess as a means of relaxation and creative expression. 

Like music, chess has gone through its evolutionary stages as well. From the

Romantic Era, scientific period, Hypermodern period, to the digital age where
more and moregreed is good- chess continues to change with the times. Hip-Hop
has gone through similar
evolution's. Look at the old school lyrical party styles of the Sugar Hill Gang, to the
intellectual
flow of Rakim to the rage of Eminem rap has changed significantly.
The science ofthe DJ’s mixing and scratching methods,  graffiti,  Bboy’ing 
and all the branches of Hip-Hop dance
have also grown immeasurably from the early 1970’s.  

The fusion of Hip-Hop and chess is beautiful and dynamic on many levels. There is a
mountain ofstill untapped potential in this artistic and intellectual union. The amount of
lyrics about chess in
the rap world can be cool, or dark and often times very inspirational. However, if today's
MC’s are
really going to take the  fusion to the next level they are going to have to raise the bar
on their knowledge of the game. Read The Immortal Game by David Shenk, Chess Bitch
by Jennifer Shahade and Birth of the Chess Queen by Marilyn Yalom. After reading about
the Black Moorish conquerors of Spain taking the game to Europe, algebraic notation,
we should see rappers naming champions other than Bobby Fischer. There is still much
more lyrical work and history breakdowns
to be done! There are still new graffiti murals and DJ tracks to be made. I look forward
to hearing
and seeing more from the chess and rap community as this beautiful phenomenon
continues to grow. 

Adisa Banjoko is the Founder of the Hip-Hop Chess Federation. They fuse music,
chess and martial arts to promote unity, strategy and nonviolence. Maurice Ashley is the
first Black Grandmaster in chess and host of Millionaire Chess in Las Vegas Oct. 9th.
Adisa Banjoko will be at the World Chess Hall of Fame’s Living Like Kings exhibit 
which runs October 9th 2014 to April 26th 2015 in St. Louis Missouri. 

+++++

To learn more about how the fusion of Hip-Hop and chess can improve your life
subscribe to the Bishop Chronicles Podcast on Spotify, iTunes, Mixcloud and Libsyn.
Bishop Chronicles is brought to you by the good people at Pharcyde TV!

Working to Build Queens: HHCF at Girls Juvenile Hall

Working to Build Queens: HHCF at Girls Juvenile Hall

By: Adisa, The Bishop

A few weeks ago Hip-Hop Chess Federation (HHCF) was invited to teach some of our Chess and Life Strategies classes to the boys at the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center. I was working with kids as young as 13 and as old as 19. It went amazing. I wrote about my first five days in a blog entry I posted a few weeks back.

As soon as it was done I requested an opportunity to work in Unit 6, the girls unit. Educating girls about Chess and Life Strategies has been a core part of the mission of HHCF. These days however, as I see incarcerated girls by daughters age or sharing her physical or personality attributes I’m even more determined to help them. The staff was impressed about my sincerity in sharing chess wisdom with the girls so we got it going. Yesterday was my second time working in Unit 6.

Nothing screams nerd like the glare on these glasses.

Almost half of the first girls I taught had already rotated out. I’m happy to see them free but always sad I did not get more time to teach our lessons. Nevertheless there was a lot of enthusiasm on their faces. Mainly because the ones who were in the first class were excited to play.

One by one the girls walked in the classroom in a straight line. I always make sure to shake their hand and greet them individually with a genuine smile. You’d be surprised at how much a genuine smile can change anyones mood. As you might imagine they were all talking and laughing about whatever is going on in their day. These young ladies are certainly tough, but they never escape sharing their share of giggle and smiles and quirky aspects of their personality. Another thing I noticed is that girls always have much greater classroom respect and focus than any of the boys units. When it’s time to learn, they focus.

“Ladies, please settle down” I asked.  “I need you attention.” They sat straight up and gave me the floor. I’m still trying to gain their trust, so I wanted to share some things about me to re engage them on a personal level.

First I showed them a photos of me and Tupac and Eazy way back from my new book Bobby, Bruce & the Bronx: The Secrets of Hip-Hop Chess. Immediately they asked me one hundred question questions about Pac, Eazy and old school Hip-Hop. They also showed a lot of interest in writing books of their own. I encouraged them to follow through on that vision.

Next I talked to them about Prince Niccolo Machiavelli and how Tupac read Machiavelli and Sun Tzu in jail because he realized he needed to make better decisions. Better decisions than the ones that got him in jail. “Plus all the reading he did is what made it so he could created all the music he did. A lot of today's rappers are one hit wonders because they don’t put anything new into their head. So the songs always sound the same. Tupac was the exact opposite.” One of the Latina girls raised her hand and proudly stated she had read Sun Tzu’s Art of War. The other girls in the class were impressed. So was I.

Then I passed around two books Play Like A Girls by Jennifer Shahade and Birth of the Chess Queen by Marilyn Yalom. I passed it around as I told them the history of the chess queen. I shared the importance of being intelligent young women of action. Some of them were bothered by the title of Shahade’s book. I reminded them that “playing like a girl” was in fact a show of strength and ability. It clicked.

Next I wrote the word queen on the board in big letters. I look around the classroom for a minute to let the silence settle. “What words come to your mind when you see the word queen?” I asked. Without hesitation words rained down on me faster than I could write them on the board:

Power

Educated

Beautiful

Reign

Ambitious

Confident

Woman

“Very good. Did you notice not one of you used words like ‘bitch’, ‘hoe’, ‘trick’ or any of these other words y’all tend to use a lot more often than you should? Why is that?” I asked rhetorically.

Without a pause I stated  “Because you know that is what queens are. You know what queens are NOT. From now on, I’m calling Unit 6 the Queen’s Unit. I make no promises to save you. Only you can save you. I’m just asking you to give me a chance to help you cultivate that inner queen.”

“One of my goals is to help you understand that you are queens. The words that came out of your mouth, out of your own minds came from within you. In chess most folks know queens are the most powerful. Many use queens too early in the game. If she runs out into the battlefield without protection she can get cut off and die quickly. She is most dangerous after a solid plan has been put into motion that no one can stop. So let us plan and make you unstoppable. “

I reminded them to never hesitate to express and defend their inner queen. You could see them nodding as they worked to internalize what I was saying.

From there we went straight into reviewing piece names, movement and value. All but two were ready to play. I think they almost every girl took notes from the board on their own accord. The two who didn’t play were a little more shy than the others and watched the others do battle. After about ten minutes of watching the others, the two shy girls got on the computer and tested themselves on different chess puzzles.

Time went by fast. When class was over they were all upset. They passionately argued for more time on the boards “But wait, this game ain’t over. I almost got her! Can we keep the boards? I just need like ten more minutes so I can win.”

I told them I needed the boards for the next class with the boys. They reluctantly put the boards and pieces away. I’m looking forward to games we play next week in the Queen’s Unit. I will keep you all posted as the lessons continue.

Chess and Jiu-Jitsu: Destruction of A Guard

Chess and Jiu-Jitsu: Destruction of A Guard

By: Adisa Banjoko, Founder of Hip-Hop Chess Federation  

I play chess, but my past is checkered/ The mic and I are like staff and sheppard/ When I apply science, my maths perfected, gotta move with proper tools for task selected - Ka, Peace Akhi

In the interest of furthering the discussion on chess and jiu jitsu, I wanted to share a reflection I've given thought to for quite some time. I find the connections between chess and jiu jitsu fascinating to the mind and enlightening to my heart. The interconnectedness between these arts and sports has given me much genuine inspiration over the years.

Recently I have been combing through tons of old DVD’s and  of VHS of classic jiu jitsu matches from the late 1990's. I’m talking about early matches with legends like Roleta, Marcio Feitosa, Mario Sperry, Terere, Jacare, Saulo Ribero, Fabio Gurgel, Gordo- all the OG’s. Its really exciting to observe how certain techniques disappeared while others stay or evolved. I have to assume that looking back in chess history certain evolutionary themes rise and collapse over time. Nevertheless some elements never will never die.

In chess, there is a theme called Destruction of a Guard (or removing the guard). Essentially it’s a tactic where you focus on attacking the pieces that are protecting the bigger pieces you are going after. Maybe its a knight in front of a queen you hope to capture. There might be two pawns and a rook preventing you from getting to the king. The process of capturing those pawns and rook, or getting them to move off of the squares they are on- is destruction of the guard.

Jen Shahade has a great chapter on this topic in her amazing book Play Like A Girl.

When people watch MMA and BJJ, there is a correlating physical position call “the guard”. Traditionally it's called "the closed guard" where one person is on their back (with a person on top of them, who is attacking) but the person on the bottom has both of their legs wrapped around their opponents torso. This takes a lot of mobility away from the person on top and leaves them vulnerable to direct attacks and reversals. For the person on top, until he or she gets past the person on the bottoms legs, it will be almost impossible to win. They must “destroy the guard”, commonly referred to in BJJ as “guard passing.”  I should note that there are many guard variations outside of the closed guard including "open guard", "butterfly guard", "X guard" and "rubber guard" among others. Each have their own nuances that turn every match into a positional  minefield (much like chess).

The jiu jitsu player on the bottom wrapped his legs around his opponent's torso securing the closed guard.

Here are some easy to understand examples of the countless elements of guard passing in jiu jitsu.  Jason Scully also has a cool video about guard passing that shows you many of the positional variations  when passing someone's guard. Having clarity in the full balance of power within the position, understanding threat assessment and your opponents  potential counters are key. Destroying the guard on the chessboard or the mat can be tricky at best, dangerous every time and if done without full focus- absolutely fatal.

A secondary theme in the concept of “destruction of a guard” in jiu jitsu is when one opponent is on top (after passing the guard and transitioning to the mount) and is trying to secure an armlock. However, his/her opponent (knowing they  are in danger of tapping out soon) defends the armlock by grabbing their opposite arm, or gi to prevent hyperextension of the elbow joint. Ryron and Rener Gracie have a fantastic presentation on various tactics people use to defend the armlock. Their video is a perfect illustration of the destruction of a guard.

Womens MMA sensation Ronda Rousey breaking the defending grip of her opponent to finish the armlock.

Without question the parallels between chess and jiu jitsu are as numerous as the potential moves within the two arts. I will post more on this relationship soon. Feel free to email me about your thoughts on chess and jiu jitsu at bishop@hiphopchessfederation.org!

Jen Shahade giving great tips for beginners!!