The 2024 HBCU Chess Classic: A Year for Re-Invention

The inaugural 2023 HBCU Chess Classic, held last year on the historic Morris Brown College campus, was admittedly a tough act to follow. The excitement generated by a brand-new event — bolstered by local press coverage and celebrity guests GM Maurice Ashley and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens — naturally fostered visions of bigger and better future tournaments.

Despite these expectations, Alan Cowan and Shaniah Francis — co-founders of tournament host The Black Odyssey — knew the 2024 event would be a much more subdued version. In fact, their launch into adulthood following their 2023 graduations, plus the stress of Cowan’s cross-country move to San Francisco, left the tournament’s fate temporarily up in the air.

Shaniah Francis, co-founder of tournament host The Black Odyssey (All photos courtesy Daaim Shabazz)

“We knew this year wouldn’t be easy,” Francis said, noting that she and Cowan did most of the organizing by themselves. “But now we understand more. Maurice [Ashley] told us how paramount an advisory board is. So we’ve installed a board of directors that not only gives us some sort of guard rails, but also allows us to delegate work next year and alleviate some of the pressure of just the two of us doing this.”

The Black Odyssey co-founder Alan Cowan (L) with volunteer coach Charles German

Cowan added, “I was essentially starting over from scratch — moving, getting a new place, getting my first job after graduation. It got daunting at times. Last year, Shaniah was at Spelman, I was at Morehouse — we were literally across the street from each other. And our class loads typically lessened after 2 or 3 p.m. We had the luxury of working on The Black Odyssey after that. But now, with working full time and being on the other side of the country, it’s a completely different process.”

Despite the challenges, the tenacious co-founders successfully launched the 2024 edition of the HBCU Chess Classic on the weekend of April 20th. Held over two days at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, the tournament even added a new feature: a separate section for HBCU alumni.

Chief TD Tiffany Harris

Stepping up to the plate as chief tournament director this year was Tiffany Harris, who accepted the position after last year’s chief TD, Seth Dousman-Disroe, reached out. Dousman-Disroe, who could not be available for the entire tournament, took a supporting role instead. “I absolutely wanted to be a part of this again,” said Dousman-Disroe. “If it’s chess in Atlanta, count me in. But I wasn’t able to take on the full responsibility this year. Luckily, Tiffany Harris is an awesome member of the Atlanta chess community, and I’m super thankful she was able to shine.”

Harris, who sits on Georgia Chess Association’s board of directors and serves as a state delegate for US Chess, echoes Dousman-Disroe’s enthusiasm: “I’m very involved in growing Georgia chess these days. I want to help continue The Black Odyssey’s vision. And we’re going to try to do tournaments like this more often, so we can grow even more.”

The Tournament

The 2024 edition hosted 33 players from six schools: Florida A&M, Hampton, Howard, Morehouse, North Carolina A&T, and Spelman. After five intense rounds, Florida A&M sophomore Caleb Parker grabbed individual clear first with a perfect 5/5 score.

Caleb Parker went 5/5 in the Open section

Parker, a Computer Information Systems major, also participated in last year’s inaugural event, falling short, he said, in the last round. “I learned from my mistakes,” he said, “and I’m just thankful for the opportunity to go at it again and become the individual winner.” Here is his round two game, which he selected as one of his best:

“I feel great,” Parker said after the tournament ended. “This is my sixth year playing chess more seriously, and I believe this is a testament to the hard work I’ve done. So I am very thankful for this opportunity. I’m grateful to the organizers, Alan and Shaniah. They did a fantastic job organizing this tournament, and I look forward to coming again next year.”

NCAT — From left: Individual winner Caleb Parker, Team winner NC A&T-A, Alumni winner Homer Robinson (with TD Tiffany Harris)

In the team standings, North Carolina A&T-A took top honors on tiebreaks, followed by Howard-A (both with 14 points) and Hampton-A (12½ points). Homer Robinson swept the alumni section, winning the championship with a perfect 5/5. Some sort of magic must have occurred during the second round, as Robinson also selected a round two win as his favorite game. The critical moment is below:

After some first round pairing hiccups, the tournament ran smoothly — so smoothly, in fact, that the final round ended an hour earlier than scheduled! Replete with pizza generously provided by the organizers, the participants didn’t seem to mind the early finish, which allowed them to socialize and unwind with more chess, casually played in the many rooms available at the venue.

Tournament Takeaways

“It was definitely daunting organizing this year, from the perspective of time,” Cowan said. The word “daunting” was invoked several times as Cowan and Francis discussed the planning process, underscoring how difficult it was to pull the event together. They both referred to this year’s tournament as a transitional period, with Francis boldly predicting that year three will be even better.

Dr. Daaim Shabazz sees this period as a turning point and a time to prepare others for leadership. “Alan and Shaniah have a vision for what they want to do, which I told them is a massive vision. They’ll eventually need to have other students come behind them to continue providing the energy. They understand that, but the question is, ‘Who do you find to take on the responsibilities?’”

FAMU — Dr. Daaim Shabazz (L) and his Florida A&M University team (R) have plans to expand the chess program in coming years

Shabazz, perhaps unconsciously, answered his rhetorical question when talking about chess at Florida A&M, where he teaches. “We’re trying to get the chess program going,” he said, noting that the individual tournament winner, Caleb Parker, is leading the charge at his school. “We’ve been talking about doing a call-out in the fall to see who’s interested in chess. We’ll have people come and check it out, sign them up, get the momentum going.”

And while the space at Georgia Tech was expansive and comfortable, everyone interviewed mentioned that last year’s location, in the heart of the Atlanta University Center, carried the weight of history and felt far more appropriate. Shabazz said, “I loved last year’s setting. There were all these landmarks around. Maurice [Ashley] mentioned in his remarks, ‘Over there is where W.E.B. DeBois wrote The Souls of Black Folk,’ and he was pointing to a building. It just felt more inviting, more intimate.”

Cowan and Francis said that timing was the only reason the tournament ended up at Georgia Tech. That, and the fact that securing space at one of the HBCUs proved extremely difficult. “We learned that HBCU structuring is a lot different from other schools’ structuring,” Cowan said, “especially on the administration side. I don’t want to generalize it, but the process to get here [Georgia Tech] was way less difficult than it has been with the HBCUs. But now we have a better understanding of who we should contact and how we should do it.”

Plans for The Black Odyssey — and the future of the HBCU Chess Classic — remain ambitious. “The goal of The Black Odyssey is to uplift HBCUs and create this bridge,” said Cowan. “At some point in the near future, we want to host the tournament at different schools and rotate outside the Atlanta area. I think it’s paramount to ensure that we’re all a collective agency.”

Francis lit up as she described what would come next. “Next year we plan to come back bigger and better with the incorporation of arts and chess. It’s going to be very cool, like a festival,” she said. “We’re not taking our feet off the gas. We understand the shortcomings. We understand the highs, the lows. This has the potential to be so much bigger. What we’re building here is important.”

The HBCU Classic continues to place a priority on being an inclusive, inviting space for women

Dousman-Disroe shared his vision for the tournament’s future as well: “I think it'd be awesome to have all the HBCUs here and host everyone at the Morehouse gymnasium — really make a big impact. HBCUs have such an impact. Chess has such an impact. We just need to get the right people in the room having that conversation on how to make it happen.”

But perhaps this simple invitation from future leader Caleb Parker is the best way to keep this grassroots movement flourishing: “Anyone who’s reading this and is interested in joining the HBCU Chess Classic, please come next year. It’s a great way to grow connection and community.”