Cover Story
Left to right: New York City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, I.S. 318 student Kenneth Martin, and New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg. The photo was taken by former I.S. 318 student Kamran Mumtaz who now works for the mayor.
22
Chess Life — July 2012
went 7-0 in the unrated section.
James raced out of the gate in Minneapolis, winning his first four games. However,
the dream of an individual title ended on the
stage in round five: James erred tactically
and went down to eventual winner Ben
Gershenov of New York. His momentum
lost, James then failed to score against
Ohio star John Lodger Hughes in round six,
leaving him frustrated. 318’s fortunes in the
team high school championship would rest
in part on his ability to recover his form in
time for round seven.
Semi-Slav (D46)
Andrew Tang (2170)
James Black (2305)
National High School Championship (4),
04.14.2012
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. e3
Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 Bd6 9.
0-0 0-0 10. Qc2 Bb7 11. Rd1 a6 12. e4 e5 13.
Ne2
(see diagram next column)
When this position was reached in
Alexander Chernin-Juraj Lipka, Black
r+-wq-trk+
+l+n+pzpp
p+pvl-sn-+
+p+-zp-+-+-zPP+-+
+-+L+N+PzPQ+NzPPzP
tR-vLR+-mK-
After 13. Ne2
(FIDE 2426) preferred 13. ... Qc7. James
decides to seek the initiative with a
dynamic pawn sacrifice.
13. ... c5!? 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Bxe5 16.
Qxc5 Qb8 17. f4?
This looks like the beginning of White’s
problems. Trouble starts brewing on the
a7-g1 diagonal very quickly now. 17. Ng3
improves, although James’ novelty has
been successful: Houdini thinks Black
has equalized here.
17. ... Bd6 18. Qf5
(see diagram top of next column)
uschess.org
PHOTO: COURTESY OF NYC MAYOR’S OFFICE
Like his teammate Isaac, James works
with GM Alexander Stripunsky, with
whom he enjoys a close relationship.
James speaks glowingly of his mentor,
once observing that “everything you
should be getting from a coach, I get from
Mr. Stripunsky.” One focus of their work
has been slowing down at the board and
seeing more deeply into positions. “I used
to play really fast; I think I’ve developed
into a thinker. I’m really proud of using
my time to develop ideas. When you think
more, you tend to see more”.
The hours James has put in, at and
away from the board, have been richly
rewarded. He has represented the United
States in international competition, and
become a symbol of excellence at the
Marshall Chess Club. His successes have
been featured in the New York Times,
local radio, and the Chess Drum, a website celebrating the accomplishments of
chess players of African origin. Far from
inflating his ego, James’ path has made
him keenly aware of his position as a
leader at 318. When his 61⁄2/7 won K-8
Nationals last year, he observed that the
program’s highest scorer was not him, but
Mubassar Uddin: A sixth grader who