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Walter Harris is an American chess player.

Career

Harris was the first African-American chess player to earn the USCF title of National Master. 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.

Harris, along with Kenneth Clayton and Frank Street Jr., have been regarded as pioneers of African-Americans in chess in the 1960s.

Harris studied physics at University of California, Los Angeles, and was a career physicist.

References

1. Shabazz, Daaim (February 17, 2022). "Black History Month 2022-Day 17: Walter Harris".
2. ^ Shabazz, Daaim (July 15, 2014). "Meeting Walter Harris, Chess Pioneer".
3. "Black History in Chess".
4. Shabazz, Daaim (March 2, 2007). "The Rising of the Black Star".
5. Basch-Gould, Nathaniel (February 11, 2022). "Story Time History: Black Players Who Changed the Game".

External links

• USCF rating card

• 1941 births
• Living people
• African-American chess players
• American chess players
• People from Harlem
• Sportspeople from Manhattan
• Chess players from New York City
• University of California, Los Angeles alumni
• African-American physicists
• Physicists from New York (state)