'My passions were what drove me': senior reflects on chess success

Kassa Korley has earned the title of International Master, the second highest title awarded by the World Chess Federation.
Kassa Korley has earned the title of International Master, the second highest title awarded by the World Chess Federation.

Playing chess comes so naturally to senior Kassa Korley that he cannot even remember how he first learned the game.

“That’s actually a mystery,” he said, “I must have learned somewhere but no one really knows.”

Korley has loved the game since he was a child and has experienced success in tournaments around the world. The US Chess Federation currently rates him as among the top 70 active players in the country—or in the top 0.2 percent.

Growing up in New York City, Korley balanced his love for chess with his schoolwork and other activities, always seeking opportunities to play the game. He recounts his experiences as a kid playing chess with Sonny Gibbs—a flower salesman in Harlem who would teach chess to passersby who has become something of neighborhood legend and has been profiled by the New York Times.

“It was a place where I could come after school and get some games in,” Korley said of Gibbs' corner. "As a kid, I was pretty competitive when it came to games, so I liked chess.”

Unlike many chess players competing at his level, Korley said that no one ever truly served as his mentor or coach. The coaching sessions that most top chess players pay for were never an option for Korley due to their high cost.

“My passions were what drove me. When it comes to chess, I am completely self taught,” he said.

Korley said he continues to develop his skills here at Duke by constantly competing in games online. He said that playing games online allows him to play people across the world. He also looks at the top games of the top ten chess players in the world to figure out how he can incorporate their strategies. Korley compares this to how football players constantly need to watch game film.

“It’s what I’ve always done to get better, and it’s what I still do.” he said, “Even on the worst day when I have a crazy amount of stuff to do, I’m still looking at games.”

He began his chess career by competing in the scholastic chess scene, traveling to tournaments around the country. After improving his skills, he became the youngest black chess master in the world at the time. Korley earned the title of International Master, which is the second-highest title awarded by the World Chess Federation, this past summer.

He said tournament games are surprisingly long and mentally draining, lasting around four hours each.

“Your mind is constantly looking and overanalyzing things, so it’s very tiring even though you’re just sitting there,” Korley explained.

In the past five years, Korley has travelled around the world to play tournaments, competing in places including Budapest and Copenhagen.

“I’m half Danish and have Danish citizenship, so I’ve been to Europe frequently, but these tournaments gave me more international flavor,” he said.

In two or three years, he hopes to become a Grand Master, which is the highest title awarded to chess players. With only one black Grand Master in history—who attained the title in his mid-30s—Korley will be the youngest black Grand Master if he succeeds.

“I think it’s important to always look ahead and never be satisfied," Korley said. “[Becoming a Grand Master] would be in many ways the culmination of the things I’ve worked for since I was a kid.”

Korley noted that chess is but one part of his identity, saying that he wants people to know that chess is a game for everyone. If people hear that message, he added, more people will be attracted to the game.

“I’m not your stereotypical chess playing nerd that only does chess. I consider myself to be an athlete and a normal guy,” he said.

Korley commented that in addition to chess, he loves playing basketball and keeping up with sports, which is part of the reason he enjoys Duke.

“I like the balance between social and academic life and being at a place with good sports,” he said.

Discussion

Share and discuss “'My passions were what drove me': senior reflects on chess success” on social media.