Rochelle Ballantyne is the definition of Black excellence. The law student who attends New York University (NYU) aims to become the first Black female chess player. She’s currently ranked as an expert by the U.S. Chess Federation, having a score of 2000. That’s one level below the master title. She just needs 200 more points to reach her goal.
“I’ve been trying to get it for the past ten years,” Ballantyne said in an interview with Reuters. Because of her chess talents, the law student who holds two bachelor’s degrees from Stanford University and a master’s in education policy from Columbia University was the only female to star in Brooklyn Castle, a 2012 documentary about a low-income middle school’s chess program in New York. Ballantyne claims that her grandmother is the reason she’s passionate about the complex game, teaching her to play around the age of eight or nine.
“She was the one who taught me chess,” Ballantyne said, who was an active chess player in elementary and middle schools. “I miss her a lot.”
“I just wasn’t able to give her the gratitude or just appreciate her for all that she’s given me while she was alive,” Ballantyne added. “And so I need to do this one thing for her.”
On top of being a law student, Ballantyne is still chasing her dream decades later while juggling three jobs and interning.
Despite being an incredible player, she has faced sexism and racism at tournaments.
“It’s never just been about chess,” she told Reuters. “Like, I don’t stop being Black once I sit down at a chessboard, especially when I was younger like when people would tell me that I don’t belong in this tournament, am I lost. There are so many more Black girls, little Black girls playing chess now, and it’s so cool to inspire them, it’s an honor to inspire them, for them to see that there are other Black girls playing in this male-dominated, very white sport.”
Law student Rochelle Ballantyne is inspired by her grandmother and hopes to be a beacon for her 10-year-old sister as she pursues the title of chess master https://t.co/EOao4XFef2 pic.twitter.com/bpRrdMkd7p
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 18, 2022
