On this day in 2020, Jessica Hyatt, a 15-year-old chess champion from Brooklyn, New York, made national headlines as she pursued a historic goal: becoming the first Black woman in the United States to earn the National Master title.
Already ranked among the nation’s top Black female chess players, Hyatt had earned a $40,000 college scholarship through the Daniel Feinberg Success in Chess Award. The recognition followed years of competitive success, including her 2019 New York State Scholastic Championship victory.
Born in 2005, Hyatt began playing chess at age 4. By 2020, the Success Academy High School sophomore was practicing five to seven hours daily under the guidance of National Masters Tyrell Harriott and David Mbonu.
Her chess rating stood near 1,950, putting her within reach of the 2,200 rating required for the National Master title.
Hyatt continued building her competitive record. In 2021, she defeated Grandmaster Michael Rohde in a blitz exhibition, and in 2022, she beat Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra.
She captured the 2023 KCF All-Girls Nationals championship and competed internationally at the World Youth Chess Championship, where she drew against higher-rated opponent Liya Kurmangaliyeva.
In June 2024, Hyatt visited the Detroit Institute of Arts and won all 25 games in a simultaneous chess exhibition.
Her breakthrough came in August 2024, when she reached the required 2,200 rating at the Marshall Chess Club in New York, becoming the youngest African American woman to earn the National Master title.
Hyatt achieved the distinction just one month after Shama Yisrael became the first African American woman to reach that milestone.
