July 14, 2025
She has earned over $40,000 in college scholarships due to playing chess.
A Brooklyn teenager, Jessica Hyatt, has made history by becoming the highest-rated African American female chess player.
According to Duchess International Magazine, the 19-year-old is now a candidate master, which is several levels lower than grandmaster, international master, and FIDE, the highest title that can be achieved in chess (according to chess.com). She has earned over $40,000 in college scholarships due to playing chess.
The young chess prodigy started her journey in the sport in Brooklyn, where she was introduced to chess through a nonprofit institution that teaches children the rigors of chess in underserved communities, Chess in the Schools.
BlackNews.com reported that in 2019, she won the New York State Scholastic Championship title. As she continued to excel in the sport, she became the KCF (Kasparov Chess Foundation) All-Girls Nationals Champion and a five-time member of the USA National Youth Team four years later in 2023. At the World Youth Chess Championship that year, she came to a draw against top-seeded Liya Kurmangaliyeva despite being rated 1818.
Hyatt is building a legacy at such a young age by defeating grandmasters. In 2021, she handed Grandmaster Michael Rohde a defeat, and then the following year, she beat chess prodigy Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra, joining a very small group of African American women who have ever beaten a grandmaster.
At just 19, Jessica Hyatt is reshaping American chess. She won the 2019 New York State Scholastic Championship and the 2023 KCF All-Girls Nationals and is a five-time USA National Youth Team member. She currently holds the record as the highest-rated African female chess player. pic.twitter.com/lZkIAo9gsr
— Africa Hall Of Fame (@Afrihalloffame) July 11, 2025
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