Kenneth Roger Clayton (July 26, 1938 – December 26, 2017) was an American
chess master. He won US Amateur Chess Championship in 1963. He attended
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
. His picture was on the cover of the June 1963 issue of
Chess Life
The monthly ''Chess Life'' and bi-monthly ''Chess Life Kids'' (formerly ''School Mates'' and ''Chess Life for Kids'') are the official magazines published by the United States Chess Federation (US Chess). ''Chess Life'' is advertised as the "most ...
magazine.
Clayton, along with
Walter Harris and
Frank Street Jr., have been regarded as pioneers of African-Americans in chess in the 1960s.
Clayton held the FIDE title of Candidate Master and the USCF title of National Master. He died of Alzheimer’s on December 26, 2017.
References
The seminal article on the history of black chess masters appeared on the Chess Drum websiteGregory S. Kearse, A Brief History of Black Chess Masters in America, Chess Life Magazine, July 1998.
External links
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1938 births
2017 deaths
American chess players
Harvard University alumni
African-American chess players
Sportspeople from Washington, D.C.
Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in the United States
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