Chessboss

Maurice Ashley was awarded the coveted International Grandmaster title in 1999 by FIDE.  Most of his adult work with chess has been to promote chess to youth, as evident by the fact that he has coached two different youth teams from Harlem to national championships.  In 1999, he opened the Harlem Chess Center, and was named Grandmaster of the Year by the U.S. Chess Federation in 2003.  He makes appearances all over the world to speak to people about the benefits of chess.

Ashley also receives a lot of press for his status as the first black chess grandmaster, to which he responded, “African continent GMs do exist; but, according to the system of racial classification, I am the first Black GM in history…it matters, and doesn’t matter, all at the same time.”  He also serves as ESPN’s official chess commentator, covering such matches as the Kasparov vs. Deep Blue matches in the late 1990s.  His main focus of the later part of his life has been to use chess to help at-risk youth, and has signed a movie deal with HBO about his coaching of a Harlem youth team to victory at the National Junior High School Championships.