1. Maurice Ashley was born on March 6,1966 and is a Jamaican and American chess player, author, and commentator.
21 Facts About Maurice Ashley
1. 2.
Maurice Ashley attended Wolmer's Boys School in Jamaica, and then moved to the United States when he was 12.
3.
Maurice Ashley said he discovered chess in Jamaica, where his brother played chess with his friends.
4.
Maurice Ashley got more serious about chess during high school, where he grew up in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and played in parks and clubs throughout New York City.
5.
Maurice Ashley coached the Raging Rooks of Harlem, and the Dark Knights, both of which won national championships under his guidance.
6.
On March 14,1999, Maurice Ashley beat Adrian Negulescu to complete the requirements for the Grandmaster title.
7.
In September 1999, Maurice Ashley founded the Harlem Chess Center, which has attracted such celebrities as Larry Johnson and Wynton Marsalis.
8.
Maurice Ashley was the main organizer for the 2005 HB Global Chess Challenge, with the biggest cash prize in history for an open chess tournament.
9.
In 2007, Maurice Ashley returned to his birth country of Jamaica and became the first GM to ever participate in a tournament there, the Frederick Cameron Open.
10.
In 2008, Maurice Ashley was featured in an interview for the CNN documentary Black in America.
11.
Maurice Ashley was shown during one scene in the film Brooklyn Castle mentoring a young chess player.
12.
Maurice Ashley was mentioned in the chess movie Life of a King starring Cuba Gooding, Jr.
13.
Currently, Maurice Ashley is a Research affiliate at the Media Lab at MIT.
14.
In 2013, Maurice Ashley announced he was planning the highest-stakes open chess tournament in history, Millionaire Chess Open.
15.
In 2015, Maurice Ashley announced a partnership with the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis and Ascension, Your Move Chess.
16.
In February 2016, a video of Maurice Ashley defeating a "trash-talking" amateur chess player in Washington Square Park went viral.
17.
The incident was referenced in an episode of Billions where Maurice Ashley portrayed the chess hustler.
18.
Maurice Ashley has worked, and currently is working, as a chess commentator covering many events, including those of the Grand Chess Tour.
19.
Maurice Ashley was one of the commentators of the two matches between world champion Garry Kasparov and IBM's Deep Blue that took place in 1996 and 1997.
20.
Maurice Ashley provided commentary for the Kasparov vs Anand World Championship match in 1995.
21.
In 2003, Maurice Ashley hosted ESPN's broadcast of Kasparov's match against X3D Fritz.