Maurice Ashley is one of the most familiar faces at the World Chess Championship. The first step of every game is after his words, standing between Ding Liren and D. Gukesh: “Let the game begin.”
The American grandmaster has been a commentator and presenter at major chess tournaments for more than three decades, but that is not his greatest achievement.
In 1999, he became the first black man to become a grandmaster. Some 25 years later, of the more than 2,000 masters in the world, only four were black.
Ashley was proud to be the first black grandmaster, but sadly not many followed in his footsteps. He hopes to have the same impact on his community as Viswanathan Anand did for Indian chess, and he is working towards his goal by supporting children.
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He comes from a sports family. His sister Alicia is a former world boxing champion and his brother Devin is a former world kickboxing champion. “But I never wanted to be a boxer,” Ashley said in the interview sports star At Sentosa World Resort. “I fell in love with chess and loved talking about the game.”
American grandmaster Maurice Ashley. |Photo credit: Sportstar/PK Ajith Kumar
American grandmaster Maurice Ashley. |Photo credit: Sportstar/PK Ajith Kumar
In fact, his first major assignment as a commentator was the 1995 World Championship match between Anand and Garry Kasparov. That game was held at the World Trade Center. “The first game was on September 11,” he said. “It was an important game, like this one, although some people criticized the number of draws and Ding’s mistakes in the final game.”
He said it was definitely an exciting game. “One mistake can end the game, but that’s chess,” said the Jamaican-born chess grandmaster. “The pressure, the intensity of the moment, having to meet the expectations of millions of fans all take a toll on you.”
He believed that Gukesh would create a legacy not just for India but for the world as well. “In fact, even beyond chess, because you get such a young world champion,” Ashley said. “He will inspire millions of people around the world.”
He believes Gukesh has the potential to become a stronger player. “He’s still growing and still a few years away from reaching his peak,” Ashley said. “I think he can be the man of the match.”
