Maurice Ashley

Ashley is well known as a commentator for high-profile chess events. He also spent many years teaching chess. On April 13, 2016, Ashley was inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame.

In February 2016, a video of Ashley defeating a "trash-talking" amateur chess player in Washington Square Park went viral.

On April 13, 2016, Ashley was inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame along with Chess Grandmaster Gata Kamsky.

In 2015, Maurice announced a partnership with the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis and Ascension, Your Move Chess. This program supports after school chess in the Florissant-Ferguson School District alongside other schools in the Saint Louis area. Longer term, the goal is to expand the program on a national level.

In 2013, Ashley announced he was planning the highest-stakes open chess tournament in history, Millionaire Chess Open. Its first edition took place October 9–13, 2014 in Las Vegas.

Starting in the Fall of 2012, Ashley was a Director's Fellow at the MIT Media Lab and, between 2013 and 2015, Maurice was also a Fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society in a joint fellowship at both Harvard's Berkman Center and the Media Lab at MIT. Currently, Maurice is a Research affiliate at the Media Lab at MIT.

In 2008, Ashley was featured in an interview for the CNN documentary Black in America. He was shown during one scene in the film Brooklyn Castle mentoring a young chess player. He was mentioned in the chess movie Life of a King starring Cuba Gooding, Jr.

In 2007, Ashley returned to his birth country of Jamaica and became the first GM to ever participate in a tournament there. The tournament was the Frederick Cameron Open. After sweeping a field consisting of several of Jamaica's top players, Ashley was upset in the final round by Jamaican National Master Jomo Pitterson.

In 2005, he wrote the book Chess for Success, relating his experiences and the positive aspects of chess. He was the main organizer for the 2005 HB Global Chess Challenge, with the biggest cash prize in history for an open chess tournament.

Along with GM Susan Polgar, Ashley was named 2003 Grandmaster of the Year by the U.S. Chess Federation.

In 2003, Ashley wrote an essay The End of the Draw Offer?, which raised discussion about ways to avoid quick agreed draws in chess tournaments.

On March 14, 1999, Ashley beat Adrian Negulescu to complete the requirements for the Grandmaster title. This made him the first black chess Grandmaster.

In September 1999, Ashley founded the Harlem Chess Center, which has attracted such celebrities as Larry Johnson and Wynton Marsalis.

Ashley has, and currently is, working as a chess commentator covering many events including those of the Grand Chess Tour. He 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. He provided commentary for the Kasparov vs. Anand World Championship match in 1995. In 2003, Ashley hosted ESPN's broadcast of Kasparov's match against X3D Fritz. He has also served as a commentator for the 2013–19 Sinquefield Cups, several US Chess Championships, and many other chess events.

In 1993, Ashley married Michele Ashley-Johnson. Their daughter Nia was born the following year. Nia graduated from Barnard College in 2016. Their son Jayden was born in 2002. The couple divorced in 2014.

In 1992, Ashley shared the United States Game/10 chess championship with Maxim Dlugy.

Maurice Ashley (born March 6, 1966) is a Jamaican-American chess grandmaster, author, and commentator. In 1999 he earned the grandmaster title (GM), making him the first black person to attain the title of grandmaster.