International Chess Grandmaster Maurice Ashley made history when he was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame on April 13 at a ceremony in St. Louis’ Forest Park. “I think being the first African-American is extremely important from a social perspective,” he told The St. Louis American, “and, from a personal perspective, it spoke to everything I have done and dedicated to this sport.”
Ashley is a world-class chess commentator, best-selling author, and coach (even coaching actor Will Smith), but he said his destiny is promoting the game among at-risk youth. He supports “Your Move Chess,” an after-school program in the Ferguson-Florissant School District launched in September 2015 by the St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center in partnership with Ascension Health.
“Initiatives like this are going to make change,” Ashley said. “I know that there are entrenched problems in Ferguson and in many cities around the country, but we have to focus on the things that can help, that are going to make a difference. We have to believe in the potential for change and pursue it.”
Ashley spoke to The St. Louis American about chess and mentoring at the St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center, 4657 Maryland Ave. in the Central West End.
The St. Louis American: When did you first take an interest in chess?
Maurice Ashley: I started playing as a boy in Jamaica, but I got really serious about chess after I came to America at age 12. We lived in Brownsville, Brooklyn, a neighborhood where a lot of rough stuff was going on – violence, drug dealers, prostitutes – and chess was an outlet for my desire to excel at something. The trappings of the neighborhood didn’t lure me because I was always hanging out with a friend playing chess or reading about it. Chess expanded my world, too: I learned that it was played by millions of people in exotic places. I remember reading about famous players in Russia and wondering what it would be like to live in Moscow.
The American: Did you have a mentor in those early years?
Maurice Ashley: When I was 17 years old, I met a group of older men who called themselves “The Black Bear School of Chess.” It was just a bunch of brothers who got together and played against each other, but they were fierce competitors and serious about the game. They would study chess books in languages they didn’t speak: I remember seeing them studying a German book with the help of a German dictionary, and looking at the illustrations of chess moves in a Russian magazine.
We played blitz chess which is the very fast form of the game – five minutes with the clock – and there’s a lot of trash talking. It was a rambunctious atmosphere, playing all the time in each other’s homes, sometimes from dusk till dawn. These men helped me to grow as a chess player, but also as a man. They taught me how to be focused and how to tolerate losing. A lot of people give up when they start losing, but to be great at anything you have to be completely comfortable with failing, time and time again.
The American: Can you talk about the cognitive benefits of chess?
Maurice Ashley: To me, the greatest thing about chess is how it refines the decision-making process. Every single move forces you to make a decision. You have to compare and contrast ideas constantly, and then decide on a plan of action after you’ve analyzed everything. And you can’t fall into “analysis paralysis.” Eventually you have to act, and when you act your opponent will try to crush you. That is incredible training for life. It made a difference for me, helping me become a more sophisticated thinker.
The American: Is that your stump speech to young students?
Maurice Ashley: No. If you tell them “This will help you become a sophisticated thinker,” They’ll say, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But if you say, “You’re going to be a good chess player,” they’ll say, “Oh, okay; I get that.”
Because kids are imitative, they automatically emulate people they respect, especially when the person has a lot of similarities to them. The kids get that I am from the same kind of neighborhood, that I am a normal guy. And it matters that I’m black: They can relate to me and they know I can relate to their experience directly because I grew up just like they did.
For more information on Maurice Ashley and his programs, visit http://mauriceashley.com.
