First Black Chess Grandmaster Inducted into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame

Maurice Ashley Inducted into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame

Maurice Ashley – United States – Inducted 2016

Opening Ceremony of the 2016 U.S. and U.S. Women’s Chess Championships and

Inductions into the U.S. and World Chess Halls of Fame April 13, 2016 Saint Louis, MO

Maurice Ashley is not only the first African-American player to achieve the title of grandmaster, but one of the greatest ambassadors and promoters the game has ever known.

Ashley is a world-class commentator who has covered many major competitions including the 1995 Kasparov-Anand World Championship match as well as the 2013-2016 Sinquefield Cups.

He has also organized some of the highest-stakes open tournaments worldwide, the HB Global Challenge (2005) and Millionaire Chess Open (2014, 2015), which featured record-setting prize funds.

Formerly a Joint Fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Center and MIT’s Media Lab, Ashley is at the forefront of bringing the benefits of chess to a wider educational audience through the innovative use of technology.

He is the author of the bestseller Chess for Success: Using an Old Game to Build New Strengths in Children and Teens (2005).

About Maurice Ashley
Through chess, Maurice Ashley has not only made history as the first African-American International Grandmaster in 1999, but has translated his talents to others as a three-time national championship coach, two-time author, ESPN commentator, iPhone app designer, puzzle inventor and motivational speaker. Ashley now works as a Research Affiliate at MIT’s Media Lab to bring the benefits of chess and other classic games to a wider educational audience through the innovative use of technology.

He has traveled the world as an ardent spokesperson of the character-building effects of chess. Ashley’s book, “Chess for Success” (Broadway Books, 2005), crystallizes his vision of the many benefits of chess, particularly for at-risk youth, and he continuously spreads his message of living one’s dream to universities, businesses, chess clubs and non-profit organizations around the globe. His app, “Learn Chess! With Maurice Ashley,” has been sold in over 30 countries, and he has received multiple community service awards from city governments, universities and community groups for his work.

In the fall of 2011, Ashley toured six Caribbean nations to bringing chess, books and technology to kids in the region. 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.

Co-organizer of Millionaire Chess, GM Ashley has teamed up with Amy Lee to bring high-level competition to a wide audience. Millionaire Chess 3 will offer a $510,000 purse in Atlantic City, October 6-10, 2016.