Today, Maurice Ashley is considered one of the world’s most iconic chess grandmasters.
But if you think he’s some genius prodigy who's been moving pawns since he was knee-high, guess again.
He didn’t come from privileged circumstances.
When his mom moved him and his siblings from Jamaica to NYC, chess was just a “boring” game his siblings played when they had no other safe alternatives in their community.
One day, 14-year-old Ashley was challenged to his first competitive game by a neighborhood friend.
But the match didn’t go at all the way he expected.
After getting WHOOPED by his peer, Ashley spent hours every day practicing new moves and learning chess theory from library books, and playing better opponents than himself.
By 1999, he had fought hard to break through barriers of circumstance - lack of exposure, coaching, and opportunities to compete - until he won an international grandmaster title,the most elite rank of chess. But the title wasn’t enough.
Decades after his title was bestowed, Grandmaster Ashley continues establishing chess programs for Black youth in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, Richmond, and St. Louis.
The programs encourage players to use skills acquired during matches (like problem-solving, patience, and good sportsmanship) to stay away from trouble and achieve their dreams.
We can continue to use our status to do the same.