Maurice Ashley

Who is Maurice Ashley?

Maurice Ashley is a chess grandmaster, author, commentator, app designer, puzzle inventor, and motivational speaker. He is currently a Joint Fellow at the Berkman Center at Harvard and the Media Lab at MIT. In the December 2013 rating lists, he had a FIDE rating of 2446, and a USCF rating of 2475 at standard chess, and 2481 at quick chess. 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 HB global chess event, with the biggest cash prize in history for an open chess tournament. FIDE awarded him the grandmaster title in 1999. Ashley and Englishman James Plaskett are the only two grandmasters to have made it to the studio stage of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?," each in his respective country. In 1992, Ashley shared the United States Game/10 chess championship with Maxim Dlugy.

In 1993, Ashley married Michele Johnson. Their daughter Nia was born the following year and now attends Barnard College. Their son Jayden was born in 2002.

Ashley graduated from the College of the City of New York, and represented the school in intercollegiate team competition. Always promoting chess among youth, Ashley coached the Raging Rooks of Harlem, and the Dark Knights, both of which have won national championships under his guidance. In September 1999, he opened the Harlem Chess Center which has attracted such celebrities as Larry Johnson and Wynton Marsalis. Ashley was named 2003 Grandmaster of the Year by the U.S. Chess Federation.