<p>Through his love for chess, Maurice Ashley not only made history as the first African-American Chess Grandmaster in the annals of the game, but he has managed to translate this passion to others as a three-time national championship coach, author, ESPN commentator, iPhone app designer, puzzle inventor and inspirational speaker. </p><p>Maurice Ashley is one of a kind. A native of Jamaica who moved to New York at the age of twelve, he learn his craft in a secluded sanctuary of privilege. Rather he honed his game on the stone tables of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park in the rough and tumble 1980s. He relentlessly chased the lessons of victory and defeat in the Black Bear School of Chess, where he learned from trap setters, speed players and trash talkers who were also serious students of the game.</p><p>As a result of this untraditional mentorship and by pushing the limits of his potential, Maurice unlocked the power of the human mind to win his way to achieve the highest honor in chess. In March of 1999, he beat Romania’s Adrian Negulescu to complete the requirements for the Grandmaster title. Later that year, he founded the Harlem Chess Center. In 2003, he was named Grandmaster of the Year by the US Chess Federation and was inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame in 2016.</p><p>Maurice is also well known for providing dynamic live tournament coverage of world-class chess competitions and matches. His high-energy, unapologetic, and irreverent commentary combines Brooklyn street smarts with professional ESPN-style sports analysis. He has covered every class of elite event, including the World Chess Championships, the US Chess Championships, the Grand Chess Tour, and the legendary “man vs. machine” matches between Garry Kasparov and IBM’s Deep Blue.</p><p>Maurice travels the world as an ardent spokesperson of the many character-building effects of chess, consulting with organizations and executives on how chess principles and strategies can be applied to improve business practices and assist in personal and professional development.</p><p>Maurice is the author of <em>Move by Move: Life Lessons On and Off the Chessboard</em> (April 2024). He was also featured in Adam Grant’s book <em>Hidden Potential</em> and on his podcast, WorkLife.</p>
International Grandmaster of Chess
<ul><li><strong>Decision-Making Perspective: Seeing challenges from a different point of view</strong></li><li>Chess is known as a thinking game. In order to beat your opponent you must step into their shoes and think about how they think. In this compelling speech, Maurice shows how to transfer the chess move thought process and adapt that same way of thinking to the critical decisions you make in business and life. This fascinating session will help you shift your decision-making perspective and adapt your thinking in ways you never expected.</li><li><strong>Working Backward to Solve Problems</strong></li><li>Ashley expounds upon the value of chess as a tool to hone the mind. He begins by waving off the misperception, common among non-chess-players, that grandmasters “see ahead” ten, twenty, or thirty moves into the game, then goes on to explain that the sharpest players do it not by looking forward, but by looking backward. Providing examples of how using this sort of “retrograde analysis,” combined with pattern recognition, he applies the lessons of a Grandmaster to the challenges leaders face when making high-level decisions.</li></ul>