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Maurice Ashley
Chess Grandmaster
In 1999 Maurice Ashley became the first African-American to achieve the exalted chess rank of international grandmaster. He has been a chess commentator on ESPN and is the author of the book "Chess for Success: Using an Old Game to Build New Strengths in Children and Teens."
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3mins
The first African-American grandmaster traces his obsession with chess to a high school friend who kept crushing him at the game.
1mins
The game trains you to focus on what your opponent is thinking and planning—a discipline that is useful on the chessboard and in the boardroom.
5mins
“It’s a discipline that you practice,” says the Jamaican-born grandmaster, “and you can’t help but develop your mental powers.”
10mins
The top African-American chess player defied the conventional wisdom that you need to learn the game in preschool to become a grandmaster.
2mins
Players from Brooklyn want “to rip your heart out, cook it, and eat it later.”
