Program Directory

 
City Club of Cleveland - Motivating Urban Youth to Achieve Educational Excellence
 
 
 
Maurice Ashley, who has been called the Tiger Woods of chess, is an advocate for mentoring programs and other initiatives that support, nurture, and encourage youth. He will speak about his work to showcase the possibilities that education and academic excellence can afford students in urban communities.

This Forum is in partnership with PolicyBridge.

Ashley, who made history when he became the first and only African American to attain the coveted title of International Grand Master of Chess in 1999, was named 2003 Grandmaster of the Year by the U.S. Chess Federation. He opened Harlem Chess Center in September 1999, and makes appearances all over the country speaking to young people and adults about chess and its benefits.

Designer of an award-winning chess tutorial, Ashley was coach of the Raging Rooks of Harlem, winners of the National Junior High School Championships (1991) and the Dark Knights (also from Harlem), two-time National Champions (1994 and 1995) in the Junior Varsity Division, and was the head of the Dark Knights program as they continued to win six National Championship titles.

Ashley has been featured in many publications, including Time magazine, USA Today, New York Times, Sports Illustrated, London Times, Ebony, Investor's Business Daily, and Emerge, and he has appeared on The Charlie Rose Show, CBS News This Morning, National Public Radio, CNN, Bloomberg Radio, and a number of radio shows around the U.S. Ashley also served as commentator for the IBM Kasparov vs. Deep Blue rematch (1997), 1996 Man vs. Machine match (Kasparov vs. Deep Blue), and other world championship matches.
February 1, 2008