I still remember well when William Lombardy, the former youth world champion and, alongside Fischer, the strongest American player, bitterly complained to me, during the Kasparov-Anand world championship match that began on September 11, 1995, on the observation deck of the World Trade Center (30 years ago today – 24 years ago today it was destroyed), that he had not yet been accorded this honour.
Maurice Ashley, with his boundless energy, has certainly succeeded. He clearly shares this energy with his siblings, with whom he came to the USA from Jamaica in the late 1970s: his sister Alicia Ashley was a boxing world champion, his brother Devon a kickboxing world champion. Their dynamic energy is naturally directed outwards, but what about chess player Ashley, who has to sit still for hours in front of a chessboard?
Well, Maurice is certainly the most dynamic commentator of chess tournaments in the world. A bundle of energy – outspoken, often irreverent. But that’s exactly what makes him so popular, that’s how he brings top-class chess into people’s living rooms. He commentated on the 1995 World Championship as well as the legendary matches between Garry Kasparov and IBM’s Deep Blue in 1996 and 1997 – ‘man versus machine’.
And countless tournaments to this day. Articles have been dedicated to him in the New York Times, Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and Reader’s Digest, and he is invited to numerous TV shows. As Frederic Friedel writes on the website en.chessbase.com, he has even risen to the position of “keynote speaker and master of ceremonies” at major events. He also occasionally composes music. Here is the conclusion of one of his studies: “White wins.”
Take a look – you can click on moves to analyse them on a replay board, and switch on an engine (fan button below the board) to answer any remaining questions you might have.
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