Maurice Ashley: Path to Grandmaster, New York Hustle, Commentary, Drama | C-Squared Podcast

Maurice Ashley is a world class chess commentator, author, and the first Black Grandmaster in the world. We sit down for an in depth conversation about his life and career, relationship with his good friend Yasser Seirawan, Hans Niemann drama, and more.
Episode was filmed on 10.16.2022
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Video Credit:
STLCC Broadcast
00:00- Intro & Maurice’s chess beginnings
7:54 - A competitive and athletic family
11:36 - The Black Bear School of Chess
17:45 - Chess in the 1980’s
20:28 - More on the Ashley family
23:25 - Yasser and other great players in New York
27:12 - Making chess a career
28:46 - Titles
36:04 - Mikhail Tal story
44:15 - Marshall & Manhattan Chess Club
47:12 - Branches of the chess career
51:20 - Famous commentating
54:43 - Working with other commentators
58:37 - Becoming a Grand Master & getting norms
1:10:06 - Millionaire Chess Tournament & Retiring as a player
1:21:34 - Curent plans
1:24:48 - Chess studies
1:31:22 - Magnus drama
1:39:11 - Hans Niemand and Magnus Controversy
1:42:45 - “We go straight for the anus”
1:45:06 - Potential support for chess & negative attention from the Hans controversy
1:49:38 - Outro & predictions for the U.S. Championship
#chess #fabianocaruana #mauriceashley

[@ifixfridges7792]

Maurice is such a good storyteller. Great episode!

[@questioneverything55]

🤮

[@B21_raider]

@@questioneverything55 why the hate mate ???

[@questioneverything55]

@@B21_raider not hate - don't like at all, there is a difference. I can't think of anyone I hate, except maybe the current administration and what they are allowing to happen to children in schools across the country - he is not on that level.

[@SuperJuiceman11]

Maurice is so energetic knowledgeable articulate what's not to like?

[@lukegordon4734]

Could listen to the dude talk all day

[@CrookedNose2131]

I am somewhat ashamed to say that I didn't think much of Ashley, until I watched this conversation. He's a great guy and not the loud show pony I though he was. I was wrong. Well done Christian and Fabiano.

[@nithinjpathalil6709]

Same here. Exact thoughts

[@Tx66]

7:22 „look at you now!” Fabis humble smile after Maurice said that hit different 🥹

[@macnolds4145]

Always love Maurice. My favorite chess hero of all time. Only thing missing from this interview was a discussion about his Hall of Fame induction.

[@saulo07]

Tell us about it, please.

[@tml7189]

Many belittle Maurice, but to me he's my favorite commentator. I wish he would be hired as the head commentator of big tournaments. He works great as a co-commentator with Yasser, but he deserves the head seat. That energy and excitement mixed with professionality is surpassed by no one.

[@sgc3594]

Fabi could be a moderator to debates in literally any subject and just be the calm unbias intellectual.

[@KhariConception]

True .

[@hendarinfb]

GM Maurice Ashley is perfect chess commentator, his knowledge as a Grandmaster and his natural story telling talents can make chess commentary more exciting and dynamics

[@mbarrett99]

Maurice is a legend in the US chess scene. I used to read about Maurice in Chess Life in the days before he was a GM, back when you had to put in years of study and OTB games to be good enough for the GM title. Prodigies like Kamsky who got their GM title as a young teenager were the rare exception, rather than the norm. Most of the players he mentioned are familiar names to me from reading the chess magazines growing up (all prior to the internet.)

[@emrevurgun8328]

listening to these podcasts while playing a long game is seriously motivating as i dont have any people in my life that i can get together and play. this makes me feel like i belong sort of

[@ra444vlz]

I'm speechless... Maurice story is inspiring to me. Thank you for this episode.

[@rogerstone3068]

I love that Ashley is saying how he finds the US Women's championships the most exciting to commentate, but when this was recorded it was still days before that play-off between Jennifer You and Irina Krush, two rapid and then the armageddon - he would have blown a fuse.

[@seinundzeiten]

yes that payoff with Krush and Yu was the best part of the US Chess Championships...

[@jasonrepa]

Only to see Jennifer Yu cheat Irina by playing "dirty chess", placing her pieces on two squares at once, etc, which causes the other player to drain time on their clock, just the way Anna Zatonski did to her in their famous playoff years ago.

[@ACherimoya]

It's not a stretch to say this is the best podcast going right now. Great job y'all.

[@AlexDings]

The Yasser impression is spot on 😀

[@saulo07]

Specially Fabi saying: " I do not want a massge from Yasser " Me neither! 🙂

[@donmasacre4919]

Can you please provide a time stamp.

[@donmasacre4919]

Maurice is a legend. I remember back in the 90s commenting on the Kasparov vs Deep Blue Match and the WCC Kasparov vs Anand in New York. He is still very relevant. Great interview.

[@ChessMandingo]

This is by far one of the best interviews, ever.

[@f12mnb]

Maurice Ashley is a great guest - and the interview is terrific. He is very articulate. This conversation and Alejandro Ramirez are both insightful and wonderfully inspiring.

[@digital_gravity]

I wonder how strong Maurice would have gotten if he got coaching from the age of 8 rather than 23ish. I think Maurice may easily have reached 2600+ maybe even 2700.

[@marccowan3585]

Yasser didn’t even start chess until 12 or something like that and he was a top 10 player at one point, made me think he must’ve had a great natural talent for the game

[@digital_gravity]

@@marccowan3585 Yasser is a beast. That's why it's so hard comparing OGs like him to the current generation that have chess engines available from infancy on up. Yasser would def be high 2700's in today's world.

[@boadebate4320]

@@marccowan3585physically / biologically we learn the most where we’re young. Your brain just can’t make connections in the same way once you’re 23 compared to when you’re 8, or even 12!

[@teiaperigosa]

amazing amazing amazing personality....amongst the most notable in the chess world, and this is the BEST interview....Maurice is 100....... shout out here from 140th and broadway....he represents NYC to the fullest...respect

[@noseonscent1935]

Superb interview with one of my all time favourite people on earth Maurice Ashley! Great job guys.

[@wh7988]

Love Maurice, can already tell that this will be a great episode

[@arvindradhakrishnan8270]

Maurice is such a wonderful person.He spoke so movingly about his struggles and challenges.I salute his spirit.Lots of love and sincere appreciation from India.

[@cristiannunez5265]

Maurice, true OG and chess legend. Awesome conversation. The best pod so far.. keep it up Cristian and Fabi!!

[@nicholaswideman6658]

Maurice is the coolest He is a great commentator And has a great social presence and he is also very enthusiastic about chess and it shows and its contagious. He was very good at commentary and was very reverent.

[@vruatsa]

Amazing podcast as usual! Maurice and Yasser are the top 2 storytellers in my book. It is no coincidence they have teamed up for such a long time and that they are all good friends with Fabi and Cristian. Amazing content guys, thank you!

[@YipperStanley]

I had the chance to play Maurice once live on his twitch stream and it’s my top chess career highlight lmao. Love seeing big mo back from his sabbatical gettin in the work!!

[@xyzzy4567]

What an amazing guy. Brilliant, funny, charismatic. Great job to the interviewers as well.

[@mariopaulin271]

I could see those rooms in Brooklyn and them playing all night in my head. What an amazing story

[@rancal]

Maurice is so funny, would love to hang out with him. Thanks for having him on the podcast/vod!

[@mauricecarvalho4122]

One of the most underrated skills in life is storytelling, it's very rewarding when mastered. Maurice gas mastered the art of storytelling.

[@shogi_gunjin]

1:16:50 Maurice is right about Shogi (Japanese chess) , you cannot repeat with a perpetual check but can repeat otherwise. But here is the catch : once you got a threefold repetition you start a new game, with the colors reversed and keeping the same time you had on the clock. It will be a fun format to put on some tournaments in chess. In Chinese chess when there is a threefold repetition the arbiter has to come in and judge who should not continue the repetition and prohibit him to continue the repetition. You surely don't want someone judging and deciding top players' games. Great interview and great podcast !

[@Deb8erGuy]

Chris and Fabi, your podcast gives me life. I love every episode, though it's not hard to make an episode with Maurice interesting. I'm not much a chess player, but this is currently my favorite podcast. Keep up the great work.

[@someoneelse293]

So engaging... i can't get enough of these stories

[@Neodynium.the_permanent_magnet]

Kudos to Maurice for providing a mature and selfless approach to the Hans / Magnus drama.

[@stanlearner5102]

maurices sincerity and willingness to be vulnerable is impressive.

[@nimbus1r]

Best interview so far! Maurice is a great interviewee

[@darkmax4722]

This was one of my favorite episodes so far!

[@neurodeee]

There's SO many interesting anecdotes and soundbites in this! I bet this would do really great in a secondary "clips" channel. Like the Yasser story, or the part where he talks about playing all night with friends.

[@imsgoalie1]

You guys handled this episode perfectly. I could listen to Ashley tell stories for hours, and you guys stayed out of the way and let him go, with the occasional perfect question interjected. Great episode guys,!

[@alcubierrevj]

I can listen to Maurice Ashley talk chess all day

[@donkassadin2014]

Wow Maurice is amazing. Huge respect for you man, you went through so much for chess.

[@Chessdrummer83]

This is still probably my favourite podcast episode (of all) Fabi and Christian are great together and Maurice’s stories are so interesting

[@ehitale]

It's nice to hear from such a legend!

[@ElEcodelTren]

Im amazed of the mastery of Maurice in speech, Word choice, tone of voice and even the silences.. pretty smart

[@DaaimShabazz]

Yes... also a degree in English. 🙂

[@zorbajevon]

Why, when a black man speaks well, is it shocking? 😳 to the world? We're not linguistically challenged. Stop offending us with this 😤 asinine statement. It's not a compliment 😕. I have a degree in English as well. Stop being offensive.

[@aajas]

That Yasser impression cracks me up every time

[@robertv1775]

Excellent episode! You guy's are doing a fantastic job. Maurice should definitely be a returning guest. Keep up the good work!

[@toto-cw3bv]

I agree with the comment about preferring to focus the camera view on only one person and switching when it switches! Also, I love this podcast! I've only recently gotten into chess and have never been able to stand podcasts but this podcast is an exception--excited for the next episode!

[@mikewilliams592]

How is that better? When they have the 3-panel view while Maurice is talking, you get to see the two hosts' reactions as he speaks. It's perfect exactly as they did it; it also switched to Maurice solo sometimes as well. They should leave it as is.

[@nathangrabias8045]

Having 3 person in view makes it seems like your litsening to a conversation with 3 people instead of an interview. It makes you feel like your their.

[@raicyceprine8953]

Never really a fan of podcasts but this is gold bro. Very inspiring for a chess player like me. Keep it up with the KZbin shorts as well. It's what brought me here to watch this awesome podcast

[@B21_raider]

Maurice js great loved the way he spoke and shared his experiences

[@AdityaPal_sciencepal]

This is amazing ! Thanks for the podcast.

[@Ebobster]

Wonderful interview. Maurice’s enthusiasm is compelling… many can relate.

[@Dinesh-kj3oc]

Appreciate the interview! Learned a lot about Maurice!

[@Aaron-kq5kk]

Who knew he could do a perfect Yasser impression

[@kevinjohnsonel9889]

To GM Maurice Ashley... Salute

[@fredgandolfi2356]

His maturity while discussing Hans, is impressive.

[@jandime9540]

Great job on the camera work / editing, Its a small detail for a podcast but we appreciate it lol

[@ryanmyers9081]

Such a great interview!

[@strongzero1758]

Great podcast guys. Love your work Maurice!

[@MrWill830]

Another great episode, this podcast is awesome and I hope you guys know that and take pride in it

[@joeymurdazalotmore6355]

Maurice was best guest on podcast yet

[@amartyavarma2838]

what a fantastic guy and podcast

[@ericrobinson7184]

Maurice is stellar!

[@michaelf8221]

It was super nice to hear from Maurice that he's been doing well this last year. I had seen him get replaced by Christian this year and had assumed the worst.

[@questioneverything55]

glad he was replaced as he was horrid

[@emeraldcitycs6662]

@@questioneverything55 clearly not considering the reason he was replaced is because he was so good that people started paying him way more just to talk than he made commentating

[@questioneverything55]

@@emeraldcitycs6662 baaaahaaaaahaaaaahaaaa

[@emeraldcitycs6662]

@@questioneverything55 maurice is beloved in chess, i’m sure you’re 600 rated and racist so you don’t get it. your comment on the after party video makes that pretty clear

[@questioneverything55]

@@emeraldcitycs6662 Actually, I am 2265, and I am in 60s and for sure not racist, but it is a typical left-wing tactic to accuse people of such things if they don't like someone they say, very odd. What is funny as I am not a fan of Hans either, but no one has ever accused me of being racist against white people. I guess you must think a person is supposed to like and support every black person and if not they are racist? I have never been a fan of Maurice, to me, he is an obnoxious arrogant ahole and it has nothing to do with his race it has to do with him as a person. Get a life with this one trick pony nonsense of calling people racist. What are you 12?

[@vladpetre5674]

@1:29:30 White R on a8, B on e8; Black K on g8 -> Bf7 is a double check, backwards move & not necessarily a knight with a bishop or queen.

[@LastFrontierGarage]

This podcast is the source of legends

[@yosefcohen483]

Thank you, GM Ashley. Very interesting. Thank you, C-Squared.

[@willc3421]

that final GM norm story is brilliant, Maurice is such a natural storyteller

[@manifestyourlife6]

I want to look this good in my 50's. 😍😍

[@georgemorgan8683]

Another great interview.

[@MEVSFBI]

Im so happy this podcast exists

[@shawnlene2160]

Love the podcast. Always enjoy listening

[@jasonlehfeldt1577]

Always great to hear from the great GM Ashley!

[@questioneverything55]

🤮

[@SLKCHESS]

Nice insights from Maurice!

[@seinundzeiten]

great interview...they should make more movies about chess and Maurice can star in it along more GMS

[@travistucker4067]

I concur

[@lp4969]

Maurice is probably one of my favorite top 3 chess personalities, he's just good chess and good vibes

[@Sevn_.]

loving the podcast!

[@dsuleyma]

I love Chess pros who love chess and strive to make chess bigger and better.

[@justinwhitmore4550]

Just a reminder that Maurice is 3 years older than Ben Finegold!!

[@seya_2]

Man he still looks good tho

[@emeraldcitycs6662]

amazing episode as always, maurice is the shit

[@bernie4366]

Had no idea this was Fabi's channel. Subbed. If I were running this channel I would change the name to reflect that fact.

[@briankurek9700]

Love Maurice's honesty.

[@gregdallison]

Came for Maurice, stayed for the blend on Cris’ fade.

[@thomasalicea8877]

Maurice is a real gem to the chess history

[@ACherimoya]

Maurice cracks me up.

[@brendanpolk2136]

Inspiring episode, for real!!

[@loulasher]

Wow, Maurice, from beginning to end, is engaging and amazing. Great interview!

[@marconicolis]

His Yasser impression is eerily accurate. So funny 😅

[@thoimaisnam2670]

mind blowing is that Maurice wished Fabi to win the US chess championhip and Fabi said he would try and the rest is history... Fabi is the 2022 US chess champion.. wooooooh

[@stevethach3340]

Maurice: I just learned this new opening I'm going to destroy you with

[@keeplearning4L]

this podcast is great. i don’t agree with everything regarding the hans drama but i love hearing everyone’s insight and thoughts.

[@TJ__23]

Maurice is great

[@predragmiletic3078]

the best chess channel

[@fernandalsantos74]

i love maurice!!!!!!!!

[@StarburstExpress]

Maurice streamed on Twitch somewhat frequently last year. The vods are still out there if you're interested. He taught really good lessons about chess geometry, recovering from blunders, etc... Still miss the streams Maurice!

[@bogdanpancencu9709]

Lord and gentleman of commentators !

[@joeremus9039]

Very good interview. I definitely agree with Maurice that at 19 years old, they are still a child. Psychologists say that one doesn't become an adult until well into their 20's. That's why the military can get 19 year olds to willingly risk their lives. I respect Caruana, Hikaru, Magnus and others, but I wish that they would be less harsh in their judgement, especially since there is no proof that over the board cheating has occurred in this case. This could destroy the promising career of this young man.

[@vprahara]

waiting for this episode..

[@smaklilu90]

They should have blitz game with time odds at the end in all these videos!

[@katis999]

Thanks :)

[@marcantoniosavelli1710]

We want Maurice back in order to comment on the new developments of the drama!

[@randomhandle422]

Love the podcast. In terms of video editing, I think having all 3 cameras visible at once with a split screen view is less preferable than the camera moving around to each speaker (but showing each speaker in full screen).

[@Darrian.]

I disagree, easy to miss people's reactions to what's being said.

[@mikewilliams592]

@@Darrian. EXACTLY. I literally just commented this to someone above named "toto" without even seeing this reply of yours. The way they did it was brilliant. Live reactions to the guest's statements.

[@kentlofgren]

At first: "Yet another podcast, let's listen. Afterwards: "There are other podcasts?" :-)