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The First Black Chess Grandmaster Maurice Ashley Releases Move By Move

At age thirty-three, Maurice Ashley became the first Black chess Grandmaster. From his time as an immigrant kid playing matches in Brooklyn parks to the highest levels of competition, he has brought his love of the game to a wide audience as an educator, innovator, and motivational speaker. Using both personal examples and anecdotes from other notable chess players, MOVE BY MOVE guides readers through the essential lessons that chess has taught Ashley about life including: - Seeing from the other person's viewpoint- Balancing sacrifices and risks- Embracing chaos- Learning from imperfections In short chapters with practical takeaways, this book reaches from the fundamental to the counterintuitive on subjects ranging from self-knowledge to strategic thinking to the importance of failure. This little book of wisdom is the perfect gift for anyone interested in understanding how lessons from the most famous and long-lasting game of strategy can help you reach your personal and professional goals.

Duration:: 19m
Broadcast on:: 15 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

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My brother is a three-time world champion kickboxer. My sister is a six-time world champion boxer, as I mentioned, they're both black belts in charity as well. And when we talk about our respective fields, it's like always, like we're talking about chess. The strategies are the same. The idea of thinking about your opponent is exactly the same. And the positioning, the strategies that you want to employ, the use of your strengths, the masking of your weaknesses, but being able to find your opponent's weak spots as well. And what they try to do to overcompensate, all of it is applicable from a mental standpoint, from a strategic standpoint that we do in chess. Does it it teach us how to live in the future? I realize they tell us not to do that, but at the same time, I can sit there and be walking in a mall and literally watch people move. And my mind is already putting pieces together on what I'm going to do by the time I get to them. That's a great skill to have. But the main skill, I think, is what you just mentioned is the skill of observation. Yes. Right. Be able to take a complex situation and break it down to its essence. The key pointers that you have to look at to be able to say, "This is what essentially matters." In a chaotic environment of the chessboard, there's so much going on with the 32 pieces and pawns that you can sometimes get lost, but this is how things will play out based on that analysis is of course skill in chess and, of course, in life. I love how middle schools and high schools really get their students involved in the game of chess. And I think that in a very subliminal way, it's preparing them for the future. It absolutely is. And it is something that has really exploded all over the country, mainly because chess is inexpensive. It's a chessboard and some pieces, but also because those schools into it that if you play chess well, if you learn the strategies, if you learn the tactics, if you learn the idea of planning, like studies done to show that kids who play chess perform better across the board in life. How do you like those people who play chess in the park? Because so many times people say, "Oh, they're just like the YMCA with basketball. They'll never make it in the NBA." I think some of the greatest players are right there in that park. Am I wrong? You know, I would like to agree with you. Their potential is great, but a lot of them do get lost in playing in the parks and only doing that. I grew up playing chess in the park myself. And I would go out there and play those hustlers and they'd be trash talking me while the music was blasting, the sirens going off in Brooklyn. But for me, I had to go beyond the park scene because the professionals were playing in the clubs and in the tournaments that were much more difficult. I had to go into those areas where people go, "I just can't do it anymore. I'm tired of losing. You've got to be able to recover and you've got to explore." Resiliency is key. The whole thing, if I had one quality to have in life, it's resilience. I mean, there are tons of qualities to have, obviously, that you want to, but a resiliency teaches you about everything. Some really talented players out there, man, they're really great players. They were so talented that they'd beat everybody around them, but when they got to the next level of other players who were equally talented and they started losing, they didn't like it. They couldn't bounce back. And many of them quit the game, got to go to work and get better. Those are the ones that end up being the champions eventually. And so resiliency is key to life quality that you have to have. This is such a world-played game, but I don't see it in the Olympics. Why is that? Chess has its own Olympics. Just because the Olympics doesn't know any better, we actually have an Olympian in all corners of the world. They send teams to play, and it is a special event. The US won Olympic gold back in 2016, but you just have great teams from all over the world competing, and it is a fabulous event. So yeah, the Olympic, the traditional Olympics doesn't recognize chess yet, but we don't care. So when you go to one of these tournaments, I know as martial artists, we would go up to the people that we knew we were going to take on in a match. And I would watch their breathing style if they were breathing from their chest or from their dungeon, which is their diaphragm. So what about you guys? When you go into those matches, how do you really study where their mind is? Well, the first thing that's great in chess is that all games of the professional level are recorded, the moves are written down, and then they are put into a database. And that database allows all of us to look at our competitors' games, and they're looking at yours, you can start to study their openings and their strategies, but also their tendencies, and the kind of games they like to play, do they like to get wild and crazy and go in complex positions, or do they like to keep it quiet, don't take too many risks? And then you will think, okay, if I can drag them out of their comfort zone and force them to play a kind of style that they don't want to, then they're going to be uncomfortable and make mistakes. But guess what? They're doing the same thing with you. So you now have that larger meta battle on top of it to say, well, whatever they're trying against me, I'm trying against them, how can I get even deeper inside their heads? And yes, you know the certain tendencies of players, the former World Champion Magnus Carlson used to talk about this player, Wesley. So, and he would say that Wesley would beat him if only Wesley would take a chance, would take a risk. But Wesley refused to, so Magnus would always bait him with a juicy possibility that would make his opponent hesitate, because he knew if he went for it, it would be risky. But maybe he might win the game, but he never went for it unless he was dragged into the all-out battle. So yes, we're always playing mind games with our own. Yeah. You've got a very valuable lesson inside this book, move by move, and it is, strategy is usually learned after we grow tired of losing. So I love that it, that should be on a T-shirt or a poster somewhere. Man, now that you said it, I might have to go get that, make that T-shirt. Indeed, it is the truth that losing is our greatest teacher. When I win, and generally when we win, we get used to it as professionals, that the pleasure lasts but so long, and then you forget about it. It's not the kind of thing where you're jumping up and down, "Oh, I want, I want," and then you can do that for it. No, but when you lose, oh my goodness, it stays in your soul, in your heart. You can feel the pain, you're walking around trying to shake it off, you can pretend, but you know that sucker hurts, and it's that that you've come to realize that the mistake you made may be a pattern in something that you consistently do that you have to change. Or something that you simply didn't know, it was a lack of knowledge, and suddenly the loss becomes one of the most fabulous instructional tools you could possibly have in life. And so I always say losing is learning. You don't try to suppress the emotion, you roll with it, and then you take the life lessons from there. See, it's things like that. That's the reason why I keep a defrag journal. When I bump into a wall, face a mountain, or slip into a hole, I've got to sit there and break it down and see the next time that it happens, not if when it happens, I'll be wiser to the actual mistake. Most people don't do that. Most people make mistakes and try to cover it up. And the social PDH we live in now, a mistake is exposed, blown up, out of proportion by everyone when it happens. And it's a shame because we are humans to air is human. And we should be embracing our mistakes, cataloging them, as you said, noting them because you don't want to make that same mistake again. But when you do, you'll be able to say, okay, that is a pattern. And why is it? What's the core in me that's causing this to happen again and again? And it's when you overcome that that suddenly you make those leaps. And so many people think it's all about refining oneself to get better by doing positive things. And ignore the fact that the negatives that you do can be addressed and they will allow you to catapult to higher levels of performance. The first ever Buick Encore GX Avenir is now in stock at Shortline Buick. It's been said luxury is in the details and Avenir's exclusive embroidered leather seating with a quilted stitching pattern welcomes you to this luxury SUV. Avenir comes loaded with advanced technology, including a rear camera mirror, HD surround vision and wireless charging, staying connected and safe on the road is possible. Now in Shortline Buick, experience Buick Encore GX Avenir at 1301 South Havana Street. You do the drive-in, we'll do the rest. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand. And we're working to do it responsibly. Our next-gen tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs. Working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's Energy in Progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. They were recently at a chess match for our middle school. And the one thing that I took note of very quickly was how fast they're moving. Are they focused on trying to win the game or to just kind of just dominate it so they can move on? It depends on which middle schoolers you were looking at. The kids, some kids don't know how to calm down, stop the patient and play. So they're nervous. They're dealing with the anxiety of playing the game. They know they want to win, I talk about losing and handling those losses. It's harder for middle schoolers. That's why we have young people learn that at an early age, practice it at an early age so we can discuss it. But the fact is they will have to learn to slow down. I had a kid, you talk about middle schoolers, getting their name, Chris. Chris went into a huge game in the national championships many years ago. And he came out in 15 minutes, he had beaten his opponent that quickly. And I thought, oh, wow, the short game, they had played 80 moves, 8-0. That should have taken a couple of hours at least. They were clearly blitzing out in the moves. When I said to Chris, I'm glad you won, but you know, you should be slowing down. All your, you know, your teammates are still in the room. Chris started crying. Oh, no. He was upset that I hadn't just acknowledged his win and given him all his flowers for winning the game. And I was just pointing out the fact that he moved too quickly. I talked to Chris, of course, talked him down and taught him that lesson. Chris went back in the room for the next six games. And he was the last one to finish every single time. That kid had me waiting, fighting my nails, every single game. But he learned his lesson and later the very next year, Chris was the captain of my chess team. See, that reminds me so much of what I learned in martial arts. I was, I would go into a match to hurry up and get it over with. And my Saben put me on, he put me on the sidelines. He says, you need to learn from here. Because what, what you were doing out there, other people are doing it. And you need to learn how to slow down and plan things out. That's correct. The quality of observing how professionals handle their business, how they're careful. Even when I see a good move, there's a dictum in chest and says, when you see a good move, look for a better one. Yeah. That idea of saying, no, that move is not good enough. I'm just going to keep looking and see if I find something better. And then I'll make my decision from there, always exploring your options, because there are always options. And that quality of being in a mental state of excellence and not just hurrying up so that you can win, people want to have that good feeling, endorphins kicking in from winning. But it's really a process and the journey is more important than the destination. Or I should say it gives value to the destination. So you can't shortcut those steps. You have to take it one move at a time. I would love to see the research and how many people's games are going to change because of this book, because you are so open and you love to break stuff down. And it helps me understand as a reader and as a player, to that, okay, it's like, oh, I understand now, this isn't just something I'm going to put my interpretation in. You know, you talk about people's games, I hope you're being their game in general, their lives, because this book is really written to talk about the lessons I learned from chess that impacted my life and stakes or sacrifice and risk learning from loss. Those are things that we all should think about on a regular basis. And the fact is our mental game is simply the most important thing. I mean, it comes to that time and time again. It doesn't matter how much money you have, it doesn't matter at all how good you look, how big a house you have. If you're a mental game is squat, if it just is weak, then you will never be happy, you will never be satisfied, you will never be powerful in life. It's that mental game. And what are you doing to keep it strong each and every day to improve that mental state, that resiliency, that toughness, that joy, if you're not doing something each day to improve that and teach your kids that then you're losing out on just about everything in life. I think I'm crazy here, but there are times that I'll walk into a business and I'll meet the GM and then the production directors and things like that. And to me, the way that they run their company and their little group, it'll tell me right away, if they've been a martial artist or they have people lined up and how they use them as the tools they are, and it's not a me, me, me, me kind of thing. That's right. The piece I have need to be maximized, they're diverse. They're not the same set of skills that you're managing and you have to be able to understand how they think, how they operate, the best ways to motivate them. It's not about what plan you have, what ideas you're such a genius, you're going to put it all in the right places, no, you want to be surrounded by geniuses and maximize their talents and then you can just sit back and let them do their thing. You don't have to over manage, micromanage them because you have put them in the right positions as a leader to bring out their leadership qualities and they can run the show while you do your thing. So yes, that is what a martial artist will do, that is what a chess player certainly does and that's what the really great leaders do in their businesses. Are you going to go into the Howard Stern Show because that dude loves chess and he would love to probably talk with you? You know, Howard knows where to find me. So it's not like I'm hiding out on your show. What's up Howard? Let's go. And I know he plays chess, he does love the game. I'm not hiding under a rock anywhere, he's like, find me if he wants to. What did you learn in putting this together because you're the forever student, there's no way you can deny that. You know, I told you the journey is what gives value to the destination and it's very funny that this book really mapped out for me this journey that I've been on and it is a consistent reminder that although I'm a grandmaster that I am simply an advanced beginner, that there was so many lessons that I learned and make the book that it's a marvel. The game is an absolute marvel that it is this rich that even after all these decades, I'm still learning something new, not only about chess, but about myself and that exploration, that journey is something I so deeply appreciate that I'm able to do every single day. Grandmaster, you've got to come back to this show anytime in the future. I am nowhere done asking you questions, but we just run out of time. Hey, I'm here, you know, and the power doesn't want me, I'm going to be on your show. You'll be brilliant today, okay, sir? Thank you, too. Stay resilient. The first ever Buick Encore GX Avineer is now in stock and short-line Buick. It's been said luxury is in the details and Avineer's exclusive embroidered leather seating with a quilted stitching pattern welcomes you to this luxury SUV. Avineer comes loaded with advanced technology, including a rear camera mirror, HD surround vision and wireless charging, staying connected and safe on the road as possible. Now in short-line Buick, experience Buick Encore GX Avineer at 1301 South Havana Street. You do the drive-in, we'll do the rest. Someday, I will call upon you to do a service for me. Be the Godfather. Welcome to the family.