Event Teaches Girls, And Boys, How To Play The Game
March 29, 2008 – ‘Yes, I Play Chess!’, an event geared toward teaching young girls and women
the art of playing chess, took place at the Greater Mount Calvary Baptist Church, featuring International chess grandmaster, Maurice Ashley.
Ashley,
the first African American to don the coveted crown, told the anxious mixed crowd of young and old, male and female, chess
warriors in the event’s Q&A portion, “I didn’t choose chess.Chess
chose me.”
Having
grown up on the island of Jamaica, Ashley says he and his brother played various board games.“We didn’t have many TV programs.We had about two, and they
began with the news at six pm.Playing chess and other board games was a way
to keep occupied”, said Ashley.
His
chess ‘career’ would be taught by players in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York, where his family later relocated.“Hustlers in the park were my teachers”, said Maurice.“I got better by playing those chess players in the park.”
Washington,
DC has its own history of eclectic chess players and chess playing venues.Dupont
Circle has long been the venue of several Saturday morning matches between the area’s up-and-coming players.
Chess player, Thomas Murphy, is perhaps most well-known.
Trainers
and academies around the metro area include Ted Fagan, of EAGLE Chess Academy; along with Chess University International, led by James “Black Knight” Taylor.
Local
libraries in Prince George’s County offer classes, while some colleges and universities offer chess classes
as curriculum courses.
“Chess
is an ideal way to teach strategy and critical thinking”, says Cheryl Richardson, co-organizer of the event.“We
put this event on as part of Women’s History Month to get more girls and women involved in the game.”
“One
way we’ve done that is to let girls know that the most powerful chess piece on the board is the Queen”, said Richardson.
“We want girls to be able to answer, when asked if they play chess, 'Yes, I Play Chess!'”.
More
girls are playing the game despite the notion that girls are intimidated by male chess players.Ukrainian female grandmaster, Katerina Rohonyan, was also present at the ‘Yes, I Play Chess’ event.She is a chess
teacher, and college student in Baltimore.
“I’ve
been playing since I was seven”, Rohonyan said. “My dad taught me how to play.”
Katerina,
a member of the 2005 USCL Champions, Baltimore Kingfishers, was no match for Maurice Ashley; however, as she went head-to-head
in two pre-tournament games against him.
“He’s
good”, said Rohonyan, after her second lost.
Another
up-and-coming female player considered ‘one-to-watch’, is thirteen year old Darrien Robinson, also of New York.
“Her
rating is around a 1900”, said Ashley, and “her goal is to become the first African American female grandmaster.”
Saturday’s
chess tournament began with more than twenty-five players, ranging in age, ethnicity, and gender,all of them having the eagerness to play against, and the aspiration of defeating, the first African American
Grandmaster.
When
asked what he hoped would be the outcome of the tournament, thirteen year-old Chesley Swann, a student at Jefferson Junior
High School replied, “I plan to defeat Maurice Ashley.”
In
response to the challenge, the guru of chess, jovially remarked, “That’s what they all say, before becoming the
victim.”
But
in the end, after more than two and a half hours of playing time, and seeing opponent after opponent placed in checkmate,
it wasn’t Chesley Swann, nor eleven year-old Gibril Turner of Clara Muhammad School (who played valiantly, garnering
the interest of several onlookers around his place at the table), that would defeat the chess guru, but rather the forty-something
year old player, James McCarr, clear down at the other end of the room.
McCarr,
who has been playing chess for more than twenty-five years, made no hoopla over the win, but had this to say about defeating
Maurice Ashley.
“I’ve
never beat a grandmaster before”, said McCarr, smiling.
“It
feels good.”
Related:
Maurice
Ashley’s library contains over 600 books, on chess alone.
The surest way to chess success, “Find
a coach.”
Maurice
Ashley’s advice to youth, “Pursue your passion.You’ll be excellent.”
March 29, 2008 – ‘Yes, I Play Chess!’, an event geared toward teaching young girls and women
the art of playing chess, took place at the