-Welcome to the show. -Thank you, thank you.
So, I, uh, should know the answer to this question,
but what is a chess Grandmaster?
How do you become a Grandmaster in chess?
Well, Grandmaster's the highest title you can have in the game.
So you have to beat other Grandmasters,
top players from around the world.
So, you know, basically, we're just bad-ass.
-But if you beat... -(laughter)
if you beat a Grandmaster,
then how come that Grandmaster's still a Grandmaster?
Shouldn't he, like, go down like Highlander-type thing?
No? You still stay a Grandmaster?
Who's the first Grandmaster, then?
They had the Grandmasters back in the 1900s,
early 1900s-- 1914-- the top players,
and once they established them as Grandmasters,
-Yes. -then, you know, the rest of us come up,
-you know, and just invert... -So Grandmaster means
you basically know, like, all the finishing moves,
like in Mortal Kombat-type thing.
-Not exactly, but... -But close.
-You know a lot of stuff. -Yeah.
-You know a lot of stuff. -Yeah. I play chess.
I, uh, I know all the chess.
-Um... -You called it a...
-You called it a horsey earlier. -(laughs)
I actually... I actually did play chess in school.
We had to choose a sport,
and then there was, like, options like rugby,
which is our version of football,
and I was like, "I don't want to get hurt."
And then I chose chess.
And then... And, you know,
what's interesting is I say that now, but...
You can't see this in the cameras,
but if you look at, like, Maurice's arms...
Like, I've met a few chess players recently.
You guys have a lot of muscles
for people who just move a piece of plastic around.
-No, no... -Those chess pieces are heavy, man.
But this is a real thing, though.
You actually have to try and be in shape to play chess well.
-Is this a true thing? -It's absolutely true.
When you're sitting there four or five hours playing,
you're concentrating, you need the stamina,
you need to be able to focus for that kind of time.
You've got to be in shape, and all the top players--
Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, the guys who are playing
-in the World Chess Championship right now... -Right.
They're working out three, four hours all the time.
Every day, man. They have to stay in shape.
You see, that's mind-blowing to me, because, I mean,
you talk about these people. Some people may know Magnus.
You know, he's a world celebrity now.
I mean, he models, as well.
He does endorsements for Porsche and everything.
You commentate on the games. I find your story fascinating,
you know, because you come from a world where you go...
You don't think that a young black kid
is gonna get into chess at the level that you got into.
Right? Chess was that sport
that maybe you saw the old guys playing in the hood.
It wasn't, like, something everyone wanted to get into.
But you played it, you got good at it,
and what I like is that you brought elements of the hood
into the way you commentate on chess now.
Like, why did you do that, and how did you get into it?
'Cause you-you don't commentate in, like, a boring way.
No, you know, it's funny, because when we played chess
-in Br... I'm from Brownsville, Brooklyn. -Right.
-(cheering) -That's what's up.
-Brooklyn in the house. -Brownsville in the building.
No, Brownsville... We say Brownsville is so rough--
-'cause Mike Tyson was from Brownsville. -Right.
Brownsville was so rough,
-Mike had to get out of Brownsville. -(laughs)
And the people who play chess in the hood,
-the brothers were usually the cool guys. -Right.
Not, like, the old guys. So they'd be talking to you,
trash-talking the whole time you're playing.
And they're like, "Yeah, Maurice, um, you know,
I was playing chess with your sister last night."
(laughter)
Wait.
The idea that guys are trash-talking.
-I mean, trash-talking all the time. -Right.
So you get that in your head.
You get used to being distracted by players
-while you're playing, and you just stay cool. -Right, right.
So now when I do commentary, I do the same thing.
I try to bring that energy and that flow from the hood.
-You know, it's just normal. -It's a game
that many people have lauded as the ultimate thinker's game.
You know, CEOs have said you learn chess,
and you learn how to defeat your enemies in the boardroom.
You teach people chess tactics in life.
Is that a thing people just say to make chess sound cool,
or do you actually think chess can help a person
think analytically in life?
First of all, chess is cool.
(laughter)
-I-I agree. -All right.
I play... I'm telling you, I play chess.
-I'm not lying about that. -Okay.
I play chess.
You know, you trashed chess on this show before.
-I... -You were... Yes, yes, you did. Yes, you did.
The same way I make jokes about South Africa.
I love South Africa, I make the jokes.
-I make jokes about myself. I love chess. -Okay.
-All the chess. -No, I thought it was a good segment, though.
-I thought it was funny. I thought it was funny. -Yeah.
-But still. All right? -(laughs)
But no, chess is used all the time
-as metaphors for politics and business and sports. -Right.
I mean, it's always being used. You always hear...
You're watching football, and it's like,
"Oh, yeah, they just substituted that guy,
-and it's like a chess match out here." -Right, right, right.
Right? You always see that. So yes, it's a thinking game,
a strategic game, it's one against one.
You've got to figure out your best ideas,
and as soon as you figure it out,
the other person is coming back at you with their best ideas.
-Right. -So yes, it's just like business, politics, you name it.
And you teach kids to play chess.
What would you say is the one thing that changes in your mind
when you start to learn chess, like, that you apply in life?
That the other person is more important than you are.
-Huh. -Right? Because we get inside our heads.
We got our own opinions.
This is me. This is my best ideas.
It's like Democrats and Republicans
-talking across from each other, right? -Right.
But when you play chess, you realize
the other person has valid points,
and you've got to really get inside their head
more than anything else.
So it's not my best idea that counts.
It's your best idea, and how am I gonna beat you
is by really studying what you want.
And that's where the deep strategy comes into the game.
That's fascinating. So we need to teach the president
how to play chess...
is what you're saying.
That's gonna be really hard, man.
(laughter)
(cheering and applause)
Dude, I'm excited for the World Championship.
Thank you so much for coming to the show.
Maurice Ashley, everybody.