Not more than two weeks ago, we took you inside the world of Maurice Ashley. As you might recall, he’s “the first African-American International Grandmaster in the annals of the game” and also a Fellow at the Media Lab at MIT. Today, Ashley released on his YouTube channel a video filmed in Washington Square Park, a place where, as New Yorkers know, you can watch some great chess players in action, schooling each other in how to play the game, and sometimes talking a little trash. In the clip above, Maurice sits down to play Wilson and gets jawboned for exactly four minutes, until (to mix metaphors) it’s game, set and match. Enjoy the action.
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When I played in WS there were no electronic timers and I was beaten before any decent trash talking could get going.
He did quite well, should have known better, funny….but not really what non chess people think. And I know both men quite well:)
A little cheating (or “trickery”, as I believe Mr. Ashley put it) was attempted by Mr. Wilson there. More than once, even. A less-than-sharp eye would not have caught it.
Is that something that’s allowed, or perhaps even encouraged, at Washington Square Park? I wonder.