Maurice Ashley, the only African-American Grandmaster till date

THERE have been a lot of unique players throughout chess' rich history. Nobody, though, has a legacy quite like Maurice Ashley, who's in the city-state as the MC for the World Championship.

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

The first (and, so far, only) African-American GM.

While he's aware of that legacy, he wants a world where we never have to talk about it in a few years.

It's why the 58-year-old, who earned the GM title in 2000, has started a fellowship in the US (Maurice Ashley Chess Fellowship), aimed at giving an under-represented community a chance in the upper echelons of the game. "I think about it a lot," he told this daily. "I just started a fellowship in the US because I remain the only black chess player (GM) in the US. Things are about to change as a protege of mine (Brewington Hardaway) is about to get the GM title but there should be many more." "I'm also working with Jamaica (the country of Ashley's birth) and I'm also working with children in Africa.