Arbiter and Commentator Bios

GM Maurice Ashley: Commentator

When Maurice Ashley, already a renowned commentator, coach and International Master saw Tiger Woods clinch the 1997 U.S Masters, he had an epiphany. As successful as he already was, he wanted more; he wanted to become the first Black Grandmaster. “I had been dreaming about being a grandmaster for over a decade, but life had seemed to be constantly pulling me in different directions,” Maurice writes on his website, “It was that Sunday in April watching Tiger realize his dream that convinced me that I needed to change my life and go chase mine.”

For the next two years, Maurice put his other activities on hold, studying and playing constantly to meet his goal. He made his final GM norm in the 1999 Manhattan International. Ironically, Maurice only got .5/2 in his first two games in the tournament, and lost his final game, but he went on a rampage in between, scoring 5.5/6 against IMs and GMs. A media blitz followed his accomplishment: Among the many sources to call him for interviews were Charlie Rose, the New York Times,CNN and Reader's Digest.

Maurice inspired students at schools like Mott Hall in Harlem, which he visited after winning the title. One Dominican student said, “Because he did it, he made me believe that I could do it, because we’re both minority.”

Maurice is a born fighter; he’s tricky and aggressive. Maurice confidently contests the sharpest lines of any opening without worrying about whether his opponent will know it better or come up with a novelty. To earn the GM title, Maurice had to go past his natural talents and work hard on raising his positional and endgame play to the GM standard.

Maurice is the World's premier T.V and live chess commentator, appearing on ESPN several times to comment on Kasparov’s matches. He coached National Championship teams from Harlem The Raging Rooks and The Dark Knights; produced the CD-rom Maurice Ashley teaches chess and the DVD Speed Chess, and organized the HB Generation chess tournament in Minneapolis, with the largest open tournament prize fund in history. He wrote Chess for Success (Random House, 2005), which explains the value of chess to parents and educators.

Maurice is philosophical about his historic achievement and the significance of his race. In comparison to black pioneers of the past he says he has experienced little racism. Still he's proud of the contribution he’s made to a community whose intellectual achievements are too rarely celebrated. "African continent GMs do exist; but, according to the system of racial classification, I am the first Black GM in history ... it matters, and doesn't matter, all at the same time." (bio courtesy www.uschess.org)

WGM Jennifer Shahade: Commentator

Jennifer Shahade is a chess player, writer and web-editor of www.uschess.org. A two-time U.S. Women's champion, her first championship win was in 2002, in the first year that the women and men were combined into the same section. Her second was in 2004, where she placed first in what was the strongest Round Robin women's field in U.S. chess history.

In 2005, Jennifer's first book, Chess Bitch: Women in the Ultimate Intellectual Sport was published. In 2009, she contributed to the book, Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess. In 2011, Jennifer's latest book project was released by Mongoose Press, Play Like a Girl! Tactics by 9 Queens, a collection of puzzles from top women chess players around the world. Jennifer's writing has also appeared in The New York Times, Games Magazine, the L.A. Times, New in Chess, and Foreword Magazine.

Starting in 2009, Jennifer began to create videos with DimMak Films, a production company based in Philadelphia to promote chess, including naked chess, hulachess and the U.S. Chess Scoop, a chess news show hosted on her Chess Life Online blog.

Jennifer Shahade was born into a chess family. Her brother Greg is an IM, and her father, Michael a three-time Pennsylvania State Champion. Greg organizes the U.S. Chess League. Jennifer was the manager of the New York Knights and since moving to Philadelphia, has been a member of the Philadelphia Inventors.

In 2007, Jennifer co-founded a non-profit, 9queens , devoted to promoting chess especially to girls and women. 

Jennifer blogs on www.uschess.org, and writes most and photographs much of the content for Chess Life Online and the Top Player Bios.

Carol Jarecki: Chief Arbiter

Chief Arbiter for the U.S. Championship in Saint Louis, Carol Jarecki’s credentials are extensive. Awarded the International Arbiter title by FIDE in 1984 she served as deputy in several Olympiads and Candidates matches as well as the FIDE World Championship in Lyon, France, 1990, and Las Vegas 1999. Carol was Chief Arbiter for the FIDE World Youth Festival held in Fond-du-Lac, WI, the only time it was organized in the U.S. She was also chief arbiter for the 2009 and 2010 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women's Championship, all of which were held in Saint Louis.

She was Chief of the 1994 and 1995 PCA Grand Prix events in New York, the PCA World Championship match Kasparov-Anand at the top of the World Trade Center in 1995 as well as the famous IBM Deep Blue-Kasparov match in 1997. Jarecki even was arbiter for the original Kasparov-Deep Thought match in NY, the program developed by the team that then went on to work with IBM on Deep Blue. In 1989, as Chief Arbiter of the Karpov-Hjartarson FIDE World Championship Quarterfinals in Seattle, she was the first woman to serve in that position for any world-championship-cycle match. Among many other international events she has been the Chief of the annual Bermuda Open and Invitationals for the past 21 years.

As a U.S. National Tournament Director (NTD) she has covered an array of events, large and small, from National Scholastics to previous U. S. Championships. Carol is a member of the FIDE Rules and Tournament Regulations Commission. She co-authored the USCF Official Rules of Chess, 4th edition. In 1993 Carol received the USCF Distinguished Service Award and, subsequently, the initial award for the Top Tournament Director of the Year. 

Jarecki graduated from the Graduate Hospital, University of PA, with a certificate in anesthesia and worked in that field in NJ for several years before starting a family and spending seven years living in Europe. There she took up aviation as a hobby and has been an avid pilot ever since. She has two daughters, one living in Sydney, Australia, the other in the British Virgin Islands. Her son, John, once the youngest U.S. Master at age 12, lives in New York City.

Tony Rich: Arbiter

Tony Rich is a FIDE Arbiter and International Organizer as well as a USCF Senior Tournament Director. Rich serves as the Executive Director of the Chess Club and Schoalstic Center of Saint Louis and was the assistant arbiter for the 2010 U.S. Championship. He has also been an assistant tournament director for the 2009 Supernationals, 2010 U.S. Open, 2010 Denker Tournament of High School Champions, 2010 Girls Junior Open and the 2010 College Tournament of Champions.

He was also the chief organizer of the 2009 and 2010 U.S. Championships and U.S. Women's Championships and the 2010 U.S. Junior Closed Championship.

In both 2009 and 2010 Rich was named the U.S. Chess Federation's "Organizer of the Year" and in 2011 was appointed as the chair of the Barber Tournament of State K-8 Champions and as a member of the Denker Tournament of High School Champions organizing committees.

In addition to his duties as organizer and director, Tony has traveled with the U.S. team to both the 2009 World Team Championship in Bursa, Turkey and the 2010 Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. In this role he has provided journalistic content, including photos, articles, videos and player interviews for distribution in Chess Life Magazine and through various websites.

Tony is originally from Saint Louis, Missouri and has a bachelor's degree in computer science from Missouri University of Science & Technology. He spent a number of years working in the IT industry before spearheading the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.