Maurice Ashley talks to Cristian Chirila during Round 13 of the 2022 U.S. Chess Championship.
2022.10.19
USChessChamps.com
They left the door open again He snuck in he snuck in we have Maurice Ashley in the house Maurice uh tell us a Little bit about the U.S chess Championships what is your opinion on That well you know it's first of all It's been fun being here hanging out With everybody getting to see you all uh Going to dinners with Rex and the like And getting into arguments with the Arena crushing the whole thing it's been Great the U.S championship of course is The Premier championship in the world we Have the the best average players at the High level however uh you know you got To wonder about the youth movement here Because we're seeing somebody like I Wonder who did really well but he's in College he's a college student he's a He's talking like oh I'm just trying to Keep things simple and not blunder you Wonder how much he might stay in chess Eventually you want to see that happen With somebody that talented really Pursue it we've been waiting for that Breakthrough from from Jeffrey Zhang for A while he's been at that 2700 custom He's kind of kind of plateaued there a Little bit it and we're hoping to see Him take that next step so we really Have to to hope for more I think because The average the average age is a little Bit High I mean the average age of our Top five players I I took a look is 34.4
That's the average age of our top five Players and for India the average age of The top five players including Anand Who's 52 years old is 30 years old so That's that's significant the youth Movement has has to come and we need to See the youngsters start to thrive and We're definitely seeing a very talented Crop of players right now you have Sam Savion Jeffrey Sean a Wonder as you were Mentioning Hans Neiman as well there's Something about this last few rounds the Tension is building up and we start Seeing blunders and things of that Nature from your experience as a Commentator is that natural I think so I Think that I actually I think it's more So though the length of this tournament We haven't had 13 Rounds in a while and The players are definitely feeling the Fatigue the tension the importance of The last few rounds you see The Savvy Vets like Fabi who say I don't just Chill out in the end and not do anything Crazy and take those drawers and let Rey Suffer as he tries to catch me so I Think that's smart uh but you also see Somebody like like Wesley Saul who Didn't start out that well but give him More time the weight starts to come in And the big dog shows that he's got real Teeth but I I do think the length has Been critical to the tournament you Mentioned those young players in
Particular I see I think you only see The real emergence of Hans Neiman I mean For for various reasons he has become a Lightning rod of attention I wonder I'm Not really sure what his intentar like I Said it really looks like he's he's bent On being a student he really wants I Mean he wants to diversify it's clear Get a college degree always nice to have Something to fall back on and also to Expand yourself as a person I think Jeffrey and Sam they Sam Savion I mean They've been there they've been there For a while we've seen them around this Is not their first rodeo no and we Really need to We don't need to put any additional Pressure on them but we really need to See more if we're going to uh have see Them carry that mantle into the Next Generation in the next few years Speaking of uh Sam Seville and I'm sure You will love to talk about this Situation did you see what happened Yesterday with the decapitation of the King it's rare we get to say those words In chess I mean you know I would have Really pumped that one up if I was doing This broadcast I mean come on whoever Sees a guy grab the opponent's gate and Then rip the top off yeah okay you Didn't quite rip it off I was like dude My king no take it then you want it you Can have it wow I'd have been in
Absolute shock you tried that in Brooklyn and see what happened let's go Glue it let's go through it bro bro Seriously where's the referee you better Come get this guy fix the situation that Was absolutely hilarious never seen Anything like it and I don't think we're Going to see anything like it for a long Time to come no I don't think so either Guys any questions yes well Anastasia You first I've got like five just a Second I've been writing go on okay no I Just have one comment like every time Maurice comes to the city to the town Something happens [Laughter] Yes I don't know what's going on here But it's clear that it's good maybe There is some connection Maurice come on Let's face it the U.S Championship the Creme de La Creme of the United States Very respectable tournament and somehow We got on this wrong track and it it's Crazy what what why why what what Happened I mean it's something strange Going on I don't know what to tell you I Mean it does seem as though after what Happened with with Hans uh it's all Going off the rails everybody is Sensitive I mean remember you made a Mistake take in your comments in your Commentary doing one of the games where Castling was illegal right it was a Hilarious moment you know it was fun yes
It was just all in good fun so I decided To post about it uh who they let this Guy they actually paid this guy for GM Commentary right and of course this guy Is like one of my best friends so no big Deal take it in stride man the number of People who got on your side and and Thought that I was a supreme jerk Thinking a joke about my my good buddy It's like people I think the apology [Laughter] Condescending to your fellow commentator Yeah no he's Christian get out of here We've been having a lot of fun and There's a lot of misinterpretation of a Lot of things that are happening here Absolutely even when even when good Friends are are having so I'm curious as To that sensitivity I'm wondering if It's real sensitivity or is it people Feel that they need to just simply be Obnoxious Or amplify you know a little thing Happens and all of a sudden it turns Into a conflagration and you're like Whoa what happened here I just think It's the age we live in look we had a Lot of fun here in the studio and I said The Asura and Anastasia were having a Lot of fun and a lot of laughs as well Even everybody all the viewers notice How much respect they had from my Colleagues here yes okay now I gotta Jump in Marie so you know you watched
The whole videotape right and the whole The king and the the cross and here you Can have your king Then Hans comes in and he explains what Was said oh your cross let's go glue it Come on together we can leave and we can Go blue I mean I don't know if you lip Read but boy that was not my Interpretation of that conversation Is that the way you saw it as well let's Have a friendly discussion no no no no No that wasn't friendly at all he's not I mean Hansen's been living in New York For a couple of years New Yorkers don't Talk like that you're in Brooklyn you Just grabbed my cake bro like what you Doing right I'm gonna be fighting words Right there uh fight you know that There's no way and you saw him looking At him like he was just break Ray There's no way in the world they were They were being genteel the gently let's Go glue the king please no no no no look At that look bro what are you doing Right right that was just uh wow so uh Have you ever had this kind of fights Over the chess board or because of Something what happened on the Chessboard I mean not you but maybe We've seen it I'm a lover not a fight Like no I I'm never had a fight although I have seen stuff happen at the board And certain kind of language which we Cannot have on this air right absolutely
Has happened uh growing up like I said In BK Um You know people get heated people get Emotional and the trash talking starts And you know but I've never seen a Decapitated Dancing take up your tickets right now I Mean Christian's gonna be dancing on the Dance floor no we don't want to see that Man don't dance And dude I I got a discount for you it's Like I got a five percent discount Friends and family those 25 tickets yes Everybody can yeah you're so nice yeah Like I'm going out on the limb for a Year buddy I think I'm on the list I Think I'm okay okay good to see you Thank you for joining us Maurice thanks Guys I had enjoying uh the show Um what
