GM Ashley says:
Currently the male chess players are higher ranked than the female ones. The best female chess player in the world, Judith Polgar, is the only woman in the top 100 players. She's a fantastic player, she's actually been in the top 15 in the world.

GM Ashley says:
But I don't think females have been encouraged to participate much as they haven't been encouraged to participate in sports in general. I think in time this will be addressed and you'll find a lot more female players at the top.

sss says:
How do you get a 5 year old excited about playing chess?

Neil says:
Hey I used to sell his software.

MaleMan says:
"Maurice Ashley Teaches Chess," Neil? (Editor's note: Order  CD at www.uschess.org)

Neil says:
Yep that's it.

MaleMan says:
Great CD-ROM, my kids loved it.

GM Ashley says:
My policy is never try to get a kid excited about playing chess. The game is exciting enough and usually young kids take to the pieces, these mysterious looking objects that they want to hold. Sometimes they just want to play with them. A kid will either take to the game or not, most kids do.

GM Ashley says:
So don't push, just wait and see what happens and be very, very patient.

sss says:
How many years had you been pushing chess in the class room before you got the kids to get as interested as they are?

GM Ashley says:
Again, kids were interested right away, it wasn't even my pushing chess in the classroom. It was our resources that made it possible for me to teach chess. To build chess to the level we have it now demanded lots of resources and we were fortunate enough to have help.

GM Ashley says:
The organization I work for now is the Harlem Educational Activity Fund. They thought that chess was a fantastic tool, a fantastic instrument to bring into the schools. So they supported it slowly at first, then more as they saw the benefits in the program.

GM Ashley says:
The Chess in the Schools Program also supported chess slowly at first, then more heavily as the demand for the game became more evident.

RookA says:
Maurice: I live on LI (Long Island) but I can't find a chess club for kids. Any suggestions?

GM Ashley says: That is probably the single biggest lack in chess organization today, there are no chess clubs for kids because kids represent the biggest gain of new members in the US Chess Federation. But by and large, there's no such thing as a club for kids unless in their school.

GM Ashley says:
We, myself working with the Harlem Education Activities Fund, are going to start a chess club for kids in Harlem in 1998 and it will be a part of the Police Athletic League Center.

ChessWise says:
Do you know Bruce Pandolfini?

MaleMan says:
My kids and I enjoyed Pandolfini's "Square One:A Chess Drill Book for Children and their Parents."

GM Ashley says:
I know Bruce very well. In fact we bumped into each other on the street in my neighborhood just last week. I've known him for at least 12 years.

GM Ashley says:
You have to have a quick mind to play. Does that mean intelligent? I don't know. I know one of my students was very proud to tell me he had only failed one class during a certain marking period and he was one of my best chess players.