Ashley is the first black American chess grandmaster, and one of only five dozen grandmasters in the United States. On Tuesday, he’ll face some fierce opponents: 30 D.C. public school students, whom he’ll play simultaneously. How many opponents have you played at a time?

Fifty. You win most of them. Sometimes you lose one here or there. You never know what’s going to happen. I try to win every game, so if the students do win, they know they earned it. Some grandmasters let kids win to be nice, but I don’t do that. When they win, it’s real, so it’s the thrill of a lifetime.

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