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Utilizing Chess to Inspire Troubled Teenagers E-mail
Orrin “Checkmate” Hudson, once a state trooper and now a chess champion has been showing how chess can be used to inspire troubled teens. Hudson is the founder of the “Be Someone” crime prevention program. He utilizes the game of chess to enable teens to make the right choices and envision success.

You may be wondering how the game of chess could influence a teenager to steer clear of trouble, but it is more effective than it may seem.

Hudson said, "We discovered that if we teach young people to use their minds that they can be successful, but the key you have to learn to do is to stop and think. So our message is- you can be successful if you learn to stop and think. Think it out, don't shoot it out. Push pawns instead of drugs."

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“Be Someone” is a nonprofit organization which utilizes chess along with other tools in order to promote a teenager’s self-esteem while inspiring analytical thinking within troubled teens’ minds. The inspiration of analytical thinking which chess can incur in teens can also promote different social values as well. Playing chess with other teens is a practical way that teenagers can socialize with others in a courteous manner.

Their mission is “to build character, hope, and inspiration so that kids can set and achieve lifetime goals, realize their full potential, and Be Someone.” The confidence that teenagers can achieve from engaging themselves in the game can actually leave teens with valuable feelings of self-assurance or validation.

“Making Every Move Count” represents Hudson’s belief in how success in chess and success in life have related fundamentals. This includes self-esteem, concentration, skills in problem solving, and discipline. The chessboard itself is seen as a useful intellectual visual aid which can help teach teenagers practical skills and ways to overcome their personal challenges. Discipline is particularly a very important fundamental in life which an adolescent can benefit from.

Hudson comments, "This is less about chess and more about building character. Love, Honesty, Respect, Responsibility, Patience, are 5 character traits that are essential to success. If we have the brightest children in the world and they don’t have character, the schools have failed them and this nation has failed them. Really Be Someone is priceless. After all it is the moral development of the whole child that will determine their success in life." 

 
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