Think B4U Move

“What I have learned about life and chess is you’re the king. You got yourself on the board in any one square because you got yourself there all on your own,” Brown said. “You made those decisions. You’re the one in control of your life. You’re the king.”

Brown is proud these days to be called a mentor among young people. “My mentors were wise,” he said. “But they were pimps and drug dealers. They got me into their nightlife ways in DC, and life was great, and then I ended up in prison because of that influence.”

Brown eventually was incarcerated in Trenton State Prison in New Jersey. He passed by Rueben “Hurricane” Carter almost every day. Carter was a boxer accused of a murder he said he did not commit. His story was played out on the silver screen by Denzel Washington.
Brown was known already behind bars for his street ‘cred’ and earned respect. His job was cutting other inmates’ hair, and he soon got to know everybody.

“I might die here,” Brown said of the prison’s violent community. But the turning point in his life was playing chess against a man he knew only as Massey.

“Massey accused me of being a petty guy,” Brown said. ‘“You’re just snatching pawns’, he said. Then he got me into checkmate all the time. All the time, because I was too busy trying to capture his pawns. My game was over with Massey after the third move.”

Massey helped Brown think through how he ended up in prison.

“What did you do?”

“It was a botched bank job,” Brown told him.

“How much were you thinking of getting away with?”

“About $3,200,” Brown said.

“So you risked your life for just $3,200 and you didn’t even get away?” Massey laughed.

Massey’s teaching of the game of chess and personal wisdom turned Brown around.

“He said something. It wasn’t even worth it,” Brown said of the attempted robbery. “The risk wasn’t worth the reward. I learned you got to cut the blame out. You did it to yourself.”

Considering risks, consequences and rewards have been Brown’s mantra ever since.

“In life and chess, you have to make the right decisions,” he said. “Otherwise you lose.”

When Brown was released from prison in 1990, he went home to Washington, DC, to live with his family. His life had no immediate direction, but he found out his grandson was having behavior problems in school.

“They wanted to put him on medications,” Brown said, “but I saw a focus in his eyes. And I knew I could teach him how to push pieces on the chessboard.”

His grandson’s teacher questioned if that could make a positive change in his grandson’s life. But Brown volunteered to teach her whole class the game that had changed his life. The result of his challenge was soon a citywide phenomenon in DC. Brown’s lessons spread out outside the classroom like a Super Bowl craze. The kids from the inner-city were soon winning national tournaments under Brown’s tutelage.

But most importantly, they were staying out of trouble.

“I came home to DC and set up a chess club that looked like a pool hall,” he said. “I never imagined it would turn out like it did.” The enormously influential Big Chair Chess Club gained a permanent home, The Deanwood Chess House.

His success ended up being a feature on ABC News featuring his chess prodigies beating everyone else. That segment in 2004 is being followed up with a Hollywood production, “The Life of a King,” with Cuba Gooding Jr. as Brown.

Brown ended up in the real estate business where he made investments. Several of these were in Hickory.

“Back in 2005, people were jumping ship because the market fell,” he said. “I had some nice properties here in Hickory that became vacant, so I decided to move here to protect my investments.”

Brown may have moved to Ridgeview, but did not leave his passion for chess and young people back in DC. He can now be found teaching the game of pushing pieces over a board at Catawba Rosenwald Education Center. And he still has a big hand in the Big Chair Chess Club.

“How was I able to rehabilitate myself?” he asked. “I used chess. I look at these opportunities in the eyes of our children and say if you don’t rehabilitate a kid you lost him.”

Alongside beating 99 percent of the people he plays chess against, Brown hates losing. But not for his own sake. “I hate the thought that a child is lost. My mantra to them is think before you move. My program is actually called ‘Always Think B4U Move.’ Make the right decisions. Stay out of trouble.”

Since his release from prison in 1990, Brown has also benefited from being an active member of 12 Step programs. “You can’t always play the game of life on your own,” he said. “I’d made my own decisions to be where I am, but you don’t always do it alone. You need a community of others who understand where you’ve been and where you’re going.”

Brown teaches chess to young people at the Catawba Rosenwald Education Center. All of his students are kings on the board, and he urges them to be kings in life.

And he will always hate losing.

A tip from the chess man

Eugene Brown his best opening move is P-QB4 (That’s pawn to Queen’s Bishop 4). His favorite response to the opponent on the other side of the board is the Sicilian Defense.

About the movie

“Life of a King – Think Before You Move” is in development and scheduled for release this summer. Production is by Animus Films, Los Angeles.

Producer Jim Young optioned Brown’s life rights 10 years ago. “The reason we’ve continued to fight this long to get it made is because of the man upon whom the movie is based,” Young said.

Director Jake Goldberg says, “My goal is to make ‘The Life of a King’ an emotionally honest film. I’m excited to explore Eugene Brown’s philosophies as well as his personal uphill battle. Most importantly I’m looking forward to honoring Eugene’s most fundamental lesson, both in chess and in life: ‘Think before you move.’”

Source: http://www.hickoryrecord.com