For Damen Fletcher, chess is much more than a game. This inspiring California man uses chess to coach young people from some of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in Southern California and beyond to develop self-confidence, and find purpose in their lives.
Why does Fletcher choose chess to help kids and teens make the right moves in life? The answer lies in his own life story. Fletcher, who learned to play this game of strategic skill at the age of 13, grew up in Compton, California. After heading farther to college, he returned home to find his friends struggling. As he explains: "Some of them had fallen into prison. Homeless and unemployed... and I just wondered, 'Why did I have such a different outcome?' And it was chess."
So he set about building his own organization "Train of Thought" to help inner city kids find their own king or queen and life goals by learning problem solving, teamwork, and forward planning skills at an early age through chess, while enjoying themselves.
Fletcher highlights in an interview with Fox News that every game of chess is 75 to 100 moves, and every single move that your opponent makes presents a new problem for you to solve, so chess is a game in which the weak can turn out stronger. As Paige Stevenson, a 7th grader and already a keen chess player thanks to Fletcher's enthusiasm, tells the channel, "He has taught me not to give up because you can move and find a way out instead of losing."
His organization has partnered with more than 100 schools to date and has taught more than 50,000 students the game of Kings in California, with plans to expand in the US. It is an old proverb that children learn from play, and this is something that Fletcher is keen to stress. And as his website also explains: "If you think chess is just a game, you're not playing it right."