Crossville, TN (BlackNews.com) — Orrin Hudson, a chess champion, community activist, and motivational speaker from Stone Mountain, Georgia, has been named the first Chess Life cover contest winner. Hudson appears on the cover of their December 2015 issue, available now to read online at www.uschess.org.
Readers were invited to submit a short 200 word essay on how their activities are advancing the mission and vision of the 501(c)(3) US Chess Federation (US Chess). Their mission is to empower people through chess one move at a time, and their vision is to enrich the lives of all persons and communities through increasing the play, study, and appreciation of the game of chess.
Hudson was selected based on this entry:
“Chess saved my life and I’m using it to both save and change the lives of young people who need guidance and direction. Am I being overly dramatic here? In my case, absolutely not. In the cases of the thousands of young people I have touched and influenced through this wonderful game, I am on solid ground. I was an inner city youth in Birmingham in 1978 and I was on a dead-end road. My heroes were not pillars of the community. They were cool and “important” but not for the right reasons. That’s who I wanted to be. I expected no more of myself. But a teacher did. Using the game of chess, he unlocked my sleeping potential. He, through the game, empowered me to truly “Be Someone,” which is now my organization’s name. He taught me there is a consequence for every move we make whether it is playing chess or on the street. He taught me to think it out, don’t shoot it out. Now I have debt to pay and I’m doing it with my chessboard. I am reaching young people through chess. I speak their language and they listen. And watch. And learn. And change.”
Hudson uses the game of chess to teach urban youth how to think and make better decisions in life. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, his award-winning non-profit organization, Be Someone, has trained more than 20,000 young ones to “think it out, not shoot it out”. He is the author of One Move at a Time: How to Play and Win at Chess and Life available on Amazon.com, and also does corporate training and motivation speaking. He has been featured in People Magazine, on Good Morning America, and on CNN. For more details about him and/or his organization, visit www.BeSomeone.org
US Chess is the official governing body and not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization for chess players and chess supporters in the United States. They represent the United States in the World Chess Federation (FIDE), connecting their members to chess players around the world. Founded in 1939 with the merger of the American Chess Federation and the National Chess Federation, US Chess has grown to serve over 85,000 members and 2,000 affiliated chess clubs and organizations today.
Every year, US Chess sanctions and rates over 10,000 tournaments and over half a million games. They host over 25 National Championships and award titles to both amateurs and professionals, ranging from elementary school students to senior citizens.
