The Parallels of Life and Chess | Eugene Brown | TEDxHickory

Eugene's story of how he was transformed from a "Pawn" into a "King" and how you can do the same by understanding the real chess game of life. Position isn't won by the fittest it's won by the wisest! Anywhere you find yourself on or off of the chess board, our thinking got us there. The mantra and philosophy of the Big Chair Chess Club is "Always Think B 4 U Move!" This is a powerful concept and it applicable to life and chess.
While spending 18 years in federal prison for making the poor choice as a 20 year old to engage in the felonious act of robbing a bank, Eugune gained clarity while having a paradigm shift on life. In doing so, he turned his life around to help at-risk youth avoid the pitfalls all common in urban environments. In 2002 Eugene Brown started the Big Chair Chess Club, a non-for profit organization which helped get a group of teenagers off the streets using the game of chess. Eugene Brown’s insight on the urban subculture and the impact it has on lives of youth is unique and profound. Eugene Brown is offering to share his experiences, insights, and potential solutions to addressing the behaviors of youth as they relate to the urban subculture, and the limited choices that many of them face.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

[@jumpingship3001]

In chess when you find the right move, keep looking for a better move. Bless all those who help others, they are the king's and queens.

[@abyde]

"The game of chess is like a sword fight. You must think first before you move."

[@42flyingphish]

abyde do you think your Wu Tang sword style can defeat me?

[@laruenedd5691]

The thinking is done during practice. When it is time to play, there is not much time to think.

[@henrikhansen1023]

Actions and reactions in sword fight must be intuitive and swift - stop to think and you are chopped liver

[@Zer0san]

En garde, I'll show you my Wu Tang style

[@timmy1729]

Wutang 4 life

[@betaoooo]

My name is Luiz Roberto and I write from Brazil. I watched the movie Life of a King and I wanted to give my congratulations to Eugene Brown, my congratulations and always continue like this, a wonderful person !!! God be with you !

[@yakkyuu12]

This is the kind of person you WANT to be your representative or senator in govt.!! His mistakes and what he learned, even with bad mistakes have BROUGHT him to a level of HONESTY that most people and VERY FEW politicians have as a part of THEIR CHARACTER! I hope he has an emotionally enjoyable life, I hope prosperity comes to him so he can enjoy his life free of the stress of financial burdens! What a wonderful soul, so open and deliberate in his way of speaking and so smooth in the way he moves-- the signs of a person so relaxed because confidence and honesty are within him!

[@zanetruesdale8336]

Very deep. This makes me now think about my chess mentor decades ago. Now I realise why the game must have meant so much to him.

[@Keralite29]

This is a great comment. It painted a vivid portrait of you and your mentor in my head, and told a story with such few words.

[@MemphiStig]

a friend of mine was a near-master, so i played and studied chess years ago, and while i was never deep into it or much good at it, i found the concepts and lessons of chess apply to almost everything in life, in a variety of ways. chess is good brain-food.

[@lesaahhlee]

His movie “Life of a King” is sooooo good. Such an inspiration. Thank you for being a seed in the lives of many young adolescents. Also, thanks for referencing the “hood disease.” It helped me understand why people grow up the way the do and remain that way.

[@deborahsamuel1081]

Where to find his movie:LIFE OF A KING 👑

[@BeforeChrist21]

@@deborahsamuel1081it’s on KZbin

[@kyrath4501]

TO SEE SOMEONE MAKE IT OUT OF MARYLAND AND CONTINUE TO HELP THE YOUTH, GIVES ME STRENGTH TO CONTINUE MY JOURNEY. THANKS MR. BROWN I'AM FROM BALT.,MD

[@robertoe.5582]

Thank you Mr. Brown for sharing your wisdom with us. ❤

[@soldier_of_love]

This brought me to tears of joy😭

[@Islandg777]

Life of A King had me in tears... Sooooooo POWERFUL, its a must see, thank you Eugene Brown! You give me much hope

[@Robskimask]

Being a victim of the inner city my science taught me chess. Having the influence i had back in highschool i had the entire class playing chess. Till this day I go through life like I'm making chess moves.

[@TopFacts93]

Has this been beneficial to you?

[@houseofmatrix6174]

You gotta move strategic

[@thomasaquinas2600]

I never thought of this, but I concur. So long, I played chess scared: oh my heavens, I'm 3 points down. How do I avoid defeat? When I let the opponent worry about the unknown, I suddenly won. As someone once said: don't worry about who might disagree with you and your drive to success; only worry about those who might actually try and stop you...

[@SamboDestroyer]

Cia /fbi?

[@DanicaMarieMusic]

Anyone else here after watching Life of a King??

[@waamiq360]

Found it in a thrift shop for $2.00!!!! Its worth $2,000,000 or 200,000,000!! This can save lives!

[@davidwaters619]

Kind of ish

[@hustesmart8172]

Powerful preaching my brother, Wisdom, Knowledge and most importantly Understanding

[@reyanjansamontanes1979]

Mr. Eugene Brown is awesome.

[@teacherlisa163]

What a beautiful story of redemption and grace. Thank you.

[@riot50]

Thank you you are an inspiration I have just watched the movie tonight 'the life of a king 'based on your life and it inspired me to look more into you as a person. I work as a support worker with people in the justice system and help shape their lives and try keep them out of prison. One of our volunteers actively plays our guys at chess now i know why . I will be showing our participants the movie based on you thank you

[@jerronataylor8564]

Great story and message! 👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑

[@swingsblues]

Beautiful and inspiring.

[@jerciedarkfourth8564]

CONGRATULATIONS dude man.... still and all..... congratulations... look at YOU ,,,, you TESTIFYING.... BLESS THAT BROTHER.... me.... the STONEWALL🍎

[@thinkaboutitradiosheltonja6805]

thanks for what you are doing....

[@agod5608]

You are a great story and storyteller

[@alexsandrosantosdasilva7376]

História maravilhosa de vida? Adorei o filme? Vai mudar muito a minha concepção de vida parabéns, um abraço Sr. Eugene brown

[@eraofawakening4659]

Here after “Life of a King”. Truly a great movie.

[@BrendaDama]

Just watched it too... Inspired!

[@nameisraz]

thanks for the speech brother man.

[@smellycat264]

Keep preaching the o this young kids now a days who blame mom and dad for everything

[@corey_watsonkyagent]

This is why I fell in love with it the first time I played!

[@TheBigMeme67]

Inspirational

[@eugenefontenot7898]

Excellent

[@pizzasteakphocheeseburgeri2965]

Technically, a pawn can't become a king. However, the pawn can become powerful because that makes up half of your team. It'll take roughly 13% chance for one of your pawn to reach the other side and become any piece preferably a queen. Now multiply multiple queens on the board and you will dominate your opponent ruthlessly.

[@igorescalona]

Good talk

[@jayarejay4013]

11:58

[@thefeeps]

respect to you

[@OnlyTrashMemes]

Thank you

[@3rdeyekweenmaat899]

Thanks

[@SweetBrownGirl]

I want to meet him one day!!😩 him and cupcake brown!!

[@michaelshepherdmunemo4414]

Woow this is so profound..

[@tone0757]

There is a excellent movie about his life called "Life of a King" based on his life starring Cuban Gooding Jr. www.imdb.com/title/tt2708254/mediaviewer/rm2534330368

[@bearybearbear7514]

Never forget that inner city youths are people too

[@AdamShaiken]

Yes, indeed, life is a chess game...however, it is not all about the end game ! I can hear the speaker's heart beating during every silent pause.

[@leslyemiller3374]

Adam Shaiken can you elaborate on why it isn't all about the end game? Sir

[@AdamShaiken]

I will try to elaborate...for ME,(since I saw my friend murdered at 16, in 1980, and I didn't think that I would see 18, then 21 or 25 etc etc.)I have not been able to believe that I can really control anything about 'my end game" so I live( or don't live !)as the wind blows me. I also have noticed that those who have tried to play the game as though all that matters is how much $$$$$ that you leave behind don't really seem to be very happy during their journey...not all but most. The universe or god or what ever you feel that you believe in laughs at MY attempts to make plans and achieve goals so I don't bother anymore. I just live from moment to moment. So, for ME, it is not all about an end game it is about right now...and every right now until my last.

[@leslyemiller3374]

Adam Shaiken very sorry for your loss to friend. Clearly understanding your points. So as life is a game of chess, it's indeed a different stroke for many different folks! So many different situations and how individuals goes about handling their situations! Thank you. 😊

[@principlesoflife172]

Our Right Now can influence our End Game

[@JustJunuh]

My left ear enjoyed this

[@dkillinem4068]

Is there any chess/life books

[@attractionnow]

Think before you move

[@laruenedd5691]

Cuba Gooding did a movie based on his story. "The Life of A King".

[@joshipp761]

I just heard about this guy, from Cuba Gooding Jr., while he was being interviewed. Glad I checked him out

[@italiancapo7]

Who is this guy?

[@Giabroni1]

Skip to 12 minutes, the beginning is a whole lot of inane personal trivia.

[@onkarkitekt]

🙏🏾🥇

[@TheOneWhoTubes]

FIRST! Checkmate.

[@investertiger3777]

One of the best speeches by a drunk guy I ever heard.

[@whomtheyspeakof1090]

Lmao idk why that’s so funny

[@MainenewsTv]

Lol

[@bfowler1000]

Give the guy a break......he was 70 years old when he did this talk and wasn’t a “polished” professional speaker.

[@capnificent]

❤

[@paulorobertosilva5063]

Se esse for Eugene entao ele me fez continuar pensando que nos Estados Unidos da America as pessoas nao jogam papel no chao e os lugares sao perfeitos lindos

[@alessiamelispolinaathenaal751]

TED talks

[@dasupalouie]

The Kings Gambit

[@Gamer-xk2po]

This is what I am

[@corey_watsonkyagent]

I’ve never lived in the hood but I think many of us certainly have “hood disease”! PTSD is real

[@sabinahyman5013]

well Netflix brought me here.

[@ClassicYoutube]

Who is the chess man in "Life of a King" in real life?

[@Jpo16]

🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@mhtinla]

Life, like chess, will be taken over by AI. Game over.

[@AutoRoboto05]

gg

[@CGoldthorpe]

What will we do if robots make all the money?

[@CGoldthorpe]

domo arigato mr roboto

[@tjkeyes1]

AI will still never be able to replace the human experience.

[@flytoheights1]

Alpha Go, is that you? Is it your secret message that you are going to take over? 😂

[@MementoVita]

All of you need to play Malancala

[@floresguillermo4905]

Even a lost peace is still a peace at play on 8 tables...call it.......hand in pocket...

[@elhar5966]

Ok DC

[@luiscarreiro3222]

no matter what you do you will always be a pawn.

[@sunwukong32]

With that attitude, you're right.

[@fakejordans909]

lolz

[@oneaccount8391]

y lol ...lol

[@Cxxkiecrazyyy]

Am I tripping or was there a movie based off this guy?

[@shirin.b1238]

Shawshank redemption

[@fene241]

Life of a king

[@henrikhansen1023]

Chess is neither nothing like life nor conflicts. Chess fails to implement ‘The Fog of War”

[@noonesarino7913]

Well actually chess is like a war because you sacrifice to win and the life of us humans aactually is just like chess we listen to our president or us on the board you don't know why ischess is like life chess is just along game to enjoy until you die metaphorcally saying lossing to your opponent but in life is just a long game and if ended you die or lost everything you own and you did'nt even enjoy it so enjoy plaing your long game of life

[@henrikhansen1023]

Quervyn De Leon Then any competition is war. My point is - in case it got lot lost - the PREMISE of the competition of chess is nothing like the premise of war. Have you ever heard of a chess champion celebrating his victory only to realize that he had actually lost because his winning move.... - Was never applied because the piece never recieve the march order. - Not that it mattered because the situation was different that what the board reflected to him - ...but that opponent was mate.....but actually performing a pincher movement on you - The pawn you decided to go for was actually rook in camouflage - When retreating THREE queens not reflected on the board came out of nowhere - enhanced with capability of knights due to weapons development skills unknown to you. THAT would be war - not the dogmatic’perfect’ world realm chess represents. Real life is chess with uncertainty factors build into the otherwise strict logically mechanics of the pieces. Meaning sometimes a Knight doesn’t make the full 2+1 or 1+2 combination in time - is it then lost or does it occupy one of the fields in the middle?

[@henrikhansen1023]

Tommy Gunn You've just described one of the premises of war - the unknown factor.

[@mikef4071]

Bad speech.