One Year Later - Kansas Department of Corrections Partnership!
Residents play a chess game at a facility within the Kansas Department of Corrections - The Gift of Chess
One year after first launching our chess tournament outreach across The Kansas Department of Corrections, The Gift of Chess (@thegiftofchess), under the leadership of Tony Ballard returned to Hutchison Correctional Facility. As we put this pen to the pad, lives are being transformed….
Yesterday at Hutchinson Correctional Facility, we had a great turnout and a fantastic and impactful event. We had 46 participants sign up to attend at the east unit of the facility and another 36 sign up at the central unit. This event was jam-packed with residents wanting to learn and hungry to hear an encouraging word. They held on to all words and instructions that were spoken to speak life into them and give them the tools to become productive members of the community in and outside of prison. We came away with a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place winner from each facility. They will go on to compete in the intrastate online chess tournament held this summer. You could sense and feel the energy in the room as the competitive juices flowed; they understood what was at stake.
In one game, Damien, a skilled and longtime chess player who has transformed his life and has become a leader inside the prison, played like a man POSSESSED. In the middle game, he lost his Queen to his opponent's timely and strategic move. This did not deter Damien as he began to garner the forces of his rooks, teaming them up and using them to fight off the attack of the Queen from his determined opponent. His focus and timely moves allowed him to corner his opponent's Queen and pin her against his own king causing an exchange and leaving Damien up a Rook and 1 pawn versus the opponent's 2 pawns. Damien then walked his opponent down to the last rank and file and dramatically checkmated him! This was for 2nd place.
At the Central Unit, we were met by many hungry players, men of all ages ranging from 60's down to 20 years of age. These men in one of Kansas's toughest and hardest prisons were excited and eager to hear an encouraging word. They expressed their appreciation for these events, and some from last year have even started their very own chess clubs that meet on Thursdays. As I spoke, I saw the look in their eyes as I had lived that life, understood that look, and knew what they needed to hear and wanted to receive. They wanted to receive that encouragement, that instruction, and the tools that could free them from their incarceration. Instruction and tools that can transform a life. Speaking to these men, I was able to confer how the game of chess can free their minds and give them the tools they need to become the people that they need to rise above their circumstances. In one instance, I had a young man speak to me about his desire to go to college and to be productive even though he has a 49-year sentence. I told him that his life is not over. I compared it to the clock that we use while playing chess. I mentioned that the game is not over as long as we keep making the necessary moves to position ourselves for success. If we do that, and the clock is still running the game is not over!
YOU STILL GOT TIME! It is only about what you choose to do with your time. For me, I was inspired by these men; I was reminded of why I do this, why I have been getting up early and staying late. This is my life's work to serve these men through the Gift of Chess as we distribute chess, a tool for cognitive change. And “The ultimate measure of man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and adversity."- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.