(BOP) - "Think Before You Move," encourages inmates to use the game of chess to improve their lives. Eugene Brown started playing chess during his 18 years in federal prison for bank robbery. The curriculum for this innovative inmate program was developed by a non-profit organization founded by Brown, and is intended to help inmates learn to make life decisions similar to a chess game and think "two moves ahead."
"In life, often times the inmates were simply making the quickest and easiest decision based on the circumstances directly in front of them," explained Amber Harding, a Recreation Supervisor at FCC Hazelton. "In chess, this would be simply moving your pieces in reaction to any move your opponent has made." This sort of game play in chess, as in life, rarely results in success. The goal of the program is to teach the inmates to develop a strategy where they look at a total picture of their options, and the consequences of any move they may make.
"Think Before You Move" is an 8-week program offered at the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) in Hazelton, WV and at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Morgantown, WV. During National Reentry Week, inmates at both facilities watched the movie "Life of a King," based on Mr. Brown's life and listened to him speak about challenges he faced and how he overcame them; he even played chess with some of the inmates.
"This program is for players of every level - from novice to the most experienced," said Tedd Vassell, an inmate at FCC Hazleton. "Participants are asked to develop not just endgames to the game of chess itself, but endgames within the context of a sound reentry and reintegration plan."