After being incarcerated for eighteen years, Eugene Brown made an unexpected move. He established a Chess Club for inner-city high school students in Washington D.C. where, amidst dwindling educational resources, over-policing and a looming drug economy, it can be near impossible for youth to find their way to a whole and happy adulthood. Brown resolved to teach young people the fundamentals of chess but it was never just a game for them. For Brown and his students, chess became a matter of survival.