Local chess story seeks national audience

Rio Grande Valley residents have been well apprised of the region’s excellence in chess since Brownsville won the state championship 16 years ago and later the nationals.

In a classic underdog tale, the team of young players from Russell Elementary School overcame all obstacles to dominate the 1993 state championships. But the story didn’t stop there. The students went on to win state championships seven consecutive times and show competitors across the United States that South Texas chess players were fierce competitors.

Today, a Los Angeles-based company, Higher Ground Entertainment, is taking the story to a national audience. Chess, the filmmakers say, has done more than bring the Brownsville team trophies; it has also given students pride, confidence and problem-solving skills. Higher Ground searches out such stories of Latino success, highlighting tales of Latino excellence in unexpected places.

"We look for projects where Latinos are excelling in things you wouldn’t think they’d be a part of," said Ernesto Quintero, the creative director at Higher Ground Entertainment.

The filmmakers’ television series, "The Hook Up," brings Latino youth together with Latino role models in the professions they wish to pursue. And their most recent documentary, "Pancho Gonzalez: Warrior of the Court," tells the story of the famous tennis player. The film has aired on PBS and will soon air on The Tennis Channel.

Now, "From Pawns to Kings" recalls the thrilling story of Brownsville’s victory in chess. The filmmakers hope that it will bring notoriety to the area, so that chess players won’t be the only ones familiar with Brownsville’s dominance of the board.

The filmmakers didn’t always plan on making a documentary. At first they came to Brownsville to research the story of chess for a feature film. The plan for a nationally released feature is still in the works, and the group hopes a big name like George Lopez or Edward James Olmos will be interested in playing the chess teacher.

"When this script is developed, we won’t have a shortage of talent," said Danny Haro, executive director of Higher Ground Entertainment, who acted in the classic film of Latino struggle and success "Stand and Deliver."

Dr. Juliet V. Garcia, president of UTB-TSC, has been telling the Brownsville chess story to audiences around the country for almost 15 years. Garcia said when she heard about the school’s triumph she was smitten with the story. Telling the tale, she said, has only improved over time as the city continues to win more victories and develop its chess programs.

Those victories included several national championships won by students from Dr. Americo Paredes Elementary.

"Chess is a difficult game and it’s a game of critical thinking, logic, perception, strategy and planning," Garcia said. "Those are life lessons. Part of what it teaches is how to be a critical thinker."

The skills that chess develops, Garcia said, are different from those learned in team sports or music. Chess is like learning another language, which she believes, makes bilingual students uniquely receptive to the game.

"Being bilingual I believe is an advantage," Garcia said. "The monolingual brain is less evolved than the bilingual brain, and there’s a whole new set of rules installed for a new language. Chess becomes like a third language." Research is being done to test the hypothesis, Garcia said.

Garcia has been spreading the story of Brownsville chess herself, but she said that a successful film could create a fundamental change in how Hispanics are perceived on the national stage.

"What we will do in telling this story is change the paradigm of what people think about the Hispanic population," Garcia said. "People are worried about the Hispanic population taking over. They're afraid because the Hispanic population they see might not be educated, or is not a productive part of their communities. So what if they saw how advantageous it might be to have a Hispanic population succeeding? This is a positive story to tell in many ways."

Higher Ground Entertainment made a deal with UTB-TSC that revenue generated from a feature film would go toward chess scholarships. The group also plans to link both the documentary and the feature with educational programs that promote chess education.

"We followed many of these kids (in the film) and found that they all had professional careers. They had gone to top colleges," Haro said.

The filmmakers invited University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College student Mike Peña, a chess player on the school’s team, to work as an intern on their documentary project.

A 21-year-old business major, Peña said that chess has played a large part in where he is today.

"Chess makes a difference from a personal standpoint — it gives you confidence," Peña said. "I actually broke down when we were interviewing some of the people for the documentary, when I heard what they went through in the beginning."

The film crew has completed the filming phase of the documentary and they are raising money to hire an editor and market the product.

"The people of the Valley came together 16 years ago to support chess," Haro said. "We’re asking them to come together again and rally for us so we can finish this project and take it to the next level."

For more information about how to donate, call Higher Ground Entertainment at (626) 622-7279.

To watch a preview of From Pawns to Kings, visit http://www.vimeo.com/7035789.