Vaughn Bennett, 42, was a D.C. firefighter before devoting his life to teaching chess. He has taught at the toughest public schools as well as leading private schools. He can be found every Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in D.C. teaching young adults.
How did you get involved with teaching chess?
One of the questions that I asked myself as a D.C. firefighter was what could be done before the police and fire departments come for our children. When I left the department, I worked as a group home counselor and used chess as an intervention tool, and it worked 100 percent of the time.
How does it work?
Not only does it affect academic and social skills, but it also helps self-esteem and confidence. Ultimately children can win a full scholarship to college at any age or any grade.
You’ve taken on many at-risk students.
A lot have been labeled special needs or children they say won’t follow rules.
I require all my children to write their moves down. When you write the moves, it takes them to a whole other level. You have to see the move in your mind, transfer that move to paper and then make sure that’s what you want to do. And then make the move. That’s what we replicate in life. What is it that I’m going to get if I take this action?
If we had more chess, I believe there would be less killings.
How’s the chess at Dupont Circle?
That’s outside, in-the-park chess, not the kind you can win a full scholarship playing. … I mistakenly thought I was one of the best chest players around and then I went to Dupont Circle and they beat up on me pretty good for a couple of years. Then I got exposed to organizational chess and it was a whole other world.
