In 2015, a group of Texas border kids took the chess world by surprise.
I want to do what was done for me by [the people] who were always there for me when I was a child, guiding me, teaching me, showing me how.
A revolution of the mind.
In The Champions\' Game, he writes, I want to start a revolution.
Ramirez seems to possess a singular ability to draw out the talents of his students, perhaps because chess is much more than just a game to him.
Ramirez grew up in El Paso\'s Segundo Barrio, a neighborhood that might bring to mind Compton, or South Central, or 8 Mile, often noted as the poorest zip code in the United States.
The book\'s 14 chapters lay out Ramirez\'s rules for life--and chess, introducing concepts like guard your queen, control your center and protect your king.
Ramirez\'s genius is not so much the chess that he teaches (even though he\'s a former Texas state chess champion), but in his ability to intertwine life principles with chess rules to expand the minds, the insight and even the future possibilities of the students he teaches.
Which is why it borders on the miraculous that they choose to voluntarily--even enthusiastically--commit countless hours every week to the practice of a game that they had known virtually nothing about until two years ago when Ramirez started a chess club at Henderson.
They have bigger issues to deal with in life.
For these kids, dreams of beating highly privileged students from fancy schools in upper-crust neighborhoods aren\'t on the radar.
A third of the students are English Language Learners, and over 96 percent are from low-income families, with all of the students at the school qualifying for the free lunch program.
Many of the 700-plus students at Henderson Middle School come and go from across the border in Juárez, where they live.
The Story of Ramirez and his students is chronicled in The Champions\' Game, a testament to the resilience and spirit of children who dare to dream.
The 11, 12 and 13-year-old chess players at El Paso ISD\'s Henderson Middle School largely credit their success to one man: Saul Ramirez, a 30-year-old dad and husband who teaches art at Henderson during the day and coaches the chess team after school.
In April of 2015, a team of 12 middle schoolers--border kids--from South-Central El Paso surprised the country by taking first place in the national chess championships.
Under the guidance of a wise and caring coach, the rising stars of El Paso become immersed in an unexpected passion.
In 2015, a group of Texas border kids took the chess world by surprise
