Orrin "Checkmate" Hudson was dubbed the “pied piper of positivity” by CNN for coaching his students to a statewide chess championship and three citywide chess championships. His program has served 78,000 students since 2000. The former Air Force veteran and law enforcement officer has been awarded the George H.W. Bush Points Of Lights Award and the prestigious FBI Director’s Community Leader Award.
Orrin “Checkmate” Hudson is a former Alabama state trooper, Air Force veteran, and world-renowned chess champion. He is the author of the #1 Amazon bestseller, One Move at a Time, How to Win at Chess and Life. He is a captivating speaker/facilitator and is the founder of Be Someone, a Georgia-based nonprofit which provides a youth-focused leadership skills development program on how to win in life using the game of chess. His formula – using the chessboard – teaches that for every move that is made, whether it is playing the game or living as a contributing citizen, there is a corresponding positive or negative consequence.
Hudson has traveled across America successfully providing his unique, exciting, and engaging curriculum to over 55,000 young people. Support for the organization has included Jane Fonda, Tyler Perry, Steve Harvey as well as other celebrities. He has also appeared on Good Morning America, the CBS Early Morning Show, CNN, FOX & Friends, and has been on the cover of the world’s largest chess magazine, Chess Life and People. Hudson and his Be Someone organization have also been featured on The Tom Joyner Morning Show, in USA Today, Essence Magazine, Sports Illustrated for Teens, Jet, Black Enterprise, and Time Magazine for Kids.
Hudson’s ultimate vision is to serve one million at-risk students using his motivating mantra: “Get Your Heads-Up!!, Pants-Up! and Grades-Up!, and most of all, to “Never Give Up! – No Matter What!”
Connect with Orrin on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Check out his website BeSomeone.org