Original subtitles

And Cardinals, Mark McGuire hit the record breaker last night.

Homer number 62 to continue his hot streak.

We got our own hot streak here in Miami.

It's gonna hit 95.

It's a second defense.

Okay.

Okay, listen.

Okay, we gotta get it right.

Let me do it.

I'm right on.

It's a second defense.

Okay.

Here goes.

B4.

C5.

Knight F3.

D6.

That's it.

We ain't got nothing.

You ain't got no milk.

I ain't gettin' nothin' either.

You don't get no allowance until you beat me, got it?

Now I don't play.

Fine.

I could use five dollars anyway for snacks.

Let's go.

You know my first move.

You

look a little scared.

Yeah.

Now go wash that bowl, you dirty.

Man, you always on the fuckin' couch with me.

Yo, Jason!

Yo, Louie, I gotta bow to you.

You're not really gonna try and give me a used

lunchtime pass this early in the morning, huh?

And no eating on the shit name.

What's up, Seth?

Same old...

Oh, is it your pops?

Same old...

Anything I can do?

Take a piece of that sandwich if you offer and shit.

You see, I would though, but Ray already skipped me on the platanos, dog.

So I can't even be going that way.

I got these pythons to beat.

Fat ass, whatever.

Yo, Hito, wait up, man.

Speed up, man.

Man, slow down.

See, I know what you wanted to do.

I just ain't upset.

You're so free.

I know.

That's what it is.

What?

Nothing.

Just don't look at the board.

Huh?

Just don't look at the board.

Come on, who's the wise guy?

Who's the wise guy?

Are you guys ever gonna grow up?

Nope.

Not this year.

Yeah, I didn't think so.

Alright.

Now, people, this is gonna be very basic for some of you.

But for the fish, or the newbies as I like to call you, this is gonna be eye-opening.

Because what you've got is 64 squares, 32 pieces.

It doesn't matter how rich or poor you are, what Ivy League school you may go or

may not go to, what prison you hopefully never

set foot in, because chess is the great equalizer.

Okay?

Now, in the opening, white always moves first.

Now, I wonder what old white guy thought of that rule, right?

I know you hear me.

So, white has multiple openings, depending on his opponent's strength.

Then black is gonna counter with a choice of defenses.

And then you're off to the races, my friends.

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.

Get what I say.

Hey, Mr. Medina, nice of you to show up, my man.

You are so very welcome, Mr. T.

Where were you?

Um, I was in the yard.

I was playing a couple of fishies for that lunch meeting.

Come on, man.

Please don't tell me you're a gambler.

The last thing I need is for Kessel to come here and give me grief for that, too.

Come on.

My bad, but check me out.

Look, these underrated managers ain't getting us nowhere.

Aren't getting us anywhere, Rodney.

And since when are you too good to play your peers, huh, man?

They aren't our peers anymore.

Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa.

So now you think you can go up against people

who've been playing since they were in diapers.

Okay, okay.

Hold on, hold on.

Check me out.

Ain't no diapers here, Mr. T.

Don't do me like that.

Oh, please, please.

Sit down, sit down.

Good to know.

Just sit down, please.

Sit down.

I'll never be able to unsee that.

All right, people.

So the first proof today is going to be the Scandinavian defense.

And it goes a little something like this.

All right?

D4.

Black attacks aggressively to D5.

And then black pawn down.

Okay?

So the queen violently takes.

Now this breaks all the rules for beginners.

Because you never bring out your queen too early.

Rodney, what's the other rule?

Um, you never move the same piece twice in an opening.

Duh.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Beautiful.

And now let's do it over again.

And what do you make of that, Mr. Paniagua?

Yo, get the fuck out.

Did you wake up?

Oh, hey.

Hey, watch the mouth.

Watch the mouth.

Mr. T, please just, you got me some slack.

I was working mad late the whole night.

If I was your boss, I would.

But I'm your teacher in the easiest elective in the history of electives.

How much more slack would you like, Mr. Paniagua?

Huh?

Just show up.

Stay awake and you pass, man.

A little more?

No, come here.

Come here.

Come up and show me your best opening.

Come on, stud.

Crush me.

Come on, big shot.

This is why I was sleeping.

This is why I was sleeping.

I'll save you for this.

Watch what's gonna happen.

I'll call you out next.

Don't play, don't play.

E4, boom.

Very basics.

I'm gonna call you out a little basic as well.

Basic to basic.

Okay, okay.

That's fancy.

You wanna see something fancy?

Oh, look it.

Developing a bishop instead of the knight.

Somebody's paying attention.

I should be teaching, actually.

So I'm gonna count it with this little defensive move.

What you got?

What you got?

Okay, that's good, but I already got this one.

Oh, no, no, no, no.

No, no, no, no, no.

He's trying to Scholar's mate me?

Come on.

Trying to Scholar's mate me.

You do that and I'll chase your queen all over the damn board, man.

Save that for some fish.

All right, guys, guys.

Hey, hey.

Can you go over the legales made again for me, please?

Can you do that?

All right, so, uh...

What do we have here?

Rivera here refused to answer Mr. Rochelle.

Well, then he took a swing at him.

Oh, whoa, whoa, Mr. Trouble.

Come on.

Go inside and wait by my desk, all right?

Come on.

Hey, that little kid look weird.

Go, go.

Thank you.

It was good.

Come on, man.

Come on.

My class is not detention, Ms. Kessel.

No?

No, no.

I'm running a legitimate elective here, okay?

These kids have real potential.

Hello?

Okay.

Well, they're not what you think they are.

I mean, well, maybe that one is.

Come on, come on.

Guys, guys, please, a little respect.

Whatever.

As long as they're ranking and RGR goes up, you

can have them playing marbles for all I care.

And I got you this elective.

So if I need a babysitter because some kid's messing with another kid's chances

of actually graduating, I expect you'll accommodate me.

I do, I do.

I got your back.

I do.

Great.

And as attendance has been your one area of true greatness, I'd suggest you focus

more on the fact that it's dipped this past month.

Well, a student was deported.

I'm sorry, but immigration has a way of messing with attendance numbers.

Just keep the bodies in the seats.

Well, look, if you hired me just to fill a

bilingual quarter, you're underestimating me, okay?

And more importantly, them.

Just keep the bodies in the seats.

You know, I'm a good teacher.

I am a good teacher.

Shut up.

So, Rivera.

We're remaining silent.

I mean, it certainly is your prerogative.

I get teedropped as a Bobby Brown.

Can you not?

Oh yeah, okay.

That makes sense.

Cool?

Now, Michael, you got two choices here, okay?

One, do nothing, or play chess.

I swear, I swear, it's gonna be the one day

when one student says, yes, Mr. Martinez, chess.

Of course, yeah.

All right, guys, hey, guys, guys.

I want you to review Scholars Made For Me on your own, all right?

I have to listen to Etho's Haitian music to be cool?

I'm Dominican, jit.

Hey, yo.

Can you pass me my queen?

Yo, Jungle Book, I'm talking to you.

Hey, you don't hear me talking to you?

Pick up the queen.

I got it, man, I got it, huh?

Oh, no, it's all good, it's all good.

So you know what?

Because I was telling Jungle Book over here to pick

up my queen from the fucking floor like I told you.

Hey, hey, hey, guys, guys, guys.

Come on, come on, come on.

Hey, hey, come on.

Come on, come on, man.

You gonna hit somebody because it won't pick up your plastic queen?

Come on, Etho.

That's what it takes.

Come on, man.

Etho, Etho, I don't wanna be judgmental, man, but when you talk garbage like that,

you sound straight up ignoramus, my man.

Hey, Cornelia and Roddy, one more operas and I swear.

Come on, man, straight up.

You gonna start a fight?

You gonna put a beat down on your classmate because you wouldn't pick up your queen?

Come on, Etho, man.

Come on, think it through, buddy, think it through, okay?

Best case scenario, he picks it up for you.

Worst case scenario, he gets a black guy, he picks up a vendetta against you for the

rest of your life, man, and the rest is consequences, okay?

Like chess, a game of consequences.

How about that, huh?

Come on, Etho.

We don't wanna bring out consequences, buddy.

You're a smart kid.

Come on, man, seriously.

All right?

All right, people, come on, come on.

Set up, reset your pieces for me, okay?

And I got a little bit of homework for you.

I want you to look up the definition of Zugschwan for me tomorrow, okay?

All right, you're dismissed.

Get out of my class, get out.

Just to hear me say How much I miss you Would you accept me back?

Would you accept me back?

Baby, just say Would you turn your back away?

Would you do this for me?

My shit better not be broke.

Yo, pick it up!

You buy me a new walker, you skinny piece of shit.

Man, speak English, Cuban!

Hey, hey, no me toques, no me toques.

Yo, you may not speak English, but you bad man, you want it.

You got a problem?

Man, yeah, I got a problem.

This motherfucker right here.

No, no problem, sorry, sorry, sorry.

No, no, ain't no sorry.

Ain't no problem no more.

It's like a war out there.

Yeah, except this was a kid just walking home from school.

We'll have counseling available for you.

For your students, if requested.

Well, thank you, thank you for that.

I will say, while unfortunate, it's not a total shock anymore.

He said, wow.

He's gotta help you put your pieces together.

Hey, do you guys know, um, about Pablo Neruda?

Um, from Family Matters?

No, no, no.

That circle.

And how I know that's what you meant is beyond me.

But no, um, every time a young person's killed around

here, it makes me think of the words of Mr. Neruda.

Who wrote, I do not know how or when, but from a street, I was summoned.

And, um, I don't know, I think the poem is about, you know, being liberated,

and just breaking loose and finding that thing, you know.

And I don't know, there's just too many times to think

about it when it's in relation to the violence around here.

I don't know, it helps me...

I mean, the class is almost over.

I mean, what's the point?

Hey, I'm sorry, Mr. T.

You know, I just had a rough night.

You know how work can get.

You working overtime again?

Yeah.

Here you go.

All right, people, listen up, listen up.

We got a tournament coming up in a couple days.

We need four players to qualify, so we need to start really considering if

we're serious about what we're doing here or not.

We're serious, Mr. T.

Then we start by showing up, right, Mr. Paniagua?

Can you come here for a second, please?

Look, my man, if you oversleep again, you're

gonna have to find another elective, okay?

I'm sorry.

I just, I just can't do it anymore.

Go.

Don't give up on him, Mr. T.

He'll come around.

I've always liked your attitude, man.

But we need a fourth player.

No offense to Jaron, but he ain't gonna be much value to the team.

Oh, come on, Cornelia.

Why does she tag all my boards like that?

Come on.

Listen, I was thinking maybe I could go talk to Gil about coming back to the class.

You mean the guy who quit when you punched him in the face because you mean that guy?

Hmm.

Yeah.

I was still gonna ask him anyway.

Go give it a shot, Mr. Roundtree.

Good luck with that.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Later, hater.

We gotta, uh, can't shoot the pedestrians, we shoot the aliens.

And the giant alien in the background, we gotta shoot like 50 times before he dies.

Relax.

Relax.

All right.

All right, we playing with the star team.

I had to shoot aliens and people, man.

I don't know.

Get that grenade.

Okay, I got it, I got it, I got it.

Watch out, watch out.

Watch your back, watch your back.

Yo, I didn't mean to step on your foot, all right?

I know.

I was an ass, so I overreacted.

I just... Get him, get him.

I was dealing with some stuff at home.

I just wanted to say I'm sorry.

Good shot.

It's not like they were Jordans.

Yo, Nike Air's moving up tempo and shit, watch.

Let's go.

Look, Gil.

What are you doing?

Let's go, man, let's go.

Look, we need you back.

I'm serious, man.

Look, me, you, Rode.

Yo, we can be something special.

All four of us.

That's a team.

Harvey, can you not punch me, please?

I promise.

It won't happen again.

Look, see, now... That's your fault.

That's entirely your fault, man.

Are you kidding me?

Watch it.

What are you doing?

You suck.

I'm gonna take your welcome because you suck.

You should've been paying attention.

Look, I'm gonna let my clock work now.

I'm gonna take it home.

Where you gonna go?

My bad.

I'm gonna take this.

I'm gonna go here.

And it's done.

It's checkmate.

That was made in four.

Checkmate!

He's back!

Checkmate!

Checkmate!

Uh... Really?

Uh...

Okay.

Man, I'm back on the scene if you know what I mean.

And I can show you how to mate with just a king and a queen.

You ain't have to do them like that, Gil.

You're nasty, bro.

You're nasty.

Your butt's itchy.

That's... Sucio.

Sucio.

Sucio.

What do these fuckers do, man?

Is that what y'all want?

Stop!

Would you please?

Hey, that's dumb.

That's why I love you.

You do dumb shit.

You gonna marry her?

We're gonna have to get our books back.

Huh?

For real?

Okay.

All right, class.

Today we're gonna look at the most beautiful game in chess history.

And it is called The Opera Game.

Authored by Paul Morphy.

Now, Morphy was an American born in New Orleans in the 1800s who, uh, once said...

See, we're twins.

We're twins.

Who said if the chessboard superseded the poker table

then all American's morals would change like that.

And Paul Morphy played this game in 1858 in a real opera,

watching a real opera against two opponents, a duke and a count.

And he played white and Paul Morphy played e4.

And the duke counted with e5.

So then Morphy attacked the pawn with the knight.

So the duke counters with d6 and you get the

Philidor defense which opens up this corridor nicely.

The Philidor... Who the hell is that?

Who the hell is that?

Yeah, who the hell is that?

Only one of the greatest French creators of modern chess who said I like,

I like the pawn because the pawn is the third of shells.

And he plays that pawn to e4 and so he's occupying the center.

So the duke then moves down the bishop to g4 with

the old routine of pinning the knight to the queen.

So Morphy pawn takes, bishop takes, Morphy takes.

And then the duke recaptures.

How about that, huh?

So white bishop goes to c4 and this is very interesting.

What is happening here, people?

What is happening here?

What is this?

What is this?

What is Morphy threatening here?

What is he threatening here?

Cornelia, you want to come up?

No, I'm good.

I think so.

No.

Cornelia, how am I going to get you out of the 500 rated club if you don't come up?

Okay, it's up to you, girl.

It's up to you.

I can't do it for you.

All right.

Who's going to cup Gil?

Is that you?

You want to comment on why Morphy would do this?

Uh, threatening checkmate on f7.

That's right, my man.

Very good.

And so what is black's only option here?

I think it would be the g knight to f6, blocking checkmate, blocking the queen.

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

I like...

I like this style, my man.

So Morphy now counters very interestingly

because nobody would have done this except Paul.

He moves the knight to c3.

Now, that was a brilliant move, but Steinitz, the

great Austrian chess master went off on Morphy.

He was like, What a schmuck.

What a putz.

That is the stupidest mistake ever because he should

have played right here for the strongest move ever.

But why didn't he, guys?

Why didn't he?

Why didn't he, Ito?

That's a killer move, no doubt, but I just feel

like Morphy was more of like a finesse player.

You feel me?

That's right.

That's right, man.

That's right, because he was an artist.

Morphy was an artist, not a butcher.

He was more interested in development than he was in material gain.

So I gotta put the queen back.

Alright.

So bishop plays g5, developing and communicating the back rank.

Then the duke plays pawn to b5, threatening the bishop, and this starts a

freaking blitz because now Morphy brilliantly plays the knight and takes.

Duke takes.

Morphy takes again, and we got the old check-a-roonie.

So the duke plays the knight to d7 to block that check.

And White long castles queenside and attacks that knight.

Black rook doubles down on the forces.

And what about this rook here?

What about this rook doing nothing here?

Huh?

Cornelia?

Cornelia, what about this rook right here?

I don't know, bro.

Stop asking me.

Alright, alright, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Ito, Ito, come up, come up.

Show me, show me what we should do with that rook to get it involved.

I mean...

You can move the rook.

Oh no, no, no, no!

That's horrible.

That's garbage.

I don't even want to look.

I don't want to look.

Please tell me that's not what he's doing.

I don't want to look.

Oh no, look!

Rook to d7, taking off the knight.

Another sacrifice.

Another sacrifice.

Another sacrifice.

That's right.

That's right, Ced.

Very smart, my man.

So, rook takes.

Right?

Black rook takes d7, and now finally the only piece not doing anything this game

the white rook moves to d1 bringing the last of the resources into the game.

So, black queen goes down on e6 to relieve the pressure.

And is that what Morphy's trying to do?

A little queen on queen action right here?

Gil?

He could, but not when you're pressing your opponent.

So, Morphy wouldn't do that.

Yes, so what would Morphy do then?

What would Morphy do then?

You know?

You know?

He would come up.

I think what he'd do is...

Bishop takes the rook on d7 check-a-roonie.

Damn!

But look at this guy.

Look at this guy.

Look at that.

Up-down.

Down-down.

All right.

Really good.

Really good, my man.

Now, Roddy for the counter.

I got you.

Step aside.

Step aside.

Black knight to d7.

And just like that.

Nice.

Nice, my man.

So, this is the beauty This is the beauty of Morphy's

game that is recognized by all the chess masters.

This is where his brilliance comes in.

Because who else would have thought of this

move but to move the queen here for the check.

Wait.

Hold on.

Time out.

What are you doing?

What are you doing?

Why boo?

Why boo?

What's wrong with you?

Why is it a whack move, Cedric?

Don't just talk to me, man.

Show me.

That's a free queen.

Free queen.

The knight just takes it.

I don't know how you're playing chess, but you're off today, Mr. T.

You're right.

You're right.

It would be a whack move, smart ass.

It would be.

No, no.

It would be a whack move.

It would be the stupidest thing ever.

That would be the unthinkable because we never give up a free queen, right?

Not a good player gives up a free queen.

Unless...

Unless, you know?

Unless, you know?

You know?

Unless it's for a checkmate!

Ha!

Ha!

I didn't even see that.

Hey!

So you see, Morphy sacrificed all his pieces

and still won against the whole entire army.

Because material advantage is not everything, people.

And certainly not in chess.

That Morphy dude is a genius.

He sure was, man.

He sure was.

But you know what?

This is that whole thing I keep telling you guys about history.

That thing in history, man.

Written by winners.

Or the people with the memes.

Oh, snap.

Mr. T about to drop some vitamin K, huh?

Oh, you best believe.

Because, you know, there was this great Latin chess player, Raul Capablanca,

known to be the greatest chess player by all chess players.

And yet, how come we don't know about him?

How come we don't know that chess was invented in India, perfected in Persia,

but not know that it was modernized by a Spanish guy named Maura?

Yo, Mr. T, can I ask you something?

Yeah, go ahead, go ahead.

How come they always paint us out?

They rewrite us.

Okay.

I'm only allowed to give you so much Latin and black history because our

contributions into the making of America is dictated by the Board of Ed whose books

are made and controlled in the state of Texas, but but who's counting, right?

But I'm gonna ask you, I'm gonna ask you that whenever you don't see a familiar

image that you feel like you can relate to in whatever it is that you move by,

that you dig deeper than your dusty old Britannica encyclopedia.

Word, Mr. T.

For real.

Because we people of color have it everywhere since time immemorial,

and if you pick up one of these bad boys and you open it up and you don't recognize

yourself, I hope you realize that this was their

oversight, that this was their mistake to paint you out.

I need to see you and Mr. Paniagua in my office, please.

Yeah, what about?

Just need to ask him a couple of questions.

Ito, Ito.

Hey, Seth, Seth, can you start a practice game for me?

Yeah, I got it, Mr. Martinez.

I got it.

We gotta go.

What you did now?

It's you!

What you else snitch at?

Me?

I don't snitch.

You just get copied off.

It's okay, man.

I just want to talk to you.

You know, he might be doing that.

Your, uh, principal said the two of you had a beef.

No beef, no beef.

It was in my class and I was there, okay?

Alright, put those things away.

It got resolved.

Hey, we're not interested in you anyway, man.

I don't want to hear yours.

That, uh, Andre Lamar...

You know what I'm talking about.

Listen, man, I...

Ito, Ito, look, if you know something, speak up, son.

Again, we're not interested in you, man.

Until we are.

Alright, I think we're done here, gentlemen.

Hey, look.

If you could just help us out and point him out to us.

Okay.

Well...

If you think of anything that might bring

justice to your friend, all you gotta do is call.

Gentlemen, it's time to leave.

We'll be the guys with the mirrored shades on.

Thank you.

Ito, I'm sorry you had to go through all that.

You okay?

Ain't nothing new for me, Mr. T.

Don't worry about it.

We'll take care of this.

Just go back to class.

The board's rejected our bid to pay for the regionals.

Our bid?

Your bid.

Your bid.

So, the board is fine spending $400 on footballs but not

with sending kids on a road trip to improve their minds.

Right?

It's not a question.

I just wanted to hear it out loud.

That's all.

We host tournaments here in case you've forgotten.

Yeah, but this is team regionals.

I mean, kids like this from places like Dade

County don't ever make it to team regionals.

Then it shouldn't be too hard for them to swallow.

Really?

Really?

The fuck's the matter with you, huh?

You know, one of these days something's gonna happen that's gonna make me feel

like maybe I don't need this bullshit job, and you know what?

That day's gonna really suck for you, okay?

Is that a threat, Mario?

No.

No, it's not.

We have chocolates.

Chocolates?

You could start a drive.

I see kids outside the supermarket doing this sort of thing all the time.

Wait, wait.

You're serious.

You're serious.

I mean, these kids just had a deported player, another kid murdered this

semester, and you're giving them fucking chocolates?

This is what I have.

Well, fine.

You know what?

Give up on them.

Let their parents give up on them.

Let the whole system give up on them.

But you know what?

I sure shit ain't, okay?

Aren't.

You done?

Not with them.

Good.

Then don't be.

Then don't be.

Because once that fire goes out, it never comes back.

So, um, the regionals are coming in two weeks.

So it's gonna be $25 to register each one of the players.

Then on top of that, we got gas, food, a chaperone.

So I think it's gonna be about $300 each.

And, um, luckily, school has donated these

300 chocolate bars to help us raise the funds.

Come on, get the fuck out of here, T.

Hey, come on.

What did I tell you about your mouth, man?

I'm sorry, but nobody's gonna buy chocolates from a bunch of hood rats.

I'd buy it from a hood rat like you.

I mean, look at that pathetic little face.

I'd buy a ton off of you.

Now, let's do the math.

Come on, let's do the math.

Do a little learning today, huh?

What do we got?

Four of you who qualified times $300 equals what, Roddy?

That's $1,200, okay?

Total, right?

Divided by 300 chocolate bars is what, Cedric?

$4 a bar.

Okay?

You raise that, and we'll be golden.

But, Mr. T, that's crazy.

You can get them down for a quarter at Publix.

Well, therein lies your hurdle, huh?

... ...

... ...

... ... ...

... ...

...

Hey, Shania.

What now?

Your mom better have some seriously backed-up sinuses

if she comes home and doesn't realize what's going on.

Yo, you guys really think people are gonna buy cookies for $4?

Yo, it's a charity event.

You eat them, and you get high.

It's not rocket science.

Don't use up the rest of my stash now.

Too late for that.

Oh, man, we're gonna be here all day.

Oh, God.

Come on.

Wait, wait, wait.

I know, but they've been under my watch for 24-7.

Uh-huh.

Well, no.

I didn't hear about that.

No, okay.

No, no, I will, I will, I will.

Okay.

I got it, I got it.

Okay.

So now, now I'm lying for you.

T, I understand I take full responsibility... And what?

And what, that makes it okay?

That makes it okay you were dealing drugs?

Are you fucking kidding me?

Huh?

That's my boss.

He's not just your principal, but obviously you don't care.

We didn't say that.

But that's exactly what you said when you went out like that.

I mean, in all fairness, all it was was some

cookies, your chocolate, and a little bit of pot.

Yes.

And that's funny to you guys.

That's funny.

Is that funny to you?

Yeah.

Listen to me, okay?

There's a rainbow of colors at this table, myself included, that need no help having

the police come knocking at our doors, you hear me?

First of all, it was just weird.

It's an illegal substance that could get you a lot of serious jail time, my friend.

Yo!

You need to shut the fuck up already!

That's...

That's what you want?

Is that what you want?

Guys?

You want to end up like that poor sucker that

nobody gave a half shit to set his ass straight?

Huh?

No, tell me, tell me, tell me, because I'll just stop wasting my time on you.

We're sorry, we messed up.

It was a mistake.

Yeah, we was just a little fucked up.

The mouth.

Sorry, sir.

All right.

All right, guys, look, look, I've saved up some money for a rainy day, and let's call

this tournament a rainy day and your last chance, all right?

I'll pick you all up Saturday morning, 6 a.m.

sharp.

If anybody doesn't show up on time, they stay behind.

Look

at me running compete.

That's like the road runner.

What that do, what that do.

Guys, guys, guys, I just want you to know, when you're playing an official

tournament, there's not going to be any communicating with each other,

no talking to your coach during the game, so there's no verbal, no signals,

no nods, nods.

You hear me?

There's no contact with your opponent.

Got it.

All right, what about incidental contact?

I didn't say anything about incidental.

I don't even know what that would be.

You're just trying to use big words.

Yeah, you are.

If I was trying to use big words, I'd say it was putrescent back here.

What that mean though?

What that mean though?

The smell of decaying flesh.

That's what it is, bro.

What?

What?

Oh my God, yo, I'll tell you what though, it

smell like straight up open ass back here.

Come on, we're going to die, Mr. T, please, bro.

Open a window then.

Open a window, I'm going to go flying out, Mr. T.

Don't open a window then.

Oh my God.

Oh guys, I'm done with your whining.

I'm really done with it.

I'm going to drown you out.

Next stop is South Region.

Jump on the beach, jump on the beach.

Steady on the mic.

I get tight.

Don't mess with me, cause chess is life.

I called a couple days ago to register for Miami Jackson.

This is a chess tournament.

Right.

Mario Martinez, registering for Miami Jackson.

Right there.

It's a $100 registration, no refunds.

Absolutely.

Here you go.

Everything you need to know is on there.

Your matches are over there.

And the minute that you lose, you leave the tournament area.

This is tournament policy.

Not a problem.

And we won't be losing.

I can see this is your first time.

Come on, fellas, let's go.

Hey, come here, come here.

Hey fellas, fellas, come here, come here.

Come here, come here, come here.

Look, if you're feeling uncomfortable, just remember that your mind can be your weapon.

Okay?

And if you're still feeling uncomfortable, just remember that at some point in the

game, your boy Dustin Diamond over there is going to be sitting no more than two

feet across from gangster-ass Ido over here.

So you tell me who you're going to put your money on.

That's right.

So let's go up there and teach these pump chumps how to push some wood.

Let's go.

Yeah, go, go, go, go, go.

Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go.

And now we have a team of rafters to deal with.

Yeah.

But how many ghost tournaments did your dad patch your ratings with?

Because I live by those tournaments.

They don't exist.

I hope you don't get disqualified.

Take care.

Do I want to draw?

Yeah, take a draw, man.

Take one for the team.

Ido, Ido, we need to have a point.

Take it, take it.

Excuse me, absolutely no communicating with either team.

Gentleman behind the ropes, please.

Can I ask if my team needs a draw?

Yes, but you can only ask that.

Okay.

Can I get up to just stretch my legs real quick?

You don't have to ask permission.

Perfect.

Was that legal?

It's a dental contact, unintentional.

Thank you.

Sorry about that, man.

My bad.

Okay, that's enough.

Check your clock.

Ido got Soogswand.

Soogswand?

Mm-hmm.

No matter where he moves, he's gonna lose.

So me, guys, I told him not to take the draw.

What are you sweating for?

I just got Soos on.

Ido.

I know, I know, I know.

No, Pinecrest got 16 and a half.

What?

We got 17.

We won.

That's right, that's right.

Let's go!

Hey, hey, hey, hey!

Hey, hey, hey, hey!

You did your shit today.

I won the first rounds.

You see what I did?

That's what I'm saying, man.

That's what I'm saying.

I still pulled my shit together.

I'm proud of you, bro.

You was doing your thing today.

Oh, you're proud of me?

You should be.

You should be proud of me.

Yeah, man, you was doing your thing.

You was doing your dick show ass thing.

Ew!

Oh, that's disgusting!

Ew!

This is some contaminated shit.

No shit.

And you swimming in it, dawg.

Yo, you know that's how superheroes are made, right?

Skinny motherfuckers jumping in on this toxic waste shit.

At least I don't be like, Check your clock.

And then my opponent Soos wangs the shit out of me.

I know what Martinez is trying to say now, aight?

I should have taken the draw.

You happy?

Yeah, you should have, but now it's celebration time!

Celebration, what?

Is that the pizza?

Hot and delicious.

Yes.

Okay.

Come on, guys.

Oh, my God, it smells so good.

Look at that.

Come on, help yourself.

Come on, come out and get some pizza.

I don't know.

Come on.

Come on, Godzilla.

Oh, Jesus.

Oh, man.

Come on, come on.

You got a problem, man.

This guy's a swamp thing, yo.

Oh, my God, you got a problem.

He is a swamp thing, yo.

Hey, check me out, though.

Watch out.

Where are we coming for you?

Radioactive style.

I'm gonna have to get my lead blanket.

That's for sure.

Yo, get me one.

Hey, don't break our trophy.

How come you're not celebrating?

I celebrate when we win state.

That's when I celebrate.

Yeah?

You don't wanna hold it?

You don't wanna hold my trophy, bro?

You don't wanna hold it?

No, no, it's a trick.

Don't fall for it.

Jesus Christ.

Come on.

I'm gonna have to resign, man.

Yo, shut up, shut up.

I'm trying to get the tip back.

You don't even know.

You can't even get it anatomically correct.

You better hope he doesn't wake up.

Well,

that's one way of avoiding a tie, huh?

Draws are for people too weak to go for it.

Gotta control your own world, Mr. T.

Whoa.

Where'd you hear that from?

Something my pops would say.

Look, look.

I don't wanna contradict your dad or anything,

but I think, I think draws can be underrated.

Yeah.

Because for one thing, they guarantee you don't lose.

I just want you to know I hear you.

All your inspirational moments and stuff.

Corny as shit for sure, but...

I appreciate where you're coming from.

Well, don't tell me you're getting all sensitive on me now.

Nah.

Inspired, maybe.

I mean, it's the dumb shit you say sometimes.

The dumb shit?

Being out here.

Just messing with my head.

What do you mean?

I lost my mom when I was six.

Right in front of me.

A hit and run.

Pop's been a shell ever since.

Negative.

It gets hard, you know?

Yeah, sure.

And confusing.

When you're younger, everybody feels bad.

Even the cops.

Eighteen now?

People not sure what to make of you anymore.

They forgot you got frozen back there.

So you find something you're good at.

Work hard at it.

Yeah.

Take back your universe and say, Fuck you, universe!

Shit.

I lost my son, uh, about five years and two months ago.

John Wayne Martinez was his name.

John Wayne, for real?

You really on to this American dream?

Nah, nah, it was weird.

It was much more than a dream.

Well, at least he was anyway.

I love you.

Straight bullet.

You know?

One inch to the left or one inch to the right.

And, uh...

Maybe he would, uh...

I don't know.

The universe, man.

The universe is too big and hard to control sometimes.

On the street there was something.

Look at you.

Look at you quoting poetry and everything.

Pay attention.

Hey, so what do you say?

What do you say you and I play one on the side of the

road for all the sun-kissed in the cooler with ice?

Huh?

In the front seat.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, alright?

Let's just play this and see.

And then we'll think about that.

Oh!

Oh!

Baby!

Woo!

Oh!

Woo!

Oh!

Where you been?

Chess tournament, Fort Myers.

We won.

Won what?

The tournament.

Took first place, too.

I thought you were better than that.

I mean, just enough to cover our costs.

Plus a trophy for the school to display up

with the old football ones when you went there.

So you come in here bragging cause you broke even and what, won a trophy?

You know who won the Heisman?

Huh?

Charlie Ward.

Who that?

Exactly.

I mean, at least you can hang, what, damn clothes on an old workout bench.

Right?

But a trophy?

Shit.

Shit.

And this book?

This book ain't gonna teach you nothing but how to play like a pussy.

Old positional chess theory.

Positional what?

Why don't come in this house with that goddamn Oprah bullshit?

It's about intimidation.

Alright?

Play to win.

Everything else is bullshit.

Alright.

So let's play.

For all the sodas in the fridge.

Boy, sit your ass down.

You put no soda in the fridge, but I bought that damn soda.

How'd that get you?

What, you giving away free pieces now?

It's fine to my rhythm.

Rhythm, huh?

Looked like you can't hear the music.

Alright.

So what, that's supposed to mean something?

Listen.

I'm getting tired of this shit.

You know, my dying didn't just crush you.

Shit.

No lie, you know that.

No lie, baby, we're gonna rock.

Papi, it is hot as hell in here.

No lie, no lie, no lie.

You don't got the A.C.

on?

I understand you're trying to keep the couches and all that

shit, but I'm gonna have to peel my legs off the plastic.

Not sticking to my thighs.

No more que viene aquí a joder, ponte hielo en el culo si tiene que joder.

What he said?

Put some ice in your ass, bro.

You got anything else you wanna complain about?

Yo, what's up?

What the fuck, bro?

Bro, what happened?

I lost my job, my mom threw me out.

I lost my job listening to your ass.

Listening to you, homie?

You ain't no shit at the fucking garage.

Fuck outside work, huh?

Yo, yo, yo.

Fuck outside, bro!

Yo, let's go.

Yo, yo, yo.

Fuck outside.

Fuck outside.

Take it outside.

Take it outside, bro.

Went to that dumbass tournament, bro!

Because of you, bro.

For chess?

Fucking waste of time.

Yo, but check me out.

We won, though.

What?

What, we win, huh?

You sound like my pops, man.

I work hard for my money every day.

Day to day for those 70 cents to get to that school bus.

You gonna compare me to your dad?

Look, I feel you, but yo, our team is being taken seriously now, man.

Come on!

This is serious.

Our bullshit world is serious.

It's wake up time.

Man, wake up to what?

Fucking getting my shit in order.

What shit, bro?

Fucking money in my pocket shit, Rowdy.

What, you don't know about that, huh?

I don't know about that.

No, you don't know about that, bro!

You don't work every fucking night getting into that shit, bro!

You don't know about that, man!

What am I gonna do, huh?

What am I gonna do, huh?

What am I gonna do?

Just calm down, man.

Ask for help.

Some pushing.

Be here, man.

Come on.

That's about all I could take for this night, all right?

My nerves can't really take much more of this.

Come on.

Come on!

I'm out of here, too.

Look, Easton.

Ito, Ito, listen, listen here.

We're here for you.

We're brothers.

Just don't stress, man.

I got you.

It's a little club, right?

Yeah, a little club, man.

Yeah, that's me.

Mommy 2B, parents divorced, pops went back to DR, your mom

moved in with the boyfriend, she paid her rent, though.

And then you and your brothers basically live for

free trying to get yourself through high school.

It's a common story.

How the fuck do you afford yourself?

Why don't you start giving up?

Something like that.

Hit me up, Paniagua.

Okay, okay, people.

Look at all the new fish here.

I guess you guys like chess, huh?

Who would've thunk?

Look at that.

Anyway, people.

I want to get your attention, please, everyone.

Let's give out some congratulations here for our four prodigies who beat Pinecrest.

Thank you.

Hey, the trophy's out front, too, in the case.

Check it out at your own convenience, okay?

Front and center.

There's gonna be another one there soon when we take states.

States?

Hey, guys, guys.

I know you deserve to be at that competition, but I

don't think the school's gonna be able to afford it.

I just don't think so.

We're $1,300 short, man.

It's not gonna be possible.

What?

Yo, did you let them know that's the first

trophy this school's won in the last four years?

I know, I know.

Thank you.

I know, but with all these registration fees and this being a two-day tournament,

it's like $450 each.

I mean, that's a lot to ask, man.

It's not even that much.

They spend more money on these bullshit Just Say No programs.

No one listens to us.

Right, but... Hope it was with preps over at Pinecrest.

They got to stay at a four-star Marriott.

I know, I know.

Don't get bitter.

You see where we stayed?

Our shitty little pool had formaldehyde in it.

Yeah, and we still won.

Exactly.

Come on, guys.

Champions adjust, okay?

We don't give away our power and we move on.

We just move on.

That's bullshit, Mr. T.

Is it?

Mr. T.

No one cares.

And you know what?

The self-help is getting real tight, and you know it.

Okay, all right.

You're right.

You're right.

The self-help is done.

So you know what?

You take matters into your own hands.

Find a way to bridge that gap with the cash, because I am totally out of funds.

I'm out.

Seriously.

So, good luck.

Keep it legal, please, and find a way.

Cornelia, your present?

No.

Thank you.

I'm coming forward.

Yours.

What do you got?

Go ahead.

Go ahead.

You want to come attack?

I'll defend with that light all day.

Hey, fellas.

What time is it?

Money time.

I love it, baby.

I love it, baby.

You guys all come to Domino Park to experience chess, right?

Well, experience it with real champions.

Real champions.

Oh, how we doing?

How we doing, Gil?

How we doing?

How we doing?

Close to checkmate, so not bad.

My people come here to have a good time, and you take their money?

How you doing?

I haven't seen you in a minute.

Hey, look, the party's over.

We're running out of money.

Hey, my people, thank you.

Thank you for coming.

You can go now.

No, you can't.

Who the fuck is this?

My brother, this is Cubano Park.

Yeah.

You want to play with your peoples.

You know what part of town that is.

Hey, we're just here to make some money, and that's it.

So, you're a hustler now.

I mean, yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

How much you want to play for?

Oh, you?

Oh, hell no.

I'm not here to take your money.

No, no, no.

I know I can't beat you.

But my friend, Marcel, who just came from Cuba, I mean, he plays a little.

Over there?

Over there?

You want to call him over?

Marcel!

I'm going to take his money.

It's yours.

You ready, my friend?

Check this out.

Check this out.

We're going to go right here.

You're going to take it too long, baby.

Come on, baby.

Oh, my God.

I'm going to take that.

You know what, bro?

Right there, baby.

Come on, baby.

Back up, baby.

Back up, back up, back up.

Yo, I'm going to take it.

I'm going to take all your pieces, bro.

I'm going to take all your pieces, bro.

I'm going to take all your pieces, bro.

Let's go now.

All your pieces, bro.

I'm going to take all your pieces.

Every single one.

Every single one.

Nah.

See you.

See you.

See you.

Todo tranquilo, bro.

Eso pasa.

No, no, no, no, no.

My money.

I beat you.

You lost.

You have to pay me now.

Hold on.

Hold on.

Hold on.

I thought you said you didn't speak English, my friend.

That doesn't matter, bro.

You lost, you have to pay me.

Yeah, it does matter, bro.

Give me my money.

You just hustled us, bro.

Get the money then.

Come get it.

Come get it.

Call him.

That's my only tool, bro.

That's my only tool, money.

Where do you go to school?

I don't go to school yet, man.

I'm new here.

How old are you?

Eighteen.

What's your chest reading?

Twenty-three hundred.

Yo, you know what, man?

It was just one move, bro.

Double or nothing.

Double or nothing.

I can beat him.

I can beat him.

Let's go.

Let's go.

Let's go.

I can beat him.

I can beat him.

Alright, twenty-three hundred.

Alright.

How much do you have?

Twenty-seven, seventy-five.

It's not so bad.

Total.

I knew it was a set up.

That kid's probably a pro.

He wasn't a pro.

They just got lucky, I promise.

Bro, why risk it?

We wouldn't have won.

That was bad luck to you.

No, we would not.

Yes, we were.

So, what's this?

A drug deal?

I don't know.

What are you doing, Mr. Cedric?

Not at all.

No, we were just pulling our money for the next tournament.

Pooling your money for the next tournament, huh?

Yes, sir.

So, how is Cedric pooling?

Because he damn sure ain't pooling for this household.

Four teenagers counting money on my damn living room table.

Don't touch your money, alright?

You better get out of my way before I give you

an ass whooping your mama would approve of.

Give us our fucking money!

Oh, so you're mad enough to talk to me like this in my own house, huh?

That's it?

Mr. Ramsey, please.

Alright, look, little girl.

Just because you're giving up your ass to my son in my house,

don't give you the authority to talk to me in my house.

Yo, watch your mouth, man.

Or else what?

Just watch your mouth.

What you gonna do?

You better get this chick out of my house.

I was agreeing with you.

Just go the fuck home.

Yo, Matt, everybody get the fuck out.

Okay.

Shit.

Well, I sure would love to see what you gonna do now.

Now that you think you got it all under control.

Oh, and you could get out of my house.

Get out!

Fuck this house.

Whoa!

Hey, Shania.

I was just...

Camping?

Yeah, just for the night.

I just want to say I'm sorry.

I got caught up with the bullshit.

Pops and...

You ain't deserve that.

I'm sorry.

You know, when we were little, whenever there was a problem, your mama

used to say, oh, you know, he ran away up on the roof again with his flashlights.

And you would be like, yeah, well, soon as I'm allowed off my block,

I'ma keep going.

You're an asshole, Sally.

And if you ever raise your voice to me like that again, I will beat that ass.

Not a question.

A statement.

Is that clear?

Clear.

Okay.

It's like when you're a kid, you want to do something great.

And then you're just hoping for a job just so you can be like everybody else.

My mom used to always tell me to be done with this place.

Put it behind me.

Make something of myself.

That's what I'ma do.

Well...

I mean, you made it to the top.

Right?

I'm sorry.

That was a fucking stupid joke.

I just... You were talking about living on the roof, so...

Nah, nah, I get it.

That was stupid.

I'm sorry.

Nah, I get it.

It's just funny.

Ah, kinda.

Kinda.

Well, I'm gonna stay with you tonight, so...

What?

Yeah.

I was... I was... I was gonna get a... A hotel.

Oh.

With all of that money, huh?

Well, I'd like to stay with you.

You know, like when we were kids, so...

Look, I'll even let you leave your flashlights on.

Okay.

You know, it's so great to see you later tonight.

Are you gonna join me or what?

Yo...

Pan yagua!

Yo...

Pan yagua.

They got you out here working the condo?

You know that, man?

Doing my thing, darling.

Shit, man.

You look like your thing out here working the condo.

Come on.

Come on, son.

Look out for me, man.

Come on, dog.

Take care.

I know it's 22, but goddamn, man, I've been watching you since you was

fucking chasing fucking ice cream trucks and all kind of shit, man.

Come on, man, it's one time, man.

Yo, it was good.

Yo, we was just talking, Andre.

Ain't nobody talking to you.

You being a nice guy giving old junkies deals?

Motherfucker, we dealing drugs here.

We here to make money.

You hear?

We ain't doing no favors for nobody, you feel me?

Shit we do here kills people.

Fuck them.

Pick them.

Come on, man.

Goddamn, man.

Come on, that shit ain't necessary.

Come on, man.

Don't fuck up my spot.

Fuck.

Doing shit.

I own the prize.

Stay focused, feel me?

Come on.

I got you.

Good.

So, come on down to High Alea Park for the Bahama State January 6.

Get your car clean.

Jack's a ches team.

Jack's a ches team.

Get your car clean.

Jack's a ches team.

You guys are so entrepreneurial.

Hey, that's fantastic.

You guys.

Hey, uh, where's Edo?

Yo, he's dealing with some personal shit.

What kind of personal shit?

Nothing.

Nothing?

Come on, come on.

You guys would tell me if you needed help, right?

You'd tell me.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay, so... Oh, no.

How does it feel to be these kids... What's Roddy doing over there?

...entering what's normally a tournament for more academic-type schools?

Mm.

You mean more chuggy.

Holy hell.

Shania!

You got change for a tip?

Oh, my goodness.

Oh, my God.

All right.

So, we are here to do, um, what exactly?

We're here to raise $1,300 to offset our cheap public schools.

That's a little broke.

Oh, so you're funding this yourselves?

Like I said, we were hoping our principal, Kessel, at, um, at Miami Jackson...

So much for a low profile.

We were hoping she was gonna hook us up and

get some school funding, but I don't know.

She probably needs, like, a fresh new pair of rims or something.

Okay.

Hey, Roddy.

So, for all of you out there, come on down to the room.

Roddy, hey, hey.

Come here, come here.

...on West 17th Avenue.

What did you just say?

I told him you're a great human being.

Oh, you're such a liar.

You little bastard.

Everybody, we're at 325 for kids.

Yo.

325?

Seriously?

I can't believe you guys are able to do that.

Yes.

Least we can do is hit a Red Lobster or something.

That's the universal word for success right there.

Straight up.

Straight up.

We'll tell you what.

Tell you what.

You guys win state, and I promise you, I will take you

to an all-you-can-eat Red Lobster dinner on the way.

Oh, man.

That's what I'm talking about.

Come on, man.

It's up to you to keep him on point.

Good operation.

Let's go.

All right, man.

All right.

All right.

All right.

All right.

Positional, huh?

Thank you.

Hey, yo, Domino Park.

You don't register?

Yeah.

I am.

Okay, good.

Let me show you around.

What?

That better do something, because that's embarrassing.

You embarrassing.

Yo, Mr. Martinez.

Look.

This is the guy.

Looks like homeboy got his ass beat.

Como te llamo?

Marcel.

Yeah.

This is the Cuban I recruited over at Domino's.

Hey, bro.

Look here.

Look who it is.

You know, I see him.

What's he doing here?

You go to school here now?

Yeah.

Now he does.

Okay.

Now that everybody knows who he is, can somebody please tell me why he's in my class?

Mr. Martinez.

This is the guy who whooped Rodelay's butt at Domino's Park.

Looks to me like he got his own butt whipped.

No offense, bro, but it was a maceration.

Yo, it's not a thing, because my game was off.

He got macerated.

I don't know what that is.

I don't know what that is.

Exactly.

Nobody does.

But, Mr. T, look.

He's here to join the team.

For real?

Yeah.

Come on.

Come, come, come.

Come here, come here.

But what the hell are you going to do here in my class, boy?

Oh, look at that.

It's elegant.

Look at that.

It's Mr. Martinez.

Nice to meet you.

I have been playing since I was little.

And I have learned all the moves and learned from the checkmasters in Cuba.

I have written down all my moves and...

...strategias.

Because in Cuba, you know, we don't have many books and no computers.

But...

I would like to join the team if you can share what you know conmigo.

And I can share maybe the little bit that I know contigo.

You know, with them.

Well...

D5 takes E4.

Dama por D8, jaque.

Wait, what?

Oh.

On G6.

Uh-huh.

Dama por G6, jaque.

Bishop, B6.

Caballo, F6, jaque.

Caballo, B4.

A3.

King.

King takes D8.

Caballo, E5.

Oh, he checked.

Pawn takes Queen at G6.

Alfil por F6, jaque mate.

Hey.

Uh...

G-pawn takes Knight.

Alfil por F6, jaque.

Jaque.

Pawn and D5.

That's amazing, man.

That's amazing.

Yeah.

That's the team.

We're serious now.

I know.

I know.

I know.

I know.

I'm gonna call you Marcel Duchamp, because he was a great painter,

and your stroke is genius, little papa.

Incredible.

Amazing.

Come on.

Everybody, welcome Marcel to the team, please.

Come in peace.

What up?

What's up?

What's up?

You got the chain?

Oh.

You know?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You're good.

Who is this guy?

That's our new star.

This is Marcel.

He's like Bobby Fischer with a busted lip.

That's what I'm saying.

Well, we'll get you this shit, man.

I should tell it Chris time to time.

Come on, man.

More like Willy Chirino, you know?

Hey.

Yo, who is this fucking guy?

Look, look, look.

We can go five deep now.

We gonna need all hands on deck.

Come on.

Come on, man.

I'm good, homie.

I'm good.

All right, man.

Check it out.

We got the money to do the tournament.

Yeah.

You can come with us.

Yeah, but like I said, I gotta start thinking about my future and shit.

Who the fuck is these little niggas, Dre?

What the fuck y'all doing?

What's up?

They're just stopping by.

They on the way out right now.

Leave it right now.

Y'all leaving right now?

Let's go.

Let's go, boys.

Hold on, hold on.

These are your boys?

No, no, no.

Hey, don't step to my boy like that.

What you doing?

Let's go.

Let's go, bro.

Come on, man.

Ito.

Go, man!

Go!

It's not what friends do, man.

That looks mad wrong on you, Ito.

Keep that in there.

I'm not fucking with you, Ito.

I like the way you do things.

But this ain't no fucking birthday party.

Pick that shit up and go back outside.

Oh, well, me penny.

I need money, Agua.

So, now you dealing for them?

I got a lot of these, bro.

He'll do us for a living?

Hm?

For a living?

For a living.

For a living, we lock people up.

Particularly people that do what you do.

Man, I...

I ain't see anything.

And I'm not doing anything illegal in those pictures.

So I don't know what you guys are talking about.

No... So, I can't.

I don't know.

I guess he's declining, huh?

Yeah, looks like he declined.

Oh, well, we'll see around.

See you soon, puppy.

Miss Kessel, look, I know you wanted to talk

to me, but I really gotta get on the road.

I'll walk with you, Mario.

One more?

Look, it's not necessary.

Well...

Everybody ready?

Oh yeah, pretty much.

Just packing up the car and whatnot.

So I'll be there?

Honey Aqua?

I don't even know what I'm gonna do with that kid, Miss Kessel.

Listen, those detectives came by to see him yesterday.

They said if he's not in their station house on

Saturday, they'd issue a warrant for his arrest.

Yeah, but the tournament is Saturday.

If he misses it, we're gonna be out.

We're gonna have to freaking forfeit.

That's why I told them if they came within a football field of screwing up our

tournament, I'd ruin their fucking lives

faster than they could save a policeman's ball.

Pardon my French.

On the bright side, it appears your car wash fundraiser

got some great coverage on the local news here.

About that, look, I was there.

I told the kids, I said, be careful what you say to the press because...

I didn't see it, but an official at a major airline did.

They've offered to sponsor your flights to nationals if you win state.

Wait, wait, you're serious?

Corporate America actually gives a goddamn about our kids?

Apparently so.

And I can't help but be impressed myself.

Okay, thank you.

You're a decent teacher, Mario, is what you are.

Now go kick some preppy ass.

Coño.

Coño to you, too.

Shouldn't you guys be in class?

Oh, come on, guys, come on.

I told you to pack up the wagon.

Come on, seriously?

Forget it, we're gonna be late.

Thanks a lot.

Go ahead, go ahead, get in, get in.

I got it, I got it.

Yo, but a field trip on a school day, though?

That's what I'm talking about.

Yup.

We gonna do this.

I thought you said we were gonna win this.

We're gonna do both.

Yeah, damned if we ain't.

Yo!

Yo, so you back?

Yeah, I'm just here to make sure y'all newbie can handle themselves.

You been practicing?

Yeah, you know, just because I want to feel

like I earned my stay at this weekend's safari.

You know, I got my part.

It's all good.

It's all good, we got it covered.

Look, right here.

Hey, Ido, Ido.

Hey, guys, you mind?

Yeah, yeah.

I got it, I got it, myself.

Hey, uh, I just don't want you throwing away

all your potential on a stupid gamble, okay?

I know, I know, I know you think I'm corny, I know.

But behind this square guy is somebody who hit rock bottom several times, man.

And I just want you to know, it's a tough climb, but... but it can't be done.

So, uh, when you talk to these cops, I hope you do

the right thing, otherwise you're gonna be fucked.

Mr. T, I'm fucked if I do, and I'm fucked if I don't.

Oh, no, no, you're fucked if you don't.

Understand?

Your zooks swing.

Stuck between two bad moves.

And there's always a move, right, Mr. T?

Until there's not.

All right, everybody, load up, come on.

We got an extra body here, so I need somebody to be the sacrificial lamb.

Who's that gonna be?

Oh, I guess that, hey, Roddy, I guess that means you, come on.

No, no, can Marcel do it?

He didn't, he didn't know me.

Well, well, he's already in the car, come on, you're here.

For real?

Plus, you're smaller, you're more compact, you're portable.

Oh.

Yeah, you're skinnier, you'll be comfortable, man, you can sleep there all right.

You good?

No.

Enjoy the ride, carajito.

Win or lose, Red Lobster's on you.

What?

I can't hear you.

I can't hear you.

All right, guys, you ready?

Yeah.

Guys, guys, guys, I know some of you are allergic

to a draw, but a draw earns us a half point, okay?

A loss is gonna get us nothing, nada, culo, dick, okay?

Seriously, this is a marathon.

Every half point and point matters.

Choice is yours.

Choice is in consequences, man.

And when life gives you a shit sandwich, don't say, why me?

Say, try me.

Jackson!

Woo!

Shit.

That's a good move.

It's like...

Excuse me?

Behind the line.

I'm sorry.

It's okay.

Oh, you again.

Yo, Florida State champions, are you kidding me?

Yeah, incredible, man.

It's amazing.

And all because of those two draws, you know.

Look, I know how hard that was for you, man.

Thank you for that.

Hey, guys, look, I know hugs are kind of lame in the hood, I know.

But in the real world, they're kind of nice.

Can you humor me, please?

Mr. T, we get it.

Can you just, please?

For me?

Huddle, guys.

It's not gonna hurt.

Come on.

Close your eyes, Roddy.

We want to thank our higher power for not only making us the first team from day to

rank, but the first team from Miami to ever be state champions.

And, um...

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot.

We want to thank our higher power for getting us sponsors who are donating six

round-trip tickets to sunny Los Angeles, California, for the Nationals!

Another round of lobsters, we going to Cali!

Yo, yo, yo.

Crazy, huh?

Listen, man, I want to be straight with you just

because of the love I got for you and everybody else.

I think this moment right here is the happiest I've ever been in my life.

No, for real, man, for real.

I'm like Red Lobster state champs.

I'm going out on top, baby.

Going out?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, it's about seeing the whole thing, right?

If chess gave us one thing, it was that.

How's that working out for you, working for this Andre guy?

Come on, dog.

Everybody know what to do.

Man, I'm just trying to do my King's Gambit in real life.

Get in, get out.

Real quick, just for the temporary, all right?

Temporary?

Yeah.

Either you're my brother...

but this is a mistake.

You know it.

Maybe so, but it's my to make.

Go out there, man, do your thing, all right?

Go get it.

I'll look out for Sinead for you, all right?

All right.

Yes, I'm very proud to be here with a bunch of kids that nobody would have

expected to be going to the National Chess Tournament.

And they're gonna be representing the Sunshine State of Florida.

Oh, my God, look at Martinez.

Did he just put his finger in his gear?

Ha-ha-ha!

Ha-ha-ha!

Ha-ha-ha!

Ha-ha-ha!

Ha-ha-ha!

So much better when people ain't scoping your shit.

Well, you think they went?

Who?

Who?

Who?

Motherfucker.

Something's off here.

You feel that shit?

Shit, I don't know.

Nah.

Some shit don't feel right in this motherfucker.

Why the fuck you laughing so much, Donnie?

Donnie, shut the fuck up, Donnie.

This motherfucker got to walk when I don't hear no music playing?

Shit.

The fuck is that about, Edo?

Yeah.

Click, guys.

Ladies and gentlemen, it has about five hours, yo, Marcelle's gotta be back there.

Y'all got your seatbelt on, bro?

Yes.

This must be really a raft.

A life preserver.

I'm sure you'll be fine.

Oh, no, in the ocean, on this?

Is this first flight?

Besides all those.

Then how about I give you all free headphones for the movie to celebrate?

Yeah.

Welcome aboard, gentlemen.

Thank you.

You think that waitress was hitting on me, bro?

Bro, not even in your dreams, man, but just relax.

For real, bro?

Yo, you know she's not a waitress, right?

I don't know, man.

I just know I'm in love.

What is that, for you?

That could be my friend's girl I'm looking after while he's out.

Oh, what?

One of your checker buddies?

Have a seat, kid.

Who's that, Cedric?

Huh?

Cedric got that fire Puerto Rican bitch.

What?

You mad?

It ain't like your boys are only with an exuberant amount of Phillies.

I mean, it's the motherfucking checkers team.

You know what I'm saying?

It's chess, niggas!

What the fuck are you doing talking to QDPs?

Outside my spot, motherfucker!

It's chess, motherfucker!

It's chess!

Oh, I wanna see you, man.

Now let me welcome everybody to Super Kelly's swagalistic, sexy, hella, ghost list.

Hold on, guys, guys, guys.

Let's be serious.

Look.

Yeah.

There's some good teams here.

Oh, yes, there are.

He's right.

Julian Masterman, Dalton from New York.

That's some private school.

The best.

Look, and all the players are averaging in the high 2000s.

Never mind Akopian, Mr. T.

Who is that?

Arun Akopian?

Dude's unbeatable in the last three years in a row.

Unbeatable.

But don't worry.

Don't worry, because you're not playing him in the individuals, all right?

That's all he plays.

Got it?

Come on, guys.

We're gonna beat any punk-ass fish we need to.

Yeah, look at you getting all gangster on it, huh?

That's right, homies.

That's right, man.

He's right.

We can do this.

We can do this.

Okay?

All right, boys.

What's the plan?

It's chess.

That's right.

So hold your head up high and take in a deep breath, because

you already got the knowledge and the moves and the strategy.

Now it's just about that thing.

That intangible, that part of you that you bring to the game.

Like Roddy.

Roddy.

That class clown that's always coming up.

That intelligent, thoughtful guy that the teachers and parents always complain about.

Gil, that guy that never really fit in, but fuck it.

He's here, man.

And Duchamp.

Those impeccable manners and that handshake.

Odd as it may seem.

I know your daddy instilled it in you, the need to rise above.

And then there's Cedric.

Against all odds, Buster Douglas, February 11th,

1990, round motherfucking ten, round three.

Okay, guys?

So we just bring you to this game, and I promise you, I promise you these

kids are in for something they've never seen.

Okay?

So now we just gotta use that thing.

Okay, go, go, go, go, go.

Guys, go.

Players, please take your seats.

Shake your opponent's hand, and White, make your first move.

Checkmate.

Joe,

what are you doing?

Sit.

It's okay.

We need to have a point.

Shhh.

Nose.

Nose.

Yeah, yeah.

Let it go.

Let it go.

You had to, man.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Come on, guys.

I got money.

Hey, guys.

Guys.

Shhh.

Shhh.

Come here.

Psst.

Hey.

Just so you understand, Julian Masterman's got 19 team points, we got 18 and a half.

Marcel.

If you win this, you're going to be united.

United States national champion.

You got that?

If you don't win, we're not going to make it to team championship, but hey,

we got next time.

Don't worry about it.

It's the T2.

We got this.

Marcel's a definite win.

Who's he playing?

A Harudi and a Kopien.

Wait, what?

Yeah.

I thought you said he was in the individuals.

I know, but we are now because Marcel here got the highest score.

Right.

The top two highest individuals play each other.

Yeah, but nobody's beating a Kopien.

Sorry.

Yeah, well, he's never come face to face with Marcel Duchamp.

You got this.

Maybe.

Maybe.

Yeah, that wasn't a question.

Duchamp, you think you can win this?

Yeah.

I can beat him.

This is your time to shine, man.

The final individual match will feature new

cover Marcel Martinez from Miami Jackson High.

All right, go, go, get out of here.

And returning champion...

Here you hold this.

Why am I holding this?

...From Arkhang, Ukrainian Armenian High.

Seriously, man?

Players, please take your seats.

Come on, aggressive, this is T2.

We got this, we got this.

Good, good.

He's using the woods.

Good luck is just like I taught him.

Coping's all buck, I knew it.

He's got that night pet.

May I use the restroom?

Yes, you may.

You should as well.

What's this about?

I have no idea.

Are they going on a date or something?

Shut up.

Top position?

Maybe for you.

I like your confidence, but you know where this game is going.

Yeah, to my wing column.

We come from the same Soviet school.

Cuba comes from the Soviet school.

Yeah, but we don't have the same style.

Don't be stupid.

In a tie, there's a point to share.

We will be champions.

You'll be linked to me, most certainly be offered a scholarship.

Are you asking me to draw?

There's no shame in a draw.

My team needs a full point.

Half a point does nothing for us.

Then you've made a decision.

My clock, it wasn't stopped properly before the break.

Do you think we could wind it back?

I'm sorry.

First, it's your clock, and second, it was your

mistake for not stopping the time correctly.

It wasn't set the way I intended.

They were set the same for both of you from the very start of the match.

And lastly, the match is well underway and can't be changed now.

Sorry.

That's the stupidest thing I ever heard.

He's done.

He's done, yo.

Yo, why isn't he moving?

He's up on time and he's letting his advantage go.

The fuck is he doing, man?

Intangibles.

He's bringing Marcel to the game.

Yo, they're bringing in the firepower.

Let's go, Marcel.

Watch that rook.

Check.

Check.

The blitz is the perfect endgame.

Marcel Martinez defends reigning champion Richard Chaston.

A team-by-team team champion.

They won and they won.

Thank you so much.

Yes!

Yes, we did.

My father was the one who gave me my first chessboard.

But I remember, it was my mom who used to say, the universe is like one huge tree

Full of think we can never explain.

One day you walk him down, and thinking the shit you're in will never pass,

I remember she would say, we are born into things that we don't have to become.

But I believe this is something we here are born to become.

From the streets, we were summoned.

From the streets, we were summoned.

I know for a fact that in my daily life, I

see the impact of chess, one way or another.

And sometimes I do it on automatic, but then I realize

why I did it, and I know that it has to do with that.

There's no doubt.

It's a special type of bond.

Most of my chess friends have been my friends for life.

I think that I showed people in my neighborhood, in the projects,

that there's another way to get out than selling drugs or football.

To us, that was the only way to get out.

That was it.

To me, I showed them a different way of getting out.

I enjoyed seeing the drive that they all had.

So I had to make sure that they all had the tools, the things they needed,

because I knew what it would take to get them from

the level they were at to the level they needed to go.