By Eddie Jimenez - The Fresno BeeBy Eddie Jimenez The Fresno Bee Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 | 11:59 PM Modified Mon, Jan 30, 2012 08:51 AMThirteen-year-old Ricky Dow approaches a game of chess the same way he views life -- he has many options in front of him.The West Fresno Middle School eighth-grader knows that a lot rides on his decisions."You make one mistake, and it can cost you," Ricky said.And the words of his chess coach, Anthony Sidney, replay in Ricky's mind while he ponders his strategy: "Think before you move."That advice is particularly meaningful to kids in Ricky's southwest Fresno neighborhood, where many families are low-income or jobless and many youngsters are drawn into the gang life. Asanti Wormley, a member of the West Fresno Chess Team, concentrates mightily during a match Saturday. Team members disc over they have the talents and intelligence to compete, and to succeed — as long as they also have the motivation.Sidney isn't just teaching Ricky and the rest of the West Fresno Chess Team about the game -- he challenges their minds and exposes them to the world beyond their neighborhood."It gives these kids opportunities outside their bubble, outside their comfort zone," he said.And if they learn nothing else, the dozen or so team members discover they have the talents and intelligence to compete, and to succeed -- as long as they also have the motivation.Home field advantageOn Saturday, Ricky and his teammates put their chess skills to the test. The West Fresno team, part of the Westside Chess League that includes the highly successful Mendota High School and Coalinga chess clubs, hosted the league tournament for the second straight year. The event brought about 100 players -- first-graders to high school students -- to the West Fresno Elementary School cafeteria.The day was marked by intense competition. But between rounds, players from all schools joined in games of kickball and football in a grassy area just outside the cafeteria."On the board, it's dog eat dog," said Vaness French, Mendota's coach and the tournament director, "but out on the playground, they're friends again."The West Fresno players' hard work to prepare for the tournament paid off when they won the junior high and fourth-sixth grade divisions -- the first time the team has won the top spots at a tournament."I told them I don't want anyone coming to our house and taking first place," Sidney said. "They took care of business."West Fresno Principal Alan Macedo said his school's chess team is one of many after-school activities that keep students interested and connected to their classroom studies.The chess team "is helping to change the culture at West Fresno," Macedo said.For nearly a decade, West Fresno was better known for low student test scores, fiscal disarray and criminal allegations against board members. A state takeover in 2003 prompted the state to merge West Fresno's middle and elementary schools with Washington Unified School District last July.Sidney, 28, who works as a security officer on the West Fresno Elementary campus, said he was asked three years ago by West Fresno's former principal to start a chess club.Because he hadn't played chess since high school, Sidney brushed up his skills with the help of other coaches, including French.The after-school chess club gives students a chance to feel good about themselves, Sidney said."Last year I had a kid win a trophy, and it was the first one he had ever won," he said. "That would not have happened without chess."The team competes in about five tournaments a year from December to May.French is glad to see the growth of chess clubs around the Valley. He said West Fresno's team is improving, thanks to Sidney's dedication."This is not rocket science. It just requires someone who genuinely cares about the kids, and he does," said French, whose Mendota team was co-national champion with the Coalinga Chess Club in the 16- to 18-year-old section at a tournament in a competition last fall.
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/01/28/2701612/west-fresno-team-learns-life-lessons.html#storylink=cpy 

Farmersville welcomes young chess players to competition For 9-year-old Brandy Rojas, Saturday's Farmersville Chess Invitational was a chance to show off all she's learned in the last two years of playing the game of strategy.While she didn't take home a trophy, the Freedom Elementary School fourth-grader says chess has become a part of the way she thinks on a daily basis."As soon as I started playing chess, my grades got better. I struggled in math, and now I get A's and B's," she said. "I like being part of a team and thinking like a chess player. It's all about strategy."

Brandy was one of more than 200 students from nine schools throughout the Valley who showed up Saturday to compete in the annual Farmersville Invitational.By the end of the fifth and final round, most Farmersville students had done well enough to compete against one another in the finals.Jodie Faiman, coach of the Farmersville Honorable Knights chess team, says it can be painful to watch her students competing against each other."It is so very hard to be a coach when you train them to play to win no matter who their opponent may be and to console the one who takes the loss but played their best game," Faiman said. "We teach them to shake hands before and after a match and always say, 'good game' at the end."

Of the nine schools represented Saturday, including schools from Fresno, Visalia and Tulare, Farmersville held first place right up until the end. The school ended the day in second place behind Mendota.Organizers combined this year's competition with the Tulare County Chess Championship, which Farmersville did win. It defeated Central Valley Christian and St. Paul's School, both from Visalia.Farmersville's Miguel Diaz, 9, took first place in the Tulare County Chess individual competition and fifth place in the invitational.

Faiman, who coaches the Farmersville kindergarten through third-graders, said she's hoping to take her team to the state championship in March.Along with Raquel Quintanar, who coaches the fourth- through sixth-graders, the teams must come up with $5,000. That's not an easy task for a small community, the coaches said.Faiman says she is confident, though, that if she can collect enough money, both Farmersville teams will come back from Santa Clara with trophies."We have a great bunch of kids who can play chess. If we are lucky enough to go, I can ensure people Farmersville will be one of the top teams," Faiman said. "Our community is amazing and I hope we can give these kids that opportunity."In past years, the state championship has brought together hundreds of young chess players from across the state in competition.Visalia Times-Delta 9:00 PM, Jan. 22, 2012, E. Wooten  

Hans Timothy Borm (1946-2012) Hans Timothy Borm, 65, passed away quietly in his sleep on January 14, 2012. Hans was born on June 23, 1946 in Dayton, Ohio. He grew up in nearby Inglewood, Ohio, graduating from Northmont High School in 1964. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in August of 1965. He served in Vietnam, stationed at Da Nang Air Base. He left the Marine Corps in July of 1969. Hans married his long time sweetheart Judee Kennedy on February 14, 1970. After graduating from California State University Dominguez Hills, he became a teacher. He taught several years in Compton, California before moving his wife and two children to Porterville to accept a job teaching Mathematics at Bartlett Jr. High. Hans loved being a teacher. He also coached girl's volleyball and soccer. He was a coach for the Math Superbowl team. He taught chess at Bartlett, taking his teams to tournaments all across the state and across the country. His chess teams won several state titles and were ranked nationally. Hans later taught at Monache High School before retiring in 2007.

Hans had many hobbies and interests. He loved birds, raised and sold exotic parrots. He loved golf, Lindsay and Exeter were two of his favorite courses. He loved chess, played with friends and former students at home and at school. Most of all he loved people. He cherished family and friends. He enjoyed working with children, as a teacher, a coach, and a Boy Scout leader. He loved to play poker with his friends every Wednesday. He was friendly to everyone he met and always had a kind word and a smile to share. He had an enigmatic personality, full of odd quirks and traits that made him the man we all know and love.

He favored the comfort of a Hawaiian shirt and shorts, and was seldom seen without at least five pens and pencils in his pocket. He never left on a family trip without a frisbee in the car. He would chat up to total strangers, talk for 20 minutes to a wrong number, and strike up friendly conversations with telemarketers. He was a friend to all and had a humongous heart.

In the last three years, he welcomed three grandchildren into the world who quickly became the highlight of his life. He was never happier than when he was holding one of his grandkids, taking them to the store, reading them a story, or rocking them to sleep.

While he was taken from us too soon, we will cherish all the wonderful memories of him. Hans is survived by his wife Judee, his daughter Allison (Ed Talbot), his son Tyson (Ruthe Borm), and his grandchildren Cailyn, Logan, and Colby.

There will be a memorial service held on Saturday, January 21st at the Monache High School cafeteria at 1:00 p.m. All are welcome to attend. We encourage any who wish to attend to wear a Hawaiian shirt and to bring a snack or dessert if they so choose. Published in The Porterville Recorder from January 18, 2012 to January 17, 2013 

LA Times|November 2, 2011 | 5:08pmThis time the Knuckleheads -- the surprising chess champions from drought-weary Mendota where almost half of the Central Valley town is unemployed -- knew they had a chance.Going into the state championship last year, it had never occurred to the Mendota High School players or their coach, Vaness French, that they could win against teams from more affluent towns.Last weekend going into the National Scholastic Championship in Santa Clara, "we knew we had a shot but that it wasn't going to be easy. This is nationals. Anyone weak is going to be served up as sushi," French said.At first, it was ugly."Our kids got whipped in the first rounds," said "Tio" Ernie Lozano, the team's longstanding mentor. "They were so down and dejected, but they weren't giving up."To make matters worse, the team was hungry. Early in the day, they ran out of the burritos they brought. There were no fast-food joints nearby and a hamburger in the hotel cost $15.Lozano and his wife, Gloria, called her sister in Kingsburg, and told her to start making tacos.The next day, the team left at 5:30 a.m from Mendota to go to the second day of competition. The Lozanos brought big roll-on suitcases that puzzled the kids. After the first round-of play, the Lozanos started serving the tacos out of the suitcases.Chrispen Reyes, the high school team captain, played his best to date, coming in fifth in individual rankings and carrying the team to a first place."It was a photo finish, a split-hair win," French said. "Did you know chess could be so exciting?"The high school team had hoped to send their five best players to one of the larger more established championships, either in Wisconsin or Florida in the spring."But it was going to take so much money with airfare," French said. "We made a compromise, and aimed for this newer, smaller one in California, so that we could take the whole high school team. We like to stick together."And bring tacos.-- Diana Marcum in FresnoPhoto: The Mendota High School chess team celebrates its chess championship.Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

By Eddie Jimenez / The Fresno BeeBy Eddie Jimenez / The Fresno Bee The Fresno Bee Tuesday, Nov. 01, 2011 | 09:16 PM Modified Wed, Nov 02, 2011 10:34 AM

The Mendota High School chess team made all the right moves – again.The team, known as the "Knuckleheads," placed first at a national championship last weekend in Santa Clara.The victory for the students from the tiny west side school follows their state championship in April.

And, they weren't the only Valley students to bring home trophies from the National Scholastic Chess Championship on Saturday and Sunday.A group of Coalinga students also did well in several individual and team categories at the competition.

The achievements are quite a tribute to the students, their coaches and schools – and a source of pride for the region's chess community, said Bob Rasmussen, president of the Fresno Chess Club."The best of the best in chess in the nation are from two schools in farming communities in west Fresno County," he said. "Now, that's pretty powerful."Rasmussen says chess is popular in the area – he says the Fresno Chess Club, with about 320 members, is the second largest in the U.S. – and the Mendota and Coalinga students have been so successful because the game was introduced in after-school programs about 20 years ago.Students who participated in chess over the years are now adults and are passing on their passion to younger generations, Rasmussen said."To play chess, you have to be a thinker and love to think," he said.Fresno also has hosted a world chess tournament each of the past three years, adding to the game's appeal in the area, Rasmussen said.

The Mendota students, who took first place in the Premier Division at the CalChess State Championships in April, won the 16- to 18-year-old section at last weekend's national tournament, which attracted 300 competitors.Mendota Mayor Robert Silva said he was proud of the students' perseverance and accomplishment."This clearly demonstrates the benefits of hard work and thinking big when it comes to success and achievement," he said.Mendota chess coach Vaness French could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Coalinga coach Ed Wong said chess teaches students critical-thinking skills that are valuable in the classroom, in athletics and in life."They're learning cause and effect, and they learn to make sound decisions under stress," he said.Coalinga team members are in elementary and middle school. Wong, who owns a software company, is a volunteer coach.Coalinga Chess Club finished second in the 14- to 15-year-old team section and four club members, including Wong's four sons, did well at the national tournament – despite competing against older students.Brett Wong, 11, placed fourth and Bryce Wong, 9, placed 12th competing in the 16- to 18-year-old section. In the 14- and 15-year-old section, Russell Bik, 11, placed fifth; Blake Wong, 12, placed 10th; and Bryan Wong, 7, tied for 20th.

Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/11/01/2599256/mendota-high-chess-team-is-tops.html#ixzz1ccmFPkTz

Visalia Chess Club gives people of all ages a chance to play game of skill

BY HILLARY S. MEEKS • February 16, 2010

“It’s the sumo wrestling of the mind,” Allan Fifield said as he watched members of the Visalia Chess Club play chess at Panera Bread.

Fifield, a Bakersfield resident, doesn’t always get to join in the club’s fun, but he does devote a lot of his time to teaching chess to the younger generations in the Central Valley.

“Allan is the one who really brought chess to this area. I don’t think anyone worked as hard as Allen to ingrain the game in Tulare County,” said Dr. Joseph Bakhoum, a Visalia pediatrician and allergist.

Fifield accomplished this through Sequoia Chess for Kids, an organization that teaches kindergarten through 12th-grade students how to play the game. He organizes 10 tournaments for the children annually in the Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties area every year. The next tournament will be March 6 at Tulare Western High School.

Chess can be the one thing children is really good at, and that can give him or her confidence, Fifield said. That’s why he provides an opportunity for them to learn what he calls a timeless game.

“I can go in the classroom and in 20 minutes have the kids playing, and having a good time,” Fifield said.

Chess not only teaches a child how to think in a different way, but learning the game’s etiquette can teach them how to be good sports, and polite, he said. The students learn to shake hands before and after games and to be gracious, whether winning or losing.

His lessons have gone a long way.

“Allan started teaching me chess when I was this tall,” said Patrick Enrico, as he held his hand about 4 feet above the ground.

Now 23 years old, Enrico travels from his hometown of Fresno to Visalia three times a week to play with the Visalia Chess Club.

“It’s dangerously addictive,” he said.

Bakhoum agreed with the young man’s observation, and said he’s been addicted to the game for the past 50 years, ever since his father taught him to play.

“There’s an enormous diversity in it. In all these years, I don’t think I’ve ever played two similar games. There’s always a new challenge,” Bakhoum said.

Source: http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com

Knights Advance

By Mo Montgomery

Updated: Wednesday, March 16, 2011 10:30 AM PDT

Chess, the game of kings, pawns and elementary school students? For students at Snowden Elementary School in Farmersville, chess has become part of the daily routine. And they have the trophies to prove it.Honorable Knights Chess Coach Jodie Faiman has been overseeing the program for some time. The chess program began over 10 years ago in Farmersville with third to fifth grade students. And each year students grew in strength and ability. While changes in the makeup of the schools have occurred, the team has continued to excel.

“A few years ago, our fourth and fifth graders moved over to a Freedom Elementary School and we became a second and third grade campus,” said Faiman. “This made it harder for our program because we didn’t have any senior players to help train the young ones. A leading chess teacher, Mrs. Tormohlen, moved into a second grade teaching position. She now trains her class and I train the third graders.”

Now more seasoned students help those new to the game grow in knowledge and experience. The team teaching dynamic has translated into many students remaining active and excelling on the team. This year the team consists of more than 19 players. The first competition was in January at the tournament the school hosts. In the past three local tournaments they have captured the first place team trophy at each event. “We have also had at least one undefeated 5-0 player at each tournament,” said Faiman. “One of our girls captured the Tulare County Chess Championship title for our team in the K-3 division at our first tournament of the year. Roselia Herrera was undefeated, 5-0, to earn that honor. This is her first year playing chess.”

Faiman said that many of the students have never played chess before, but now practice at recess and at home. A love of the game has led to success in the classroom and on the chess board.

Faiman, a teacher at Snowden incorporates chess into her curriculum, teaching students the basics and gradually moving into advanced techniques. She also makes sure that every student has their own chessboard, which they can take home and use to practice. Faiman said that she and fellow teachers have found that students who are involved in chess do better academically. And while chess is an individual sport, members are learning to win as a team.

“When our team competes we are out for gold,” said Faiman. “Typically, we will capture at least two of the top ten individual trophies and most of the time we capture the 1st place team trophy on our on our K-3 non-rated section. This section is for new players learning the sport.”

Next year, Faiman said they will have two teams heading for state as fourth and fifth grade students from Freedom Elementary will join the team.

At their most recent tournament in Hanford, the Kings County Chess Championship, the team did exceedingly well. Out of a field of 48 players in their division Snowden captured eight of the top 10 individual trophies, and the 1st place team trophy with a score of 22/25 points.

“I have had many talented players but never to this extent,” said Faiman.

The team has been invited to attend the state championships in Santa Clara, California on April 2.

“Our district has been very generous in providing the fees for the players to compete,” said Faiman. “It costs $67.00 per player just to participate. The only hurdle we have left is raising enough money for the transportation,” she said. “We have found a charter bus that will take us. The only obstacle we have left is raising the $1,700.00 we need to pay for it.”

The group is already trying to fundraise for the transportation costs. A car wash was held March 12 at the AA Gas and Grub Mini Market. Faiman credits the chess parents for stepping up to the challenge.

“They are the power behind this team,” said Faiman. “Each one of them believes in the power of this sport to transform their children’s lives both in character and academically.”

Those interested in helping out the team can contact Faiman at 747-0781.

Not pawns

Re "From pawns to kings," Column One, May 19

How can anyone read an article like this and doubt the value of teachers? When I finished reading, I had tears in my eyes.

Great education isn't about teaching a specific subject for a standardized test; it's about stoking the fires of individual creativity and imagination and waking kids up to their inherent passions and abilities.

It's also about developing character, which is exactly what chess coach Vaness French has done. He's given his kids a gift that will serve them for the rest of their lives.

Kate MacMahon

Orange

Chess takes root in Central Valley farm town, blossoms into a state title for Latino boys high school team

In the bigger chess world, Mendota High's championship is nothing striking. But for people living in a world of packing houses and field labor, the town's success in a game of intellect and imagination has resonated. By Diana Marcum, Los Angeles Times May 19, 2011Reporting from Mendota, Calif. -- The Knucklehead Code of Honor always included honesty and kindness. Humility is a recent addition.

"We never had to worry about gloating before because we never won before," said Vaness French, coach of the Knuckleheads, otherwise known as the Mendota High School chess team.The nickname refers not to human blockheadedness, but to the cylinders on vintage Harley-Davidson motorcycle engines known for their durability.

Drought-weary Mendota — a Central Valley town of stilled machinery and packinghouses surrounded by industrial agriculture — is the kind of place that requires durability just to survive. Out here, even sunlight seems hard.

Each week, at least a third of the town's families receive a bag of fruit and vegetables — and, if it's a good day, a chicken — provided by churches and food banks. In this city of 10,000, unemployment hovers around 45%.

So when a group of high school boys, each with his own world of worries and yearning and coached by a man in ill health, brought a state championship home, the reaction was joyous astonishment.

Councilman Joseph Riofrio owns a small market on the main street and knows how many chess team members count out pennies to buy a snack. At a City Hall ceremony honoring the team, he could barely keep his voice from breaking.

"In Mendota, we're known for the wrong things: not having water, being such a poor community. We're surrounded by abundance — we're the cantaloupe capital of the world. But still, it's dust, it's dirt, it's hard out here. And for the Mendota chess team to be the best in the state after playing affluent communities — kids with private chess tutors — it's unfathomable," he said.

The 12-member team has been toasted by the Fresno County Board of Supervisors and invited to throw out the first pitch at a minor league baseball game. On Monday, the students traveled to Sacramento, where they were honored on the Assembly floor for placing first in the Premier Division at the CalChess State Championships. For many of them, it was the farthest they had ever traveled from Mendota.

French, 45, is a black man who doesn't speak Spanish. When the 100% Latino team acts up, he yells in French. He thinks it's a good way to get their attention.

He is, by his own estimation, a middling-at-best chess player. The last time he was around tournament chess before coming to Mendota, he was in junior high.

He wasn't at a high point in his life when he arrived 10 years ago. He was so broke a friend had to pay for gas for him to drive 40 miles from Fresno to volunteer in a class taught by chess master Artak Akopian, then Fresno's highest-ranked player.

Within a year, Akopian left for Los Angeles, and the school district asked French to take his place. He took the position on condition that the chess club would become a team and compete against other schools.

He had an ally: 67-year-old Ernie Lozano, a retired shop steward at the now-closed Spreckels Sugar plant, who had taught eight nieces and nephews to play chess. Lozano was soon "Tio" (uncle) to everyone on the team.

French, who had spent most of his working life as a bookkeeper and manager at his uncle's Fresno golf course, had never been a teacher, coach or mentor.

"But this sad-joyful thing happened: I stopped being selfish. I was willing to sacrifice to give them the time and attention they needed," he said. "I never married or had kids. I think of them as my own kids, and they have responded."

It never occurred to him the team could place first at the state tournament. But looking back, he thinks he should have seen it coming. Something had been building, week by week, in the small trailer on the elementary school grounds where the chess club meets Fridays after school.

Without many chess books or easy access to computers, team members turned to each other — rehashing games, comparing strategies, playing endlessly. They even showed up Mondays during the elementary school chess class to help French teach the younger children.

Kevin Romero, 15, went from perennial loser to checkmating opponents in three moves. His was one of the four high scores that nabbed the state prize for Mendota.

A big, St. Bernard puppy of a boy, he has been suspended from the team for the rest of the school year for "behavior unbecoming a Knucklehead." French left it up to the entire 40-member team — first-graders through high school — to decide whether Kevin had broken their code of honor and to determine punishment.

"I don't teach chess, exactly," French said. "I teach character."

Kevin considers his sentence just.

"I was — how shall we say this — a tad, a mite, a teeny bit over-exuberant," he said. "I was sort of a 10-plus on the boasting scale."

Jessi Mendez, 17, had a different problem. He was feeling "very confused by life — lost, to put it bluntly" during this, his senior year. He'd been questioning his faith, his ambitions, whether he could really find a way to go to college. The chess team made him feel part of something.

"It's like we're the start. There's the little kids behind us. We have to show what kids from places like Mendota can do if they only get an opportunity."

Most of the members of the high school team have been with French since they were in third grade.

Chrispen Reyes, 16, is the new guy. He is also the most focused. After a loss, he rolls out his vinyl chess board on his bedroom floor and replays the game move-for-move.

When he was placed in foster care a year ago, his one request was to live in Mendota, a few miles from the farming community where he grew up.

"I'd seen their team at chess tournaments, and I wanted to play for Mr. French," he said. "I want to be a chess champion. I want to be known."

On the night in early April when the team bus returned from the state tournament in Santa Clara, the players tumbled out the doors screaming and tossing around trophies. Lozano hugged everyone in sight. Chrispen stood off to the side.

"Chrispen doesn't let many people in," Lozano said. "He's hurt. You can just see that. But there's also something about him where you go, 'Man, there's a really good kid.'"

Chrispen didn't tell his foster mother, Gloria Marquez, about the championship. The first she heard of it was when his social worker called and said Chrispen had been lying about being on the chess team. After all, he didn't appear in a team photo that ran in the local newspaper. He'd been at a track meet that day, it turned out.

Marquez sat down with Chrispen.

"M'ijo, this is a big, big thing," she said. "You should have told me."

She wanted to celebrate, but Chrispen said no.

Marquez thinks she understands. When he was placed in foster care, he and his five younger half siblings were separated. Chrispen hopes to reunite them someday.

"He doesn't want to enjoy things until he can share them with his family," Marquez said.

French chooses the team's captains, based not on ability but on what they need to learn. He chose current captain Milton Arroyo because he focused too much on himself. Now, French considers the high school senior his right-hand man, aware of the needs of the whole team.

Next year's captain is Chrispen.

"Chrispen has to learn that he needs other people," French said, "and they need him."

On tournament days, Lozano and his wife, Gloria, a migrant-education teacher who has taught most every child in town over the years, get up at 6 a.m. to make tortillas, fry chorizo and potatoes, and wrap them into burritos. They arrive with breakfast as team members emerge from their first games.

"We know they don't have money for food," Lozano said. "And we're there for them when they lose to say: 'Did you do your best? Did you put your heart into it? Then we're proud of you.'"

They used to be the team's only boosters. "But now the whole city is excited. And it's not just Mendota, it's all these farm towns," Lozano said.

In the bigger chess world, Mendota's championship is nothing striking. But for people who live in the world of packing houses and field labor, the town's success in a game of intellect and imagination has resonated.

"We teach our kids, 'Never give up on playing the game.' Put the pieces back on the board and look for the opportunity you didn't see before," Lozano said. "These kids remind people what can happen when you don't know how to quit."

On a recent Friday, French and the high school team are back in their trailer. There's a demo board on the wall, and French is playing against the class. They shout out their moves in unison until Chrispen leaps from his seat to make a move. He puts French's king in check and forces French to take the team's bishop — a move that will set him up for defeat.

"Eat it. Eat it," the class chants.

"Make thy move," Chrispen tells French.

"Guys, you have beat the old man," French admits, laughing.

When French arrived in Mendota, he weighed 360 pounds and doctors were debating whether he needed a heart transplant. Many days he came to class with a walking stick and an oxygen mask.

As he grew closer to the students, he decided he wanted to have energy to keep up with them. He had gastric bypass surgery, lost 156 pounds and now works out regularly. Without the extra weight, French's enlarged heart doesn't have to work as hard, though it remains fragile.

He missed the first day of the state tournament. He was in the emergency room with an infection.

Milton texted updates. When French learned that Luis Castillo, an "A" student with a near-novice chess ranking, had beaten a much-higher-rated player, French whooped so loud that nurses came running.

"That doesn't happen. None of this happens," said French, who now runs chess programs at four schools in Fresno and hires himself out as a chess tutor. "I guess I forgot to tell my kids what was impossible."

In Mendota, only 1 in 10 people has a high school diploma. In nine years, only two of French's chess team members have dropped out of school.

"I swear I won't lose another," he said. "None of this is really about chess. It's about giving them futures."

Ernie Lozano hopes those futures unfold far from Mendota. He was born here. He likes the way the sun hits the fields. He likes the church bells and taco trucks and how fiercely proud everyone is of their children.

"But there's nothing here for our kids. The sugar plant closed, the garlic plant closed, the jail hasn't opened."

There's only the fields, and the Lozanos say Mendota has sent too many to back-breaking work that can't feed a family.

"They'll still have Mendota," Gloria Lozano said. "They'll carry us and the town and all we tried to teach them in their hearts. They're kids.

"They think they need the world, but really, the world needs them."

metro@latimes.com

Marcum is a Times special correspondent. Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times