SAN ANTONIO — The game of chess takes skill, preparation and patience. It’s what made Jesse James Lozano a champion in his teens, and he’s the owner of the Complete Chess club.

“He said he was going to have a business one day. Sure enough, here we are playing chess,” said Lozano’s mom, who works the front desk at the San Antonio club.

Complete Chess doesn’t just cater to children, but the kids that attend classes and camps leave with more than just knowledge of the game.

“I lost to like a 10-year-old master,” Lozano said.  “I don’t know, if that doesn’t humble you, what will, right?  So, that’s one thing I like to instill in the other kids, mutual respect and just being nice to other people.” 

Lozano is all about the game and is playing, teaching, and constantly learning more about chess. It’s what he has always wanted to do, but it was his difficulty finding someone to play with when he was younger that gave him the idea to start the club.

“Whenever I was growing up there was not many opportunities to do anything in San Antonio for chess. The scholastic community was almost non-existent. There was a few, but nothing like this where, you know, we could actually have our hub where we could come on a regular basis,” said Lozano.

For Lozano, it’s about teaching the game he loves so much, but it’s also about giving kids a chance to learn it. No matter where they live, or what their background might be.

“I want to give those who cannot play chess, the opportunity to play chess,” he said.

Now, he’s getting ready to move his pieces beyond the chess board.

“I’m going to be franchising this idea. There’s a lot of cities that don’t have these opportunities.  Name a city and I definitely want to make sure there’s a chess club there. I’m in it for the long haul,” Lozano said.