DETROIT — In the quiet intensity of a tournament hall, the world narrows down to sixty-four squares. For Lauren Bradford and Charisse Woods, growing up in Detroit meant that the board was often the only place where the rules were fair, the outcomes were clear, and the only thing that mattered was your next move.
As young members of the celebrated Detroit City Chess Club, they knew the names Dan Gilbert and Mike Duggan not as titans of industry or politics, but as opponents—both on the board and in the broader game of revitalizing a city that many had written off.
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The Queens’ Gambit: How Two Detroit Prodigies (Dan Gilbert and Mike Duggan) Turned a Game into a Future
Today, however, the checkmates of their childhood have evolved into a different kind of victory. They are no longer just playing for trophies; they are playing for their futures, and they are winning.
The Match That Mattered
It was 2014 when the lines between “kid” and “contender” blurred. Charisse Woods, then just a rising talent with a fierce focus, found herself sitting across from Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. The press cameras flashed, but Woods was locked in.
Most adults would have played soft. Duggan played to win. But Woods, armed with the rigorous training of the “Dream Team,” matched him move for move. The game ended in a draw—a result that sent a shockwave through the room. It wasn’t just a stalemate; it was a statement. We are here. We are capable. We are Detroit.
“He didn’t take it easy on me,” Woods would later reflect. “That’s how I knew he respected me.”
While Lauren Bradford may not have shared that specific headline-grabbing draw, she was fighting the same battles on adjacent boards. A standout at Cass Tech and a recurring member of the All-City “Dream Team,” Bradford was mastering the art of resilience. In a city often defined by its struggles, she and Woods were defining themselves by their strategy.
Beyond the Board
At the time, neither girl could fully grasp the magnitude of the “team” they were actually on. Dan Gilbert, whose companies were busy acquiring the skyscrapers that would host their tournaments, and Mike Duggan, who was fighting to turn the streetlights back on outside, were silent partners in their success.
The Detroit City Chess Club wasn’t just a club; it was a sanctuary supported by this unique public-private ecosystem. Gilbert’s financial backing and Duggan’s vocal support helped fund trips to national championships and World Youth tournaments in Greece and India—places that seemed a universe away from a Detroit classroom.
“We didn’t know the politics,” one alumni notes. “We just knew that when we needed to get to a tournament, the city had our back.”
Winning at Life
Today, the gratitude is palpable. Charisse Woods has taken that strategic mind to the University of Michigan, where she works with The Program on Intergroup Relations, applying the same critical thinking she used to dismantle the Mayor’s defense to dismantle social barriers. The discipline required to maintain a 4.0 GPA while competing globally is a direct line from those early days of study.
For Bradford and Woods, the “matches” against figures like Duggan and the support from Gilbert were about more than chess. They were lessons in navigating high-stakes environments. They learned that a billionaire or a mayor is just another player with a King to protect—and that with the right preparation, anyone can claim the center of the board.
They are thankful now not for the wins, but for the challenge. In playing against the giants of their city, they learned they could stand tall among them.
The partnership between business and government that supported programs like the Detroit City Chess Club is a key part of the city’s turnaround.
This video features Dan Gilbert and Mike Duggan discussing their collaborative efforts to revitalize Detroit, providing the context for the environment that supported youth initiatives like the one Bradford and Woods benefited from.
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