dr. jeff bulington showed up at school to teach the kids of franklin county a new subject: chess. >> bulington: so, everybody say, "checkmate." >> checkmate. >> alfonsi: before dr. b. came to town, had you played chess before? >> braden ferrell: i didn't have a clue how to move the pieces or nothing. >> donovan moore: only time i saw it was on tv. >> alfonsi: donovan moore, braden ferrell, parker wilkinson, and benson schexnaydre didn't know what to make of drdid you think of dr. b. when you first met him? >> benson schexnaydre: this 12- foot man. >> alfonsi: the 12-foot man. >> parker wilkinson: whenever he came into the room saying he was planning on teaching us chess, i was like, "what? why would somebody come down here?" >> alfonsi: in the middle of nowhere. you're a logical guy, and it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. >> bulington: if there are people there, it's not nowhere. this is somewhere. it's just a somewhere that doesn't get a lot of attention. >> alfonsi: jeff bulington was lured to franklin county by a wealthy benefactor, who wishes to remain anonymous. the benefactor had seen how bulington had molded chess champions in memphis, in one of the most distressed zip codes in america, and wondered if chess could take hold in the country. >> bulington: where can you put the king? >> alfonsi: he convinced bulington to give a few demonstration lessons in franklin county. >> bulington: does that stop him from coming here? afterwar