6th Grader Wins National Chess Championship

Whitefield Academy 6th grader Drew Justice recently represented his school in the National Elementary Chess Championship held in Nashville, Tennessee. The tournament is sponsored by the U.S. Chess Federation, drawing over 2,000 players from around the country in a four-day event that begins with a 6-round blitz (fast chess) tournament and concluding with a 7-round standard tournament. Drew had an outstanding performance in the K-6 blitz tournament, claiming first place!

Overall, Drew holds four national titles in chess: 2013 K-1 Co-Champion, 2015 K-3 Blitz Co-Champion, 2017 K-6 Bughouse Champion, and 2018 K-6 Blitz Co-Champion (1st place on tiebreaks). In the 2018 regular tournament, Drew came close to securing a fifth, national title. After winning his first five matches, he played very well in round 6 to earn a draw. Then, still tied for first place going into the final round, Drew was outplayed by a strong opponent from California and ended the regular tournament in 8th place. There are three types of chess championships: regular (90 minutes per player), blitz (5 minutes per player), and bughouse (partner chess).

Drew is a chess “Expert” (2000 U.S. rating), and hopes to get to “National Master” (2200 rating) by the end of middle school. He has been an avid chess player since he was three years old. In addition to chess, Drew enjoys playing basketball, football, and looks forward to being in the marching band next school year. He enjoys the challenge of playing other top players from around the country, and also teaching chess to younger children at Whitefield through after school programs and summer camps.

Whitefield Academy is a Christ-centered, college preparatory school serving more than 800 students in PreK4 through 12th grade. For more information, visit whitefieldacademy.com.

Photo Credit: Eric Rosen. https://new.uschess.org/news/triple-game-day-chasing-perfection-nashville/.

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