The Whitefield Lower School fielded three teams for the K-8 metro-Atlanta qualifier chess tournament on Saturday, February 6. The K-5 team, which consisted of all fourth graders, was led by Drew Justice and Nate Jones who each won all four rounds. Efetobo Aror, Christian Wiggins, and Archer McBride each added three points to bring the team score to 17 out of a possible 20. It was not enough for a first place finish, however, and the Whitefield K5 team brought home the second place trophy and the Cobb County championship. Also competing for K5 were Walker Paxton, Brayden Parham, and Thomas Figaretti.
Whitefield’s K-3 team was led by third graders Graham Hood with three points and Riley Hugues with two and a half points. Ross Robinson (3rd) and John Durden (2nd) each added two points. The team was rounded out by Anna Figaretti (3rd) and Anders Guthrie (2nd) who each contributed one win to bring the team total to 10.5 and earn the team A-plus score trophy.
The K-1 team had a strong seventh place finish in their first year of competition. The all first-grade team was led by Troy Schoenbaechler with three points, followed closely by Alex Keck and Jake O’Connor with two and a half points each. Jordon Young and Andrew Upchurch completed the team, each scoring one and a half points for a team total of 9.5 out of a possible 16.
Whitefield’s K-5 and K-1 teams have earned invitations to the K-8 state chess championship on March 19.