The “dynasty” continues. On Saturday, March 1, the Atkins High School Chess Team won the state chess championship in a six-round tournament hosted by Triangle Chess at the Raleigh Convention Center. This victory marks the first repeat state championship by any team in recent school history (in either athletics or academics) and is the fourth state championship for Scott Plaster’s chess team in the twelve years he has led the team.
Notable is that this year’s championship team is the overall top team, and not just in an “under” division, since there was only a team component in the U1800 division. A team score in chess is the total of a team’s top four point-getters, and in chess a player gets one point for a win, and ½ point for draw.
Scoring was led this year by Sophomore Kritarth Mishra and Freshman Joel Kindy, both with five points each, followed by Sophomore Evan Pooler with four points and Hank Buchanan and Peter Dillon with 3.5. The Atkins team crept into first place after the fifth round, and then won by a handy 1.5 points after the final round, beating second-place Enloe High School and Myers Park High School in third, followed by Green Hope, Panther Creek, and Raleigh Charter.
“It was an unlikely win and I totally didn’t expect it, so it feels especially nice,” said Plaster. “I’m so proud of all of our players.”
Four Atkins players received awards and trophies, with Mishra and Kindy getting first and second place in Class C, Pooler winning second place in Class F, and Dillon receiving third place in Class F.
With no seniors this year, and such strong underclassman, the program is sure to be even stronger in future years. With 12 players this year, the team is the smallest it has been recently, but is still one of the largest high school teams in the state, and the only high school team that travels by activity bus. Plaster said that instead of recruiting a larger group and fostering more casual players, the focus on the core set of players this year had an advantage.
“Incredible underdog victory,” Mishra said. “It always feels great to come out and play our best and see the results show up.”
The team was aided again this year by Volunteer JP Flynn from the Winston-Salem Chess Club, who is an expert-level player, and was also helped this year by Greg Downing, who helped manage the team practices.
“It was great playing and learning as a team, and I am looking forward to future years on the team,” Kindy said.
“Joel’s growth this year as a player has been remarkable and I’m so proud of him,” Plaster said. Kindy’s rating increased from around 1100 to over 1500 in just over six months, due in large part to regular tournament attendance at the Charlotte Chess Center.
Chess is much like life, according to Plaster. Some players, when they lose, might not do well the rest of the day, but some rebound and realize that every game is a new game. Of course, that includes his tongue-in-cheek advice that a win is twice as good as a draw, but a draw is twice as good as a loss, claiming that the Atkins Math Team proved this once. Saturday’s championship is Plaster’s eighth state championship, along with a slew of individual state championships and other accolades.
The weekend was also marked by a return visit from Atkins Alumni William Odom, who won the state title in the open championship division as a senior at Atkins in 2018. He is currently a coach at Dragon Knight Chess, works at a Montessori school, and was also inducted last year into the Atkins Letterman Hall of Fame.
“It feels great to see Will not only still playing, but teaching future generations the sport of chess,” said Plaster.
Atkins is the first and only school that has a hall of fame and awards system that celebrates scholastics, athletics, JROTC, and fine arts all equally, started under the vision of former principal Joe Childers.
Atkins is not only good at chess, but has the top Scholastic program in the state, winning the NCASA Joe Childers Scholastic Cup for nine years in a row, earning the title of “Top School in North Carolina.”
Submitted by Atkins Chess Coach Scott Plaster