Detroit Renaissance High School wins national chess championship
(CBS DETROIT) - There's a new champ in town.
The chess team at Renaissance High School in Detroit is now a national champion.
"I've been playing forever, and never got first place as a team," said chess team captain Jayson Woolfork. "We got first place as a team. Everybody came together, put their part in. We just did real good."
More than 400 students and 67 teams competed for the title in the under 800 category at the U.S. Chess Federation National High School Championship in Washington, D.C.
Students say this win isn't just for them or their school, but for the entire city of Detroit.
"It's great to see the people light up, to see attention being shown on Detroit. That's pretty amazing," Opemipo Clement said.
This win was of course no easy feat. The team dedicated hours of practice in preparing for the tournament. The team's coach says the win came as a surprise, but he and so many other are so proud of what this team was able to accomplish.