By: Jasmine West
The students on Bates Academy’s chess team did not arrive in Round Rock, Texas, rested or settled.
They came straight from travel, bags still unpacked, minds already turning toward the board. For most middle school students, that would be enough to shake their focus. For Bates, it became part of the story.
The Detroit team walked into the 2026 Middle School National Chess Blitz Championship and left as national champions in the Under 1600 blitz division, adding another title to the program.
“One of the major challenges was coming straight in from travel and not having an opportunity to really rest like I thought they needed to,” Bates Academy Chess Coach and Coordinator Esha Patrick said. “They just came in so resilient. They were pumped up and ready to go without a lick of rest — traveling all day and coming straight from travel to the board.”
That resilience showed up where it mattered. Bates was led by eighth graders Giordan Muhammad, Trintyn Chambers and Lorenzo Cooks, along with seventh grader Priest Price, whose scores clinched the victory and brought the national title home to Detroit.
For Patrick, the championship was not luck. It was the result of repetition, discipline and students who had already proven they could carry pressure.
“The students, they work tirelessly throughout the season, and also during the summer preparing for events like the nationals,” Patrick said.
That work started long before the national stage. Bates opened the season in September and competed through June. The team first battled through the Metro Scholastic City League, where the middle school team placed first in the city and first in the district. From there, they advanced to the Michigan state championship, where they placed second in the championship section.
Blitz chess is speed, instinct and decision-making under pressure. Players have only minutes on the clock, forcing them to think quickly without losing control of the board. Every move matters, and there is little time to recover from hesitation.
Kevin Fite, Detroit Public School Community Districts’s curriculum leader for STEM enrichment, said that is what makes the Bates victory stand out.
“What they accomplished is very, very difficult,” Fite said. “To be a national champion, especially in blitz… blitz is speed. So you have to be able to think quick.”
Fite oversees DPSCD’s chess league play, registration support, team travel and coach stipends. He said Detroit’s scholastic chess structure is rare because DPSCD has built a league that mirrors the competitive framework students see in sports.
“We have a league that, much like a basketball or football league has, chess has its own,” Fite said.
That structure has helped sharpen students across the district.
Bates is part of a larger DPSCD chess culture, with students competing at city, state and national levels. Fite said the district’s investment in chess has changed what students and competitors expect when Detroit teams enter tournaments.
“For me, it means so much to see one of our teams win a national title, it’s big because it kind of dispels the notion that our kids are subpar,” Fite said. “Detroit Public Schools has changed the narrative.”
“DPS has been winning a lot lately,” Fite said. “And it’s now expected.”
This year, that expectation showed up across several schools. Fite noted that Renaissance won the high school blitz title, Marygrove finished second behind them, and DPSCD teams also brought home state-level success, including championships from Cass Technical High School, Renaissance and Bates, with Earhart finishing second in the state.
For Bates, the national title also carries history.
Patrick said the school’s chess team has been around for at least 20 years and has won championship titles under previous leadership. She has led the team in her current capacity for the last three seasons. This national blitz championship is the first of its kind for Bates during her tenure.
To get there, students practiced twice a week and competed in tournaments, including events in Lansing and Ann Arbor. They also took part in Friday night chess at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
“We go down to the DIA as well on Friday nights and try to get reps in,” Patrick said. “It takes a lot of time and it’s really a commitment.”
When Bates was announced as champion, Patrick said the students’ faces lit up. After months of practice, city competition, state competition, travel and pressure, they had earned something that’ll stick with them forever.
“The students were ecstatic,” Patrick said. “Their faces just lit up when they had that opportunity to walk that stage and receive the title of champions.”
Patrick said her message to students has remained simple: slow down, concentrate and trust what they know.
“I always tell the kids, just take your time and concentrate on what you’re doing,” she said. “No one’s better than them when they put their minds to doing what they know to do.”
Fite said Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti’s support of STEM enrichment since 2018 has helped remove barriers for coaches. The district now helps cover supplies, chess clocks, registration fees, Michigan Chess Association memberships and United States Chess Federation memberships.
“A lot of those things are taken off the plates of the coaches, which allows them time to do their craft,” Fite said.
At the DIA after the win, Fite saw students from other schools congratulate the Bates players.
“They can pop their collar a little bit,” Fite said.
And they should.
Now, they return home with bragging rights, a national championship and another reminder that Detroit’s young people are not waiting for permission to be brilliant.
