Winning Nationals: The Ultimate Underdog Story
In 1998, Miami Jackson, a local public high school in Miami, won Nationals, beating out some of the most prestigious high schools in the country in the game that is considered most significant intellectually: chess. At Miami Jackson, only 48% of students graduate after four years and only 6% of tenth graders can read at a grade level, so winning such an important title was a surprise to many. While Nationals wasn't quite as strong in 1998 as it is today, the competition was still very tough. The players in the event include IM Florin Felecan, one of the advisors to the World Team in the Kasparov vs. the World match in 1999, WGM Jennifer Shahade, two-time US Women's Champion and famous commentator, IM David Pruess, also a well known commentator and former Chess.com Director of Professional Content and Relations, and of course IM Daniel Rensch, Chess.com's Chief Chess Officer and main commentator.
The favorite in the team competition was Julia Masterman High School from Philadelphia with an average rating of 2113. Masterman led the team standings with their players having scored 16.5/20 after 5 rounds. Miami Jackson were in second with 15/20. However, the tides turned in Round 6 when Masterman's players scored 1.5/4 bringing their total to 18/24. Miami Jackson's Board 1, FM Marcel Martinez, who went on to win the US Junior Championship, beat FM John Bick to move to 6/6.
In the meantime, Rodelay Medina won on Board 2 and Gilbert 'Gil' Luna won on Board 3 to bring Miami Jackson to 18/24 in a tie for first. In the final round, Martinez faced FM Harutyun Akobyan, who shares the record with NM Asuka Nakamura (GM Hikaru Nakamura's brother) for most national championship victories at a whopping 13. The winner of the match would win the high school championship. While Martinez and Akopyan were facing off in a tense battle, Miami Jackson's Board 4 Sedrick Roundtree won while Boards 2 and 3 made draws to reach 20/27. Masterman scored 3 points to finish on 21/28, meaning Martinez needed to win to secure a tie for first for Miami Jackson. The Board 1 game ended up being the last game to end out of hundreds, with Martinez winning a blitz finish to win the national high school title for himself in the individual section and for Miami Jackson in the team section. Team captain Mario Martinez and players FM Marcel Martinez, Rodelay Medina, Gilbert 'Gil' Luna, Sedrick Roundtree, and Oelmy 'Ito' Paniagua, are represented in Critical Thinking, a movie about Miami Jackson's success.
The movie depicts how many of the players on the team rose up from selling drugs and other illegal activities to reach the pinnacle of scholastic chess, the ultimate underdog story.
