Third-grader Asher Kirschbaum won the K-4 division of the North Carolina K-12 Chess Championship, the state’s biggest annual chess event, held Feb. 28-March 2 at the Raleigh Convention Center.

Playing against fourth-graders, Asher won first place among the crowded field of nearly 100 contestants. 

“I was playing up a grade so I was pretty nervous about playing fourth-graders,” Asher said. “I was really happy that I won. Plus so many of my friends got prizes — that was really fun!”

Asher has distinguished himself as a formidable chess player since an early age. In 2021, when he was in first grade, he and his sister, Max Kirschbaum ’32, participated in the K-12 National Chess Championship in Orlando, Florida, where Asher placed fourth nationally and tied for second place in points. As part of a team from Ravenscroft’s Lower School competing in the 2023 N.C. K-12 Chess Championship, he won an individual first-place overall finish and helped lead the K-1 team to a first-place finish and the K-2 team to a fourth-place finish.

This year’s tournament had nearly 900 players from all across the state — including Max, who is in fifth grade.

“I loved playing alongside her,” Asher said. “She is so supportive and proud of me.”

Congratulations to Asher on this impressive achievement!