03.26.07 On March 24, 2007 the University of Maine Memorial Union played host to 92 K-12 chess players vying for top individual honors in Elementary, Junior High and High School sections. While northern and central Maine schools had garnered most of the team honors this year at the team championships on March 10th, players from southern Maine took or shared many of the Individual awards. Here's the tournament report, chock-full with images and crosstables from each section.

Early spring on the campus of the University of Maine, Orono.

Thanks to Ron Lewis, Phil Lowell, Lee Doucette, Alba Briggs and Dan Fishbein for contributing to this report.

K-3 and K-6 Championship Crosstable

Junior High School Championship Crosstable

High School U1200 Crosstable

High School Championship Crosstable

Sidekick Quads Crosstable

In the Elementary K-3 section, Wesley Parker of Cape Elizabeth was the clear winner with 4-0. Isaac Robinson of Bangor, Max DeLuca Lowell of the Airline Community School and Eli Spahn of Palermo all shared second place with the same 3-1 score.

Smooth sailing: K-3 Champion Wes Parker

Tied for second in the K-3 Championship section Isaac Robinson (left) and Eli Spahn here meet in Round 3.

Also tied for second in the K-3 Championship section with wins in his last seven out of eight tournament games, Max DeLuca Lowell.

An up-and-coming talent from Deer Isle-Stonington: Bethany Humphrey

Winners in the K-3 Championship section (left to right) Wes Parker, Isaac Robinson, Max DeLuca Lowell and Eli Spahn

In the Elementary K-6 section, which crowns the Elementary State Champion, Matthew Fishbein of Cape Elizabeth followed up his K-3 championship of a year ago to become the 2007 State Elementary Champion. Matthew was locked in a tight fourth round game with Sam Grindle of Deer Isle-Stonington (DIS) when he sacrificed his rook to stop Sam’s passed pawn and promote his own passed pawn to a queen and then win the game, finishing with a 4-0 score. Matthew, a third-grader, continues to show that it’s not always the older player that can come out on top in the Elementary section. Past young players accomplishing this have included Drew Fahey, who shared the title as a second-grader in 2003, and Michael Enamorati and Aaron Lewis (third grade) in 1999 and 1989, respectively. Sam Grindle, Hayden Ciomei (DIS), Paul Rudnicki (All Saints), Ezra Briggs (Maranatha), Eric Babbit (DIS), Brett Parker (Cape Elizabeth), and John Kenneway (Old Town) all scored 3-1 to tie for 2nd through 8th.

Matthew Fishbein (left) plays Matt Saunders in Round 2 of the K-6 Championship section. Last year Matthew won the K-3 Championship with 4 points, he did the same this year in the K-6 Championhip section. What's next for this boy wonder?

Sam Grindle came close to wresting the K-6 title from the top seed, Matthew Fishbein.

This was the position in the Grindle vs Fishbein championship game just before Grindle played 1. Kd7. Fishbein followed this with 1...Rc4 and play continued 2. c6 Rxc6! 3. Kxc6 f4 and the pawn queens.

Passsing the torch: 2007 K-3 Champion Wes Parker (left) with 2006 K-3 Champion Matthew Fishbein

Tieing with Sam Grindle for second through eighth place in the K-6 Championship section were:

Hayden Ciomei

Paul Rudnicki

Ezra Briggs

Brett Parker (right) beginning his second round game with Sam Grindle

Eric Babbitt

and John Kenneway.

Winners in the K-6 section (left to right) John Kenneway (top unrated trophy), Matthew Fishbein, San Grindle and Hayden Ciomei

In the Junior High K-8 section of 16 players, Margaret Bryan (Airline Community School) continued to add to her impressive chess resume by edging out second place finisher Nicholas Renedo (Orono) to become the 2007 State Junior High Champion. Renedo shared second place with Jiawei Zou (Orono), Zebulon Coombs (China) and Kurt Eyerer (Newburgh). This section saw some of the more evenly matched players and games of any of the sections, with a large group of players tied at 2-2 for the day.

Margaret Bryan of Airline Community School in Aurora notches the K-8 Scholastic Championship.

Nicolai Renedo played very well, had a strong tournament and tied for second place in the K-8 Championship section.

Tied for second place: Jiawei Zou,

Zebulon Coombs, and...

Kurt Eyerer

Winners in the Junior High School Championship section (left to right) Jiawea Zou, Nicolai Renedo and Margaret Bryan

Shannon Daly scored 2.5 points in the Junior High Championship section, along with

Avery Cole.

The High School tournament was divided into the Championship section and an Under 1200 (rating) section. This division is intended to provide more competitive opportunities for the lower rated players as well as increase the chances for a clear winner in the championship section.

The High School Under 1200 section saw some epic battles.

Included in those epic battles was this last round barn burner between Reed Womack (left, who won this game and was the co-winner of the High School U1200 section with Max Berube) and Zach Smith. Onlookers are (from left to right) Phil Lowell, Peter Daly (peering through window), Dan Fishbein, Max Berube, Mary Eyerer, Frank Kessler, Fritz Eyerer (partially hidden by Lee Doucette), Lee Doucette, Fritz's dad Mr. Eyerer, and Fred Irons.

In the Under 1200 section, Max Berube (South Portland HS) and Reed Wommack (Yarmouth) both scored 3.5 to become co-winners of the U1200 section. Finishing with 3 points each were Frank Kessler III (John Bapst), Sorel Edes (Orono) and John Soong (South Portland) to tie for third through fifth place.

Winners in the High School Under 1200 section (from left to right) Sorel Edes, Frank Kessler, Reed Womack, John Soong and Max Berube

Kaitlyn Haase after her last round win over Josh Coleman in the High School Under 1200 section

In the High School Championship section, several of the top seeds proceeded along as expected with key matchups in the third round between first seed Cullen Edes (Orono) and fourth seed Fritz Eyerer (John Bapst), and third seed Lucas McCain (Yarmouth) and second seed Nimrod Drizlikh. Cullen and Lucas won their games to set up the title match in the final round. After a prolonged struggle of attack and counterattack, the position dissolved into equality with neither player having an advantage. The players agreed to a draw, becoming co-champions for the State High School title for 2007. Finishing tied for third were Fritz Eyerer (John Bapst) and Murray Bridges (John Bapst) with 3-1 scores.

Co-champions in the High School Championship section, Cullen Edes (left) and Lucas McCain call it a draw in Round 4. This gave them an equal share of first place with only one game remaining: Mike Zhang vs Fritz Eyerer.

Here is the position from the championship round Edes - McCain game in which Lucas McCain, playing the black pieces, offered a draw. Cullen's response was, "Let's play a little longer." Play they did, and after a few more moves the players called it a truce to share the title.

The final contest in the High School Championship section: Mike Zhang (right) turns his King over after his last round game with Fritz Eyerer who tied for third. If Mike had won this game he would have shared first place with Edes and McCain.

Another strong showing for John Bapst student Murray Bridges, who tied for third in the High School Championship section.

Winners in the High School Championship section (left to right) Murray Bridges, Fritz Eyerer, Lucas McCain and Cullen Edes

In addition, the Individual tournament featured a Sidekick Quad event, which is an adults-only tournament to help raise money for the Maine Chess Coaches Association (MCCA). Part of these proceeds defrays costs while MCCA also contributes some surplus funds for team travel to the National chess tournaments. Twelve players competed in a quad format (groups of four players) with Alba Briggs serving as organizer and tournament director. Winners in each of the quads were Mark Woida, Andy Bryan and Ben Johnson.

Unbeatable in Quad 1: Mark Woida

The winner of Quad 2, Andy Bryan (left) plays Ed Rudnicki in Round 1 of the Sidekick Quads.

Three up, three down: Hampden Academy Chess Coach Ben Johnson (left) on the prowl vs Brian Chick.

Tournament Directors for the scholastic events were Phillip Lowell and Lee Doucette. Ron Lewis was the Individuals Tournament Leader. Tournament trophies were coordinated by Bob Solinger. The annual State scholastic tournaments are overseen by the MCCA, Kathy Richards, treasurer. The organizers extend thanks to the many coaches, parents and volunteers that make this event special year after year.

Phil Lowell

Lee Doucette

Coffee, Coke and Chess: The inner workings of a Deer Isle-Stonington chess laboratory.