05.13.06 I've seen it raining fire in the sky! Five hundred thirty-eight teams from forty-two states are in Denver, Colorado competing in the 2006 National Elementary School Championships. Among the nearly 2,000 players are nineteen from Maine. ChessMaine brings you this initial report from the Hyatt Devner Convention Center.

Downtown Denver

After two rounds, Max DeLuca Lowell of Aurora, Matthew Fishbein of Cape Elizabeth and Hayden Ciomei of Deer Isle-Stonington are the three Mainers with perfect scores.

To see the names of Maine players competing in this event click the following link, click "Advance Entries" in the left margin then click on ME in the "States Represented" category. List of Maine Players

To see the results of the tournament so far click on the following link then click "Results" in the left margin. Results So Far You can then click "Standings" or "Team Standings." Maine players are in the following sections:

K-6 U1000: Eric Babbitt,Chelsea Brown, Hayden Ciomei, Nathan Davis, Alec Eaton, Nick Eaton, Sam Grindle, David Mcmanus, Conner Morey, Lucas Oliver, Jacob Starkey, Andrew Turner.

K-5 Championship: Paul Rudnicki

K-3 U800: Haley DeLuca Lowell, Andrew Jones, Matthew Fishbein

K-3 Unrated: Laddy DeLuca Lowell

K-1 Championship: Max DeLuca Lowell

Off to a blazing start, Max DeLuca Lowell

Grandmaster Susan Polgar playing in a 24-board simul...

...and signing autographs

Brisk business at the bookstore.

The Hard Rock Cafe welcomes chess players!

Two thousand players means one thousand games going at once!

Some spectators were on their toes,

others took a more laid-back approach.