The Best of ChessMaine.net 2008
01.05.08 2008 was yet another record-breaking year for chess in Maine! A total of 946 players competed in 34 Maine chess tournaments this year in 79 sections. In what is now a ChessMaine.net tradition, we take a look at the movers, shakers and news makers in this end-of-the-year retrospective.
Winningest Players
Roger Morin again tops the list of winningest players in Maine in 2008 with a total of eight tournament wins. Here Roger plays in his last tournament of 2008, the Aurora Winter Solstice.
Here are the tournaments Roger won in 2008:
St. Croix River Valley International
Washington County February Swiss
Fritz Eyerer was the second winningest player with four tournament wins:
There were four players tied for third place with three tournament wins: Kris Fecteau, Wesley Parker, Roger Peterson and Keji Xu.
Roger Peterson (right)
Player of The Year
2008 Maine Chess Player of the Year Barry Magda plays in the Eastern Maine Open.
Maine Chess Player of the Year 2008 Final Standings
Most Active Players
The year's most active player Richard Judy competed in 15 tournaments in 2008.
Matthew Fishbein entered 13 tournaments and took second most active player.
Tied for third in the most active department are Margaret Bryan, Fritz Eyerer, Lucas McCain and Mark Seedner with 12 tournaments.
State Champions
Jason Spector, a Bowdoin senior, is Maine State Champion for a second consecutive year.
Germaine Kickert won the 2008 Individual High School Championship with 4.0 points.
Ryan Vienneau won the High School Reserve section with 3.5 points.
Junior High School Champion * scored a perfect 4.0 points.
Three players were tied for first in the K-6 section with 3.5 points: Andrew Turner,
Wesley Parker and
Bethany Humphrey won the K-3 section with 3.5 points.
Individual K-6 and K-3 Championship Crosstables
Maine Scholastic Individual Championship Tournament Report
State Champions John Bapst Memorial High School (left to right): Aaron Spencer, Fritz Eyerer, Kurt Eyerer, Zach Smith and Margaret Bryan. The John Bapst Chess Team is coached by Bob Solinger.
State Champions Bangor High School (left to right): Andrew Audibert, Henry Chai, Mitchell Jameson, Keji Xu and Scott Dennis. The Bangor High School Chess Team is coached by Jon Dearing.
Maranatha Homeschool Fellowship shared first place in the High School Reserve section (left to right): Nathaniel Simpson, Ezra Briggs and Hoty Briggs with Orono High School's reserve team John Robinson, Avery Cole, Nigel Kass and Sorel Edes.
The Cape Elizabeth Junior High School championship team (back row left to right): Ethan Dininno, Peter Campbell, Anthony Freccero, Brett Parker, Daniel Epstein (front row left to right): Alex Silva, Shannon Daly and Coach Mark Parker.
The Cape Elizabeth K-6 Championship team (back row left to right): Will Krieger, Wesley Parker, Matthew Fishbein, Colin Smith, Jack Demeter, Danny Brett, Coach Dan Fishbein (front row left to right): John Xiang (Scarborough), Leo Wing, Nick Shedd and Ethan Duperre.
Toddy Pond winners in the Junior High School and K-6 Novice sections (left to right): Hila Shooter, Katia Dermott, Cameron Jack, James Wilkinson, Daniel Weiss, Cori Shooter and coach Seth Yentes.
K-3 Champions Deer Isle - Stonington (left to right): Mason Oliver, Ethan Shepard, Kinsey Bartlett, Soozin Cha and Bethany Humphrey.
Maine Scholastic Team High School Championship Crosstable
Maine Scholastic Team K-3, K-6, K-8 and High School Reserve Crosstables
Maine Scholastic Team Championship Tournament Report
Scholastic Girls Champion
First in the Championship section: Sorel Edes
Girls Scholastic Championship Tournament Report
Most Popular ChessMaine.net Stories of 2008
The following five ChessMaine.net entries maxed out our hit counter, that is, they were the most-viewed of the year. We hope you enjoy taking another look at them.
1st: Maine Scholastic Individual Championship Tournament Report
2nd: Scholastic Team State Championship Tournament Report
3rd: Bobby Fischer Dies in Iceland at 64
4th: National Senior High School Championships: Day 1 Report
5th: The Best of ChessMaine.net 2007
Biggest Upsets
Chess has its ups and downs. We present the top five biggest upsets of the year with a hearty congratulations to the victors and a stiff-upper-lipped pat on the back to the vanquished. To paraphrase the great Cuban World Champion, I have learned much more from one loss than many wins.
1st Place Ethan Dininno over David Rice at the Portland Quick Chess Open: 876 points
2nd Place Yuval Boss over Henry Chai at the Maine Championship: 718 points
3rd Place Brian Roderick over Gabe Borland at the Downeast Open: 662 points
4th Place Kurt Eyerer over Curt Brock at the Maine Championship: 635 points
5th Place Kurt Eyerer over Fred Irons at the Maine Championship: 556 points
Tournament Directors
Eight tournament directors ran the 34 chess tournaments that took place in Maine in 2008. Our hats off to these stewards of chess! To determine the "most active TD" we use a summation of three factors: total tournaments directed, total sections directed and total players served. The directors listed below are in order of their tournament directing activity. You can click on a director's name to review their tournament directing history.
Phil Lowell 11 tournaments; summation of factors = 327
Steve Wong 3 tournaments; summation of factors = 250
Dan DeLuca 4 tournaments; summation of factors = 149
Tom Sandford 4 tournaments; summation of factors = 120
Lee Doucette 3 tournaments; summation of factors = 115
Laddy DeLuca Lowell 3 tournaments; summation of factors = 112
Alba Briggs 7 tournaments; summation of factors = 84
Andy Bryan 2 tournaments; summation of factors = 47
Thanks to all for making 2008 a great year for Maine Chess! Good chess in 2009!
Comments
My Fellow Chess Players,
I am very proud to be the youngest and only female TD on the list. I look forward to directing more tournaments in 2009. I hope I will see you at the MLK tournament on January 19 in Old Town.
Sincerely, Laddy DeLuca Lowell
Posted by: Laddy | January 7, 2009 9:16 PM
Bill Gallagher gave me an idea. Maybe someday we can have a tournament where you have to be 55 or older to play or maybe 60? Roger Morin
Posted by: roger morin | January 7, 2009 6:52 PM
Hey, how about the OLDEST active player?? I'm 73 but Bernard Mann has to be it if he's played in a tourney. Bill Gallagher
Posted by: bill gallagher | January 7, 2009 12:48 PM
Dan;
Thanks for the year end update. And a big THANK YOU to the tournament directors without whom we would not have had all this fun!
Bill
Posted by: William Burtt | January 7, 2009 3:21 AM
Once again, Dan, you and all your helpers, put out a delightful product in support of the passion we all serve. Thanks Dave
Posted by: David H. Rice | January 6, 2009 6:32 PM
34 tournaments last year in Maine, wow. I love reading statistics like these.Thanks Dan for your dedication in promoting this game of ours. Roger
Posted by: roger morin | January 6, 2009 4:20 PM