12.11.10 The Sixth Annual Aurora Winter Solstice Chess Tournament held at the Airline Community School in Aurora on December 11, 2010 attracted forty players in four sections. Winners were: Steve Abrahams and Roger Morin (Open), John Ellison (U1400), Ian Youth (U1000) and Isaac Vaughn (U600). We bring you the richly-illustrated tournament report with USCF crosstable and selected games.

This event was organized and directed by Andy Bryan and Dan DeLuca. The chess sets, boards and books given as prizes were donated by Dan DeLuca.Thanks to all volunteers, parents and players for making the Aurora Winter Solstice Tournament a great success.

USCF Crosstable of this event

Players from as far afield as Houlton and Scarborough (that's a 127 mile radius) made the trek to the Airline Community School in Aurora to compete in the Sixth Annual Aurora Winter Solstice Chess Tournament. Braving the cold and snow showers, players were treated to delicious home-cooked food and great chess.

The Open section ended in a peaceful draw between the tournament's two highest-rated players, Steve Abrahams (1954) and Roger Morin (1936), who shared equal first place. University of Maine, Orono students Daniel Hayes (1135) and Bradley Workman (unr) scored 2.0 points each with four upset wins over Max Berube (1481), Aaron Spencer (1743), Fred Irons (1500) and Roger Peterson (1836) respectively. Peterson, Spencer and Berube tied for fifth place with 1.0 point apiece and Fred Irons finished the day scoreless.

The U1400 section saw John Ellison (1339) take home first place with 2.5 points in three games. Richard Powell (1302) scored 1.5 points to finish second and Craig Fournier (1150) and Gary Robinson (1236) tied for third with 1.0 point.

In the U1000 section Ian Youth (876) hit the ground running and didn't look back scoring 3.5 points in four rounds. His last round draw, with the section's highest rated player Deanna Power (937), clinched first place for the young man from Scarborough. In clear second place Deer Isle-Stonington's own Bethany Humphrey (880) scored 3.0 points in four games. Her only loss being to Youth in round three. Power and David Ngo (647) tied for third with 2.5 points. Three players: Andrew Jones (670), Lois Morin (703) and Eric Youth (515) tied for fifth place with 2.0 points. Unrated Andy Vaughn finished eighth with 1.5 points and Stuart MacKay (634) and Isaac Robinson (550) rounded out the crosstable.

With the only perfect score of the day, Isaac Vaughn (458) took first place in the U600 section. Clear second went to Cameron Wendell (416) who took a bye in the first round and finished with 3.5 points. Trailing the leaders were Oliver Sheehan (414), Orly Vaughn (391), and Andy Chan (101) each scoring 3.0 points. Adrianna Keefe (352), Isaiah Massey (518) and Nicholas Kawamura (unr) shared sixth place with 2.0 points. A six-way log jam resulted for ninth place including Zach Grindal (538), Lukas Peters (unr), Max DeLuca Lowell (509), Sam Keefe (211), Gabriel Peters (unr) and Mia Massey (116). Jayden Keefe (275) and Natalie Sheehan (102) finished fifteenth and sixteenth respectively.

Steve Abrahams shared first in the Open section with...

Roger Morin.

Daniel Hayes scored a 608 point upset over Aaron Spencer in the last round.

Bradley Workman (unr) had his share of upset points with a win over...

Roger Peterson (1836).

Aaron Spencer

Max Berube

Fred Irons

First in the U1400 section: John Ellison

Dick Powell scored 1.5 points in the U1400 section to finish second.

Craig Fournier

Gary Robinson

Dick Powell (left) makes a move in his game vs John Ellison.

Winners in the U1400 section (left to right): John Ellison (first), Gary Robinson (equal third), Dick Powell (second) and Craig Fournier (equal third).

Ian Youth won the U1000 section with 3.5 points.

Bethany Humphrey: clear second in the U1000 section with 3.0 points.

Deanna Power

David Ngo

Andrew Jones scored 2.0 points and took fifth place.

Lois Morin

Eric Youth

Andy Vaughn

Stuart MacKay

Isaac Robinson

Perfect in four rounds: Isaac Vaughn

Cameron Wendell

Oliver Sheehan tied for third place with 3.0 points.

Orly Vaughn

Andy Chan

Adrianna Keefe

Isaiah Massey

Nicholas Kawamura

Zach Grindal

Lukas Peters sports his ChessMaine.net t-shirt.

Max DeLuca Lowell

Sam Keefe

Gabe Peters

Mia Massey

Jayden Keefe

Natalie Sheehan

The Youths catching up on some work while Ian and Eric play chess.

Looking for possibilities (left to right): Bradley Workman, Dan Hayes, Roger Peterson and Max Berube take a look at a position.

Professional Chef Carlos Guerrero holds down the fort in the kitchen.

Through the looking glass: players in the Open section behind closed doors

Hope to see you all again next winter solstice!