03.07.11 The 2011 State Scholastic Chess Team Championships were held Saturday, March 5th, in the Memorial Union at the University of Maine in Orono. Two hundred thirteen players supported by coaches and parents gathered to contest team honors in the K-3, K-6, Junior High, and High School sections. Also at stake were individual achievements leading to invitation to the Individual Championships to be held at the same location on March 19th. Each player competed in four games with honors decided by total team points scored for the four games or, in the case of the High School Championship section, by head-to-head match play. Here's the uncompromisingly-thorough, illustrated tournament report including USCF crosstables.

Thanks to Ron Lewis for contributing to this report.

We want to thank the many hard working and dedicated volunteers including members of the Maine Association of Chess Coaches, members of the Maine Chess Association, tournament organizers, tournament leaders and tournament directors who, over the course of the last year, met to plan, coordinate and organize this the largest chess tournament in Maine. Also, a big thank you to those volunteers, parents, coaches, and of course players who were in attendance on Saturday and who helped this massive event run so smoothly.

There's a new kid on the block! Cheverus High School is the 2011 Maine High School Chess Champion for the first time since the early 1990's. Clearly a dark horse coming into this event, Cheverus was not expected by most to take the title. But surprise they did and with a perfect score of 4-0 to boot. As Cheverus head coach Dan LaVallee commented after the win, "Our guys played out of their socks!" Members of the winning Cheverus High School team were: Ethan Bergeron, Cam Prescott, Zachery Dulac, Patrick Jerome, and Connor Maines. Winning the title competing against such talented opposition as can be found on the teams Cheverus defeated--Caribou, John Bapst, Deer Isle-Stonington and Orono--is no small accomplishment and our sincere congratulations goes out to the Cheverus chess organization.

Top-seeded Cape Elizabeth was upset by Deer-Isle Stonington in the first round which opened opportunities for the other seven teams in the tournament. Cape Elizabeth did recover to score 2.5 points to tie Bangor for second place, and was awarded the second place team trophy on tiebreaks. The Cape Elizabeth Team consisted of Matthew Reale-Hatem, Brett Parker, Ben Hansel, Robert Freccero, Ethan Duperre and Colin Smith. Bangor fielded Keji Xu, Paul Rudnicki, Joshua Audibert, Nathan Dee, and Patrick Coyne. Criteria for invitation to the Scholastic Individual Championships for the High School Championship and Reserve sections were to score 3.0 points or better on board one, or 3.5 points or better on any other board. Invited back to Individuals on March 19th with no entry fee on this basis are: Keji Xu and Paul Rudnicki of Bangor; Deanna Power of John Bapst; Yuval Boss of Orono; Matthew Reale-Hatem of Cape Elizabeth; Ethan Bergeron of Cheverus; and Andrew Turner of Deer Isle-Stonington. The top female scorer was Deanna Powers of John Bapst with four points. The top unrated player was Connor Maines of Cheverus.

In the High School Reserve section, Cheverus edged out Deer Isle-Stonington with a score of (10.0) to (9.0). The Cheverus Reserve team included Payne Ciampi, Spencer Desrochers, and Brian Chiozzi. Scorers for Deer Isle-Stonington were Chelsea Brown, Janelle Ciomei, and Gareth Warr with 3 points each. Joshua Shuman of Dexter, and Payne Ciampi of Cheverus, were the top scorers with 4 points and are invited back to the Individual Championships (with free entry) along with top female scorers, Chelsea Brown and Janelle Ciomei.

In the High School Novice section, Bucksport, scoring (9.0), won out over Camden's (8.5). The three top scorers for Bucksport were: Rachel Chen, Randy Larue, and Josh Numan, all who scored three points. Other Bucksport team members were: Nate Detroit, Daniel Juric, Kaitlyn Arey, and Scott O'Donnell. Scoring for Camden were Matthew Clark (4.0), Lei Huang (2.5), with Jacob Corney, Alex Hentorn, Jacob Napa, and Alice Wong all scoring two points. Eddie Socker contributed one point. Matthew Clark was the section's top performer with four points.

In the K-8 Championship section, Deer-Isle Stonington finished a point ahead of the Airline Community School, (14) to (13). Top scorers for Deer Isle-Stonington were Alyssa Chesney, Bethany Humphrey, Krisford Melanio, Reid Bartlett, and Cameron Wendell. Top scorers for Airline were Anna Bryan, Haley DeLuca Lowell, Andrew Jones, Laddy DeLuca Lowell, and Adrianna Keefe. The top-scoring players in this section were Matthew Fishbein and Wesley Parker both of Cape Elizabeth with four points. Douglas Gavelek of Bucksport was awarded the top unrated trophy for his two point performance in a tie break with Nicholas Chouinard, Gregory Dimoulas, Cody Eaton, and Josiah Grace. Five players tied for top female scorer: Haley DeLuca Lowell and Anna Bryan of the Airline Community School, Alyssa Chesney and Bethany Humphrey of Deer-Isle, and Helen Zhang of Orono all with three points.

Piscataquis took first place in the JHS Novice section, with Belfast and Stepping Stones tied for second. Belfast was awarded the second place trophy on tiebreaks. Members of the winning team were: top section player Darren Weeks and Jacqueline Rebman. Playing for Belfast was Alex Johnson. The top Novice K-8 player was Patrick Coyne of the W. S. Cohen School.

In the K-6 Championship section with team scores the total of each team's five top scorers, Deer Isle-Stonington captured its second straight K-6 Team title, besting second place Breakwater School (15.0) to (14.5). Top team scorers for Deer Isle-Stonington included: Orly Vaughn (3.5) and Kinsey Bartlett, Brendan Penfold, Soozin Cha, and Tyson Rice, all with 3.5 points each. The Breakwater team high scorers were Ian and Eric Youth, each with 4 points, Samuel Rallis with 2.5, Matthew Hogenaur with 2 points, and Oliver Sullivan with 1.5. The top female scorer was Soozin Cha of Deer Isle-Stonington with 3.0 points.

In the K-6 Novice section, Piscataquis emerged ahead of Bucksport. Billy Griffith, Piscataquis, was top scorer with four points. He was joined by teammates David Hession, Sam Maines, Jackie Rebman, and Darren Weeks. Bucksport's team consisted of: Michael Hamilton, Kristy Cloutier, Jayden Callan, Dakota Curtis, Eric Carlson, Spencer Munis and Isabelle Callan.

In the K-3 Championship section, team honors were decided by the total of the team's top three scorers. The winning team was the Deer-Isle Stonington Mariners over second place Airline Community School. Top scorers for Deer Isle-Stonington were Ben Penfold, Cameron Stewart, each with a perfect 4.0 score and Andrew Pappianne, Rylee Eaton (top scoring female player), and Cole Stewart, each scoring 3 points for a team score of 11. Other members of the team included: Kaylee Morey (top unrated player), Myles Brown and Gifford Proper. Top scorers for the Airline School were Natalie Sheehan (2.0), Jayden Keefe and Cyrus Grindal (1.5) with Jacob Pung and Ruby DeLuca Lowell each contributing 1 point.

In the Primary Novice section, the winning K-3 team was Belfast. In second place were Stillwater Montessori and Deer Isle-Stonington, with the tiebreak going to Stillwater Montessori. The top individual performer was Ilianna Kahn of Belfast with four wins in four games. She was joined by teammates Chase Sanders, Sydney Sanders, Kirk Stillman, Henrey Saggese, Joshua Chun, and Ronin Deschamps.

Elementary and JHS players in the championship sections who scored three or more points are invited back to play in the Individual Championships on March 19 with waived entry fee. Any other individual may enter by paying the entry fee. Information and entry forms are available on the ChessMaine.net/events page.

Tournament Leaders were Kathy Richards for the Elementary and Junior High Sections, and Kurt Klappenbach for the High School sections. Tournament Directors were Dan DeLuca for the K-3 section, Steve Wong for K-6, Lee Doucette for the Junior High School, Philip Lowell for High School Championship and Reserve sections and Tom Sandford for the all Novice sections. Trophies and awards were coordinated by Andy Bryan. Overall tournament coordinator was Maine Association of Chess Coaches President Ron Lewis.

The next events on the state scholastic chess schedule are on March 12th when the state girls championship will be contested, with the Maine representative eligible to participate in the 2011 All Girls National Championship on April 8-10, in Chicago and on March 19th at the individual championships with winners eligible to participate in national invitational tournaments including the USCF National Denker Tournament of High School Champions and the K-8 National Invitational tournament. A side event, the Sidekick Quads, will also be held on March 19th for adults. The proceeds will benefit Maine scholastic chess. All events will be held at the Memorial Union at University of Maine in Orono.

USCF Crosstable of K-3 Championship Section

USCF Crosstable of K-6 Championship Section

USCF Crosstable of Junior High School Championship Section

USCF Crosstable of High School Championship and Reserve Sections

USCF Crosstable of the Novice Sections Coming Soon

Winners in the High School Championship section, Cheverus High School (left to right): Conner Maines, Cam Prescott, Pat Jerome, Ethan Bergeron and Zach Dulac

Equal second in the High School Championship section (tying with Bangor High School) and receiving the second place trophy on numerical tiebreaks Cape Elizabeth High School (left to right): Matthew Reale-Hatem, Ben Hansel, Anthony Freccero, coach John Brady, Colin Smith, Ethan Duperre and Brett Parker.

The last round match up between Orono High School (left) and Cheverus High School.

Board one: Jaiwei Zou (Orono) vs...

... Ethan Bergeron (Cheverus)

Board two: Zachary Dulac (Cheverus) vs...

...Avery Cole (Orono)

Board three: Zach Hamilton (Orono) vs...

...Cam Prescott (Cheverus)

Board four: Patrick Jerome (Cheverus) vs...

...Yuval Boss (Orono)

Board five: Brandon terra (Orono) vs...

...top unrated player in the High School Championship section Conner Maines (Cheverus)

On the other side of the room Cape Elizabeth High School battled with Caribou High School. Here's top board for Cape Elizabeth Matthew Reale-Hatem.

Board two for Cape Elizabeth: Brett Parker

Cape's board three: Ben Hansel

Board four for Cape Elizabeth: Anthony (Robert) Freccero

Cape's board five: Colin Smith

Caribou High School's top gun: Jacob Atcheson

Board two for Caribou: James Ransier

Caribou's board three: Ian Thibeault

Board four for Caribou: Devin Cote

Board five for Caribou: Danny Lacasse

Winners in the High School Reserve section, Cheverus High School (left to right): Payne Ciampi, Spencer Desrochers and Brian Chiozzi

High School Reserve section Runners-Up, Deer Isle-Stonington (left to right): David McManus, Chelsea Brown, Nick Eaton, Janelle Ciomei, Alec Eaton, Heidi Brewer and Gareth Warr.

Top player in the High School Reserve section Josh Shuman (left) with Tournament Director Philip Lowell

Action in the High School Reserve section

Winners in the High School Novice section, Bucksport High School (left to right): Nate Detroit, Daniel Juric, John Newman, coach Mr. Nos, Rachael Chen, Randy Larve, Kaitlyn Arey and Scott O'Donnell

High School Novice Runners-Up Camden High School (left to right): Lei Huang, Jacob Corney, Eddie Socker, Alice Wong, Jacob Nappa, Matt Clark and Alex Henthorn.

Top scorer in the High School Novice Section: Matt Clark of Camden High School

Action in the High School Novice section

Zach Hamilton (left) and Deanna Power take a look at the possibilities (with coach Steve Abrahams) in a just-completed game.

Winners in the Junior High School Championship section, Deer Isle-Stonington: (left to right): Bethany Humphrey, coach Dick Powell, Cameron Wendell, Isaac Vaughn, Alyssa Chesney, Krisford Melanio, Philomena Mattes, Reid Bartlett and Cody Eaton

Junior High School Championship Runners-Up, Airline Community School (left to right): Gabe Peters, Andrew Jones, Anna Bryan, Christian Goddard, Adrianna Keefe, Haley DeLuca Lowell and Laddy DeLuca Lowell

The top rated player in the Junior High School Championship section Cape Elizabeth's Matthew Fishbein

Ezra Briggs

Helen Zhang

Laddy DeLuca Lowell

George Spahn

Haley DeLuca Lowell

Krisford Melanio

Joshus Burleigh

Anna Bryan

Justin O'Brien

Cameron Wendell

Gabe Peters

Bethany Humphrey

Philomena Mattes

Anthony Bottie

Jasper Hansel

Andrew Balser

Matthew Williamson

Andrew Jones

Langdon Holly

Nathan Frederick

Isaac Vaughn

Gregory Demoulas

Reid Rauch

Adrianna Keefe

Nicholas Chouinard

Alyssa Chesney

Cody Eaton

Adam Bohlen

Jacob Fusaro

Andrew Brenneman

Josiah Grace

Olivia Reale-Hatem

Henry Wasserman

Dakota Appleby

Gabe Felgel

Christian Goddard

Last round match-ups on the tops boards in the Junior High School Championship section (foreground left) Matthew Fishbein plays Haley DeLuca Lowell and Wesley Parker (background left) plays George Spahn.

First in the Junior High School Novice section, Piscataquis Community Middle School: (left to right): Darren Weeks, coach Kathy Richards and Jacqueline Rebman

Junior High School Novice section Runner-Up representing the Belfast Library Chess Club: Alex Johnson

Winners in the K-6 Championship section, Deer Isle-Stonington Mariners (left to right standing): Soozin Cha, Ben Penfold, Orly Vaughn, Kylee Atwood, coach Dick Powell, Tyson Rice and Oscar Mattes; (left to right kneeling): Addie McDonald, Colby Haskel, Mason Oliver, Kinsey Bartlett, Ashlin Savage and Avery Reynolds.

K-6 Championship section Runners-Up, the Breakwater School (left to right): Parker Seeley, Eric Youth, Samuel Rallis, Lionel Whitehead, Ian Youth, Oliver Sullivan and Matthew Hogenauer

The top scoring unrated player in the K-6 Championship section: Jonah Sautter of the Lisbon Community School

Top rated player in the K-6 Championship section Ian Youth

Stuart MacKay

Eric Youth

Brothers in chess. The Youth brothers Eric (left) and Ian play elbow to elbow on boards one and two in the K-6 Championship section.

Bridger Holly

Samuel Rallis

Michael Hayden

Orly Vaughn

Sean Adams

Soozin Cha

Oliver Sheehan

Colby Haskell

Noah Raven

Brendan Penfold

Kylee Atwood

Zach Grindal

Max DeLuca Lowell

Karli Clark

Nicholas Thompson

Tyson Rice

Eli Spahn

Sam Keefe

Jonah Sautter

Travis Terra

Kyle Russell

Ian Bernier

Nathan Thompson

Avery Reynolds

Lukas Peters

Oscar Mattes

Oliver Sullivan

Catherine Rudnicki

Ryan Watson

Joe Fusaro

Mason Oliver

Jonathan Kish

Eamon Laskey

Lionel Whitehead

Parker Seeley

Isaac Bell

Matthew Yim

Adam White

Noah Buniskas

Rohan Freedman

William Brenneman

Addie MacDonald

First Place in the K-6 Novice section, Piscataquis Middle School (left to right): Sam Maines, David Hession and Billy Griffith (the top scorer in this section)

K-6 Novice Runners-Up, Bucksport Middle School (left to right): Michael Hamilton, Kristy Cloutier, Jayden Callan, Dakota Curtis, Eric Carlson, Spencer Muniz and Isabelle Callan

Winners in the K-3 Championship section, Deer Isle-Stonington (left to right): Rylee Eaton, Cameron Stewart, Ben Penfold, Kaylee Morey, Gifford Proper, Cole Stuart, Myles Brown and Andrew Pappianne

Runners-Up in the K-3 Championship section, Airline Community School (left to right): Natalie Sheehan, jayden Keefe, Ruby DeLuca Lowell, Jacob Pung and Cyrus Grindal

The highest rated player in the K-3 Championship section Cameron Stewart

Jacob Pung

Andrew Pappianne

Natalie Sheehan

Ben Penfold

Davis Drown

Jauden Keefe

Rylee Eaton

Kaylee Morey

Cyrus Grindal

Cole Stewart

Seamus Raven

Josephine Freccero

Gifford Proper

Myles Brown

Max Hogenauer

Ruby DeLuca Lowell

Dax Penney

Charlotte Urquhart

First Place in the K-3 Novice section, the Belfast Library Chess Club (left to right): Ronin Deschamps, Sydney Sanders, Chase Saunders, Kirk Stillman, Henry Saggese, Josh Chun and Ilianna Kahn.

Top scorer in the K-3 Novice section with 4.0 points Ilianna Kahn

K-3 Novice section Runner-Up, Stillwater Montessori School represented here by Kevin Luo

Between rounds these players are intently watching what?

The Maine High School Basketball Tournament!

A survey of a few of the chess t-shirts spotted at the tournament revealed some cool designs. This one is from Lisbon Community School.

Breakwater School

Cape Elizabeth High School

All Saints School (front)

All Saints School (back)

Cape Elizabeth Middle School

Gareth Warr models one of the countless Deer Isle-Stonington chess t-shirt designs

Which chess-playing piano player do these hands belong to?

You're getting warmer.

Helen Zhang of course!

MECA President Andy Bryan (left) and MECA Secretary Lee Doucette at the Junior High School Championship section awards ceremony in front of beautiful signage designed and printed by Kurt Klappenbach.

High School Championship and Reserve sections Tournament Director Philip Lowell

Novice sections Tournament Director Tom Sandford

Junior High School Championship section Tournament Director Lee Doucette

K-6 Championship section Tournament Director Steve Wong

Tournament Leaders Kurt Klappenbach and Kathy Richards

Some of the hardware up for grabs at the State Scholastic Championships

We bid you farwell from the University of Maine in Orono!