In Memory of Bob Solinger: John Bapst Tournament Report
01.06.14 Forty-three players turned out at Maine's first chess tournament of the new year. The John Bapst Tournament in Memory of Bob Solinger was played at John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor on Sunday, January 5th. The tournament remembers and honors former John Bapst chess team coach Bob Solinger who passed away on September 23, 2011.
The tournament was played in four sections: an eight-player open section, a four-person quad, an U1200 section and an U600 section.
Gabe Borland turned the crosstable upside-down and took first place in the open section with 3.0 points. Borland (USCF 1664) was seeded in last place but managed to take down Tom Sandford (1786), Curt Brock (1680) and Aaron Spencer (1979) on his way to tournament victory.
A three-way tie ensued for first place in the quad between Ryan Tripp (1567), Corey Dunn (1565) and Dan DeLuca (1510) who each scored 2.0 points.
Joseph Powell took first in the U1200 section with a perfect 4.0 in as many games and fellow Medomak Middle School student Osage Crie did the same in the U600 section scoring 4.0 points for clear first.
Bob Solinger playing at the Eastern Maine Open in 2006. He was a great advocate for chess in Maine as well as a great friend. He is dearly missed.
Last-seeded and first-finished Gabe Borland won the open section with 3.0 points.
Ryan Tripp
Corey Dunn and...
Dan DeLuca shared first in the quad section with 2.0 points.
First place finisher in the U1200 section Joe Powell was a force to be reckoned with scoring a perfect 4.0 points in four games and outpacing second place by a full point.
U600 section winner Osage Crie (third from left) is flanked by the U600 group.
Rob Shore (left) and Curt Brock prepare for their first round games with...
Roger Morin and...
Aaron Spencer respectively.
Tom Sandford (1786) had a fine performance with wins over Rob Shore (1721) and top seed Roger Morin (2034).
Nathan Shemwell was the youngest member of the quad section.
Joseph Astumian scored three points in the U1200 section along with...
Vetri Vel (second from the right with the U1200 group) and...
Zachary Grindal.
Ben Amar (third from left with the U1200 group) scored 2.5 points in the U1200 section with...
Brendan Penfold and...
John Lehman.
Catherine Rudnicki
Greg Wadsworth
The well-attended U1200 section commences with the first round.
Medomak Middle School student Joe Powell with his coach Jim DuBois.
The U600 section over the board.
Show me the money! Open section winner Gabe Borland with the bling.
On the wall of the tournament room. You may not know that Einstein was a chess player. Here is one of his games vs American theoretical physicist and father of the atom bomb J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Tournament organizer Andy Bryan hands out trophies to the winners.
Do your kids leave their clothes in the middle of the hallway as well? Wait, what's this...?
Budding Grandmasters!
One of the great things about chess is that it is accessible to all ages--the very youngest as well as those not so young.
A variety of home baked good were available in the snack bar. Like these scrumptious scones and..
Open player Aaron Spencer's own signature dessert.
Your host: John Bapst Junior Anna Bryan!
Thanks to all who participated. Godspeed Bob Solinger!
Comments
Great report. Been a long time since I frequented this website. Congratulations to all the players and thank you to all those who spent their time making the event happen.
Posted by: Steve Spencer | January 7, 2014 8:36 PM
very well run event.thanks to all the hard work the organizers do.without them,we wouldn't have these nice tournaments to go too.congratulations to aaron and tom for their very resourseful play against me and of course a sincere congratulations to gabe for his first place victory.
Posted by: roger morin | January 6, 2014 7:14 PM