12.31.14 And what a year it was! Another Chess Journalists of America Best State Website Award, a partnering with Chess24 to bring you live daily coverage of the Carlsen-Anand World Championship Match, thirty USCF-rated tournaments, some of which set attendance records, and much more! A heartfelt thanks to the Maine chess community for your enthusiasm and continued support over the course of the year. We wish you Happy Holidays and all the best in chess and life in 2015!

Players and directors in Maine participated in thirty USCF-rated events in 2014. To see crosstables of all USCF-rated tournaments played in Maine this year please click here.

Winningest Players

The three winningest players in Maine for 2014 were: Ben Amar and Roger Morin (equal first) and Joe Powell (third). For our purposes, winning a section is considered a tournament win and credit is given to all players involved in a tie. Click on a player's name to view their USCF Member Detail page.

1. Ben Amar: 6 event wins
Ben Amar


1. Roger Morin: 6 event wins
Roger Morin

3. Joe Powell: 4 event wins
Joe Powell

Most Active Players

Here's the top three of Maine's most active players in 2013. Activity is defined as participation in USCF-rated tournaments both over-the-board and online. Click on the player's name to view their USCF Member Detail page.

1. William Ravn 31 events

2. Matthew Fishbein 15 events

3. Lance Beloungie 12 events

State Champions

Congratulations the 2014 Maine State Chess Champion Jarod Bryan! To see the names of all Maine state champions since 1942 please click here.

2014 Maine State Champions (All Categories)

Overall Champion: Jarod Bryan

High School Champion: Matthew Fishbein

High School U1200: Haley DeLuca Lowell

High School U1200: Matt Spear

Girls Champion: Bethany Humphrey representing Maine at the 2014 Susan Polgar National Invitational

K-8 Champion: Ian Youth

K-6 Champion: Oliver Brown Patricio


K-3 Champion: William Xu

2014 High School Champions: Cape Elizabeth High School

High School Reserve Champions: Medomak Valley High School

Jr. High School Champions: Orono High School

Elementary Team Champions: Blue Hill Consolodated School

Primary Team Champions: Deer Isle-Stonington

Maine Chess Player of the Year

Congratulations to 2014 Maine Chess Player of the Year Lance Beloungie and to all who participated in this year-long event.

Lance Beloungie is 2014 Maine Chess Player of the Year!

Most Popular ChessMaine.net Stories of 2014

ChessMaine.net has surpassed 437,000 hits since its inception on March 11, 2006-- Based on web traffic to the site this year we've determined the following stories as the most popular of 2014. Take a second look, they're worth the read!

1. Jarod Bryan Wins Sixth Maine Championship

2. State Scholastic Team Championships Tournament Report

3. More Chess in Maine's Print Media

4. State Scholastic Individual Championships Tournament Report

5. Lance Beloungie is 2014 Maine Chess Player of the Year!

Biggest Upsets

Congratulations to the winners of the biggest upset games played in Maine in 2014.

Here are the top five biggest upsets in USCF-rated play in Maine for 2014:

1. Andrew Bubar (228) defeats Ian Youth (1279) = 1051 points, Freeport Quick Chess Marathon

2. Forrest Blankenship (922) defeats Rob Shore (1699) = 777 points, MLK Day Tournament

3. Kaleb Pendleton (564) defeats Ian Youth (1279) = 715 points, Freeport Quick Chess Marathon

4. Forrest Blankenship (922) defeats Ryan Tripp (1629) = 705 points, MLK Day Tournament

5. Josh Audibert (1543) defeats Aaron Spencer (2100) = 557 points, All Saints Winter Warm-Up

Tournament Directors

Maine had twelve active tournament directors in 2014. To determine the most active tournament directors, we used a summation of three factors: number of tournaments directed, number of sections directed and number of players served. Both chief and assistant directors are credited. Based on this criteria the following tournament directors are listed based on their directing activity in Maine for 2014. Thanks to all TDs in Maine for their hard work, dedication and service to the Maine chess community.

1. Steve Wong: 6 events, 20 sections, 237 players = 263

2. Andy Bryan: 5 events, 18 sections, 133 players = 156

3. Phil Lowell: 3 events, 4 sections, 140 players = 147

4. Dan DeLuca: 5 events, 12 sections, 127 players = 144

5. (tie) Alex Relyea: 3 events, 9 sections, 113 players = 125

5. (tie) Nita Patel: 3 events, 9 sections, 113 players = 125

7. Barry Magda: 1 events, 1 sections, 53 players = 55

8. Lee Doucette: 3 events, 7 sections, 29 players = 39

9. Roger Morin: 5 events, 5 sections, 26 players = 36

10. Brian Roderick: 1 events, 6 sections, 28 players = 35

11. Dan La Vallee: 1 event, 3 sections, 12 players = 16

12. Tom Sandford: 1 event, 2 sections, 8 players = 11

Chess Journalists of America Award

ChessMaine.net won the 2014 Chess Journalists of America Award for the best USCF state affiliate website!

MECA Officers and Board

We thank the following individuals for volunteering their time and energy to MECA.

Maine Chess Association Officers

President Andy Bryan bvbryan@aol.com

Vice President Dan DeLuca dcdeluca@yahoo.com

Secretary Lee Doucette lfdoucet@maine.rr.com

Treasurer Andrey Savov bagercheto@yahoo.com

Maine Chess Association Policy Board

Matthew Fishbein matthew.fishbein@capeelizabethschools.org

Ron Lewis raltiger@aol.com

Phil Lowell lowellphilip@yahoo.com

Barry Magda bajmagda@juno.com

Thanks to all who have made 2014 a great year for chess in Maine!