12.17.16 The inaugural meeting of the Bangor Area High School Scholastic Chess League (BAHSSCL) took place on a very cold December 16. The non-rated High School Holiday Blitz tournament was held at the Bangor Public Library. Hermon High School was represented by three players and John Bapst by three players. One homeschooled player and the TD/John Bapst coach, Michael Dudley rounded out the field. The BAHSSCL was formed to provide opportunities for high school players in the greater Bangor area to compete in interscholastic tournaments throughout the winter sports season, culminating with the state team and state individual tournaments at the University of Maine Orono in March.

Thanks to Elizabeth Mock for contributing to this report.

Four rounds were held with Benjamin Mock (homeschool) scoring 6.5 points and Wyatt Hendrix (Hermon) scoring 6.  Linh Nguyen (Bapst) and Drew Thibodeau (Bapst) finished with 4. Coach Dudley came in with 3.5 followed by Ben Rote (Bapst) and Joshua Lovejoy (Hermon) with 3 apiece. Daegan Purvis (Hermon) added 2 points for his team. The teams ended up tying with 11 points for each school.
 
This fledgling league welcomes high school teams and players to register for the 2017 tournaments which will be held on Friday afternoons twice a month at John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor. Regular meets will be rated Swiss style events with no entry fees (USCF membership required). Each week is planned to include three rounds of G/25 games, beginning at 2:45 p.m. and ending at 5:30 p.m.. Upcoming dates: January 13 & 27, February 10 & 17, March 3 & 17. For more information, see the events page at ChessMaine.net.
 
Standings. 2016 High School Holiday Blitz
[Each round consists of 2 games]
#         Name (regular rating)     Rd 1   Rd 2   Rd 3   Rd 4   Tot
1         Benjamin Mock (951)      W4     W5*   D2      W3     6.5
2         Wyatt Hendrix (1490)     W6     D3      D1      W5     6.0
3         Linh Nguyen (938) W7     D2      D5      L1       4.0
4         Drew Thibodeau (227)    L1       D8      D6      W7     4.0
5         Michael Dudley (1357)   W8     L1*     D3      L2       3.5
6         Benjamin Rote (421)       L2       L7       D4      W8     3.0
7         Joshua Lovejoy (419)      L3       W6     D8      L4       3.0
8         Daegan Purvis (480)        L5       D4      D7      L6       2.0
 
*Round 2: Mock 1.5 points, Dudley 0.5 points