01.19.17 The folks at Stillwater Montessori School continue to host this great annual event now in its 18th year! Kudos to organizer Joe Alex and his staff and director Steve Wong for their dedication, endurance, and commitment to serving the chess players of Maine. Fifty-one players turned up for this four-section (one of which was non-rated) tournament. In the Open, Bill Hartt and Joseph Astumian finished equal first with 3.0 points. Vetri Vel was alone at the top of the K-12 section with 3.5 points. In the K-8 section. Sam Slavin and Tommaso Wheeler shared first and Sarah Means won the non-rated K-6 section.

Thanks to Joe Alex for contributing to this report.

USCF Crosstables of this event

Next-to-last-seeded Joseph Astumian (1350) shocked the field in the Open section with three straight wins in the first three rounds. He lost his last round game to Robert Bridgham but still held on to enough points to tie for first in a tough field. Astumian clocked a performance rating of USCF 1939! We congratulate "JJ" on a great tournament! The other scholastic player at the top of the Open was Bill Hartt who continues to turn in strong performances in tournament after tournament. If these players are any indication of the future of Maine chess, and most certainly they are, we all have a lot to look forward to. Trailing the two leaders in the Open were Chester Young and Bob Bridgham with 2.5 points. Tom Sanford, Wyatt Hendrix, and Ben Amar put up 2.0 points for shared fifth place and Curt Brock and William Burtt scored 1.5 points. Aaron Ben Wilson-McFarlane rounded out the crosstable scoreless.

Seventh grader Vetri Vel turned the K-12 crosstable upside-down. After drawing his first-round game with the section's highest-rated player Benjamin Mock, Vel went on to win three straight to take top honors in the K-12 section. Liam Farrell and Linh Nguyen shared second with 3.0 points. Four players scored 3.0 points including: Nehemiah Brown, Zachary Grindal, Catherine Rudnicki, and Zhenyu Liu. Benjamin Mock and Charlie Ivano finished eighth and ninth respectively.

Two players were perfect in the K-8 section scoring 4.0 points in four games: Sam Slavin and Tommaso Wheeler. Close on the leaders' heels were Zachariah Brown, Cyrus Grindal, Evan Chapman, Tommy Owen, and Brady Smith each putting up 3.0 points. Tying for eighth place were: Cole Stewart, Isaiah Brissette-Hatch, Henry Clarke, Lucas Modrusan, Magali De Lannee, Evan Smith, Jaden Lewis, and Ryan Abedi.

In the non-rated K-6 section the crosstable shook out as follows: Sara Means (first), Kaiden Wood (second), and Ethan Davis (third). Ebbs Hidestrand and Surya Vel tied for the Top 3rd Grade & Under award in the K-6 section.

Thanks to all for helping continue eighteen years of chess at the Annual MLK Jr. Day Chess Tournament!

Tom Sandford (left) and Chester Young take it down to the endgame in their second-round encounter.

Action in the K-6 section

Winners in the non-rated K-6 section left to right: Sara Means (first), Kaiden Wood (second), Ethan Davis (third), Ebbs Hidestrand and Surya Vel tied top 3rd grade & under.

Winners in the K-8 section