06.22.21 Ten players came out to compete at the Kathy Richards Maine Girls' Chess Championship and the Maine Women's Championship on June 12th in Bangor, hosted at John Bapst Memorial High School. The final qualifying championship for the National Scholastic Invitational Tournaments, the Richards Championship nominates Maine's representative to the WIM Ruth Haring National Girls' Tournament of Champions, this year held in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, parallel to the Denker, Barber, and Rockefeller Championships.

Thanks to Mike Dudley for contributing to this report.

US Chess Crosstable of this event

Delia Hill of Hampden Academy, coming off of her first two tournaments, scored 2.5/3, along with Magnolia Harms of Baxter Academy, both of whom share the Richards Championship this year. Delia Hill won the tiebreak and so is Maine's nominee to the Haring, with Maggie Harms serving as the alternate. Zoe Dinnerstein of Cape Elizabeth came in third with 2.0/3, and four players, Emily Curtis and Fiona Edmonds of Brunswick High School, Nyla Bashir of Fruit Street School, and Faith Werenko of Central Middle School, all tied for fourth place with 1.0/3.

The Maine Women's Championship was a three-way round robin between Sharon Klein (head coach of Cohen Middle School), Lisa Oliver (head coach of Central Middle School), and Katherine Ervin (MECA Director and head coach of Camden-Rockport Elementary School). Sharon Klein scored a perfect 2.0/2 to earn the title of Maine Women's Champion. Oliver came in second with 1.0/3, and Ervin rounded out the crosstable scoreless for third place.

Congratulations to all the players, and thanks to John Bapst for hosting! We look forward to the next run of the Richards Girls' and Maine Women's Championships, due to be held on February 12, 2022!

Winners in the 2021 Maine Girls' Championship Delia Hill (right) equal first, Magnolia Harms (center) equal first, and Zoe Dinnerstein (right) third.

Players ready for the games ahead.

The participants

The bling!