12.05.21 The Maine Chess Association, in collaboration with Maine Crafts Association and Maine Craft Portland hosted an evening of blitz chess with WGM and 2017 US Women's Chess Champion Sabina Foisor at Maine Craft Portland on Congress Street in downtown Portland, Maine on Friday, December 3, 2021.

Chess has been described as a game, a sport, an art, and a science. Chess, like art, can be conceived of as an individual and collective creative search for self-discovery.

There has been a tradition of chess events and chess art appearing in galleries and museums around the world that dates back into antiquity.

In modern times, the groundbreaking exhibition The Imagery of Chess featured at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City in 1944-45, heralded the breakthrough of chess as contemporary art and included the iconic Man Ray chess set.

During the Duchamp Retrospective exhibition at the Pasadena Art Museum in October 1963, the evocative photo of Marcel Duchamp playing chess with a naked Eve Babitz was taken by the renowned photographer Julian Wasser.

In March 2003, Irina Krush and Jennifer Shahade, two of the top women players in the United States played a two-game rapid match at The Viewing Room, a Manhattan Art Gallery.

In London, The Saatchi Gallery hosted The Art of Chess in September-October 2012.

And there are many more examples of the coalescence of chess and art.

It was this rich tradition of chess in art galleries that inspired a Blitz Chess Exhibition with WGM and 2017 US Women's Chess Champion Sabina Foisor at the Maine Craft Portland gallery in Portland, Maine on December 3, 2021. Organized by the Maine Chess Association and Maine Craft Portland, the event drew chess players, artists, and spectators to play, watch, and enjoy the fascinating intersection of chess and art.

The humble and gracious Sabina Foisor was the main attraction as she played dozens of chess games at three-minutes per side in the midst of a bustling art gallery in downtown Portland.

The games were projected on a large high-definition screen in the gallery itself, projected on the outside of the Mechanics Hall building in which Maine Craft Portland is housed, and broadcast and commented on Twitch.

It was awe-inspiring watching the 2017 US Women's Chess Champion calmly dispense with one player after another. In the end WGM Foisor racked up a score of 24-1. Two-time Maine State Champion Wyatt Hendrix was the only player able to defeat WGM Foisor in one game.

This event was an example of the Maine Chess Association fulfilling its mission statement of Connecting Mainers through chess.

We would like to thank all those who contributed to making this event a great success including all who came out to Maine Craft Portland to participate in and observe the games. Special thanks to our guest of honor WGM Sabina Foisor for making the trek to Maine from North Carolina and a huge shout out to organizers from the Maine Chess Association, Maine Crafts Association, Maine Craft Portland, and Maine College of Art including Michael Dudley, Dan DeLuca, Oisin O'Searcoid, Wyatt Hendrix, Aaron Spencer, Sadie Bliss, Maria Wolff, Steve Bowden, Ross Sneyd, Rosie Alleva, Jamie Wing, and all the staff at Maine Craft Portland!

Selected games from this event:

WGM Sabina Foisor (2313) - Michael Dudley (1548); 1-0

WGM Sabina Foisor (2313) - Dan DeLuca (1507); 1-0

WGM Sabina Foisor (2313) - Wyatt Hendrix (1998); 0-1

Here's the Cheesemate Twitch Broadcast of this event thanks to our resident Twitch streamer Aaron Spencer.

Maine Craft Portland was a perfect cozy venue for the event on a cold Maine night in December.

Spectators were treated to a live broadcast of the event on a high-definition screen inside Maine Craft Portland as well as on the Internet via Twitch.

Maine Chess Association president Michael Dudley came close to defeating Foisor in one of his games. In a winning position he ran out of time.

Former Maine State Girls Champion and K-8 Overall State Champion Haley DeLuca Lowell makes a move in her game vs the WGM.

WGM Sabina Foisor speaks with artist David Masury before the blitz games get underway.

This is the board that David Masury and pieces that Maria Wolff created as part of The Craft Maker's Gambit: An Exhibition Inspired by the Game of Chess.

Amistad Peer Support and Recovery Outreach Services Coordinator Ashish Shrestha considers his options while on the move vs WGM Foisor.

Chess dad, tournament director, and player Eric Dinnerstein matches wits with the Champion.

Thanks to Steve Bowden of Maine College of Art, a live-feed video of the games was projected on the side of the Mechanics Hall Building that houses Maine Craft Portland.

Congratulations to Wyatt Hendrix for chalking up the one W of the night.

Twitch streamer the Cheesemate (aka Aaron Spencer) tries his hand.

After the event, the production team had the pleasure of dining with Sabina at Tokyo Shushi Ramen & Bar on Brown Street in Portland.

Thanks again to all who made this event a great success!