03.17.22 Two hundred fifty-two scholastic chess players turned out for the 2022 Maine Scholastic Chess Team Championships played at Lewiston High School on Saturday, March 12, 2022. Titles and trophies were awarded in five sections: High School Championship, High School Reserve, Middle School Championship, Elementary Championship, and Primary Championship.

Thanks to Alex Relyea, Mike Dudley, and Bruce Haffner for contributing to this report.

First and foremost, we would like to express our gratitude for all the players, coaches, volunteers. drivers, organizers, and directors that made this tournament possible. Organizing a statewide scholastic tournament with upwards of 250 players takes a lot of effort and we sincerely thank all those who helped provide this opportunity to our scholastic players. Special thanks to Lewiston High School for hosting this event.

US Chess crosstable of this event

Team Results crosstable of this event

The High School Championship section uses a five-board match format where teams score one match point for each round in which they score three game points or better vs the opposition. Sixteen teams from all corners of the state competed in the High School Championship section.

Congratulations to the 2022 Maine High School State Champions Orono High School who put up a perfect 4.0 match points to take the title. Orono's team consisted of Tommy Owen, Tristan Cousineau, Evan Smith, Emma Eckert, and Camden Labree. A four-way tie for second ensued between the runner-up teams of Hampden Academy, John Bapst Memorial High School, Cheverus High School, and Deer Isle-Stonington High School each scoring three match points. Hampden Academy took home the second place trophy on a superior tiebreak score and Bapst was awarded the third place hardware although each team has a rightful claim to the runner-up title.

The thirteen-team High School Reserve section was very competitive as evidenced by the one-point differential between first and third places. Unlike the High School Championship section, the High School Reserve section uses a team-restricted Swiss system in which the top three scorers for any given team count as that team's overall score. Thornton Academy took the top spot with 10.0 points. Thornton's top three were: John Pham, Colby Wise, and Alex Chan. Just off the leader's pace and finishing second with 9.5 points was Bangor High School and John Bapst Memorial High School finished third with 9.0 points.

Glenburn School are the 2022 Maine Middle School State Champions on a fine performance of 15 games points from the team's top five players: Evan Babcock, Benjamin McGraw, Ty McLaughlin, Garrett Rosania, and Zachary Babcock. Trailing Glenburn and finishing second were Reeds Brook Middle School with 14.0 points and Cohen Middle School with 13.5 points. Twelve teams competed in the Middle School Championship section.

Captain Albert Stevens School took first place in the K-5 (Elementary) Championship with their top five boards, Pierson Dietz, Weston Engstrom, Glen Bitely, Lucas Canning, and Raegan Adams, putting up 18 game points. Also scoring 3.0 points and in the top category for CASS were Maxton Sinagra, Maximus Rollins, and Harper Renyolds. Second place in the Elementary Section went to Weatherbee Elementary School with 15.0 points. Campden-Rockport Elementary School took third with 14.0 points.

In the K-3 (Primary) section which was combined with the K-5 section. Top finishers in this section were: Captain Albert Stevens School, first place and Maine K-3 Team Champions, Abraham Lincoln School, second place, and Camden-Rockport Elementary School in third.

Thank you again to all who participated in, organized and supported this event!

We hope to see you at the Maine Scholastic Chess Individual Championships on Saturday, March 19, 2022.