3rd Annual Kennebunk High School Chess Tournament Report
12.10.23 Forty-five players descended on Kennebunk High School on Saturday December 9, 2023 to play chess in the 3rd Annual Kennebunk High School Chess Tournament. The tournament was divided between the U800 and Open Sections. Here's the tournament report with crosstables.
Thanks to David Cimato for contributing to this report.
>> US Chess Crosstable of this event <<
Open Results
William Ravn earned first place for the second year in a row in the Kennebunk High School Open once again going 4-0 on the day. William proved a formidable opponent for a group of 24 players who entered the section with hopes of taking out the highest ranked player in the field.
Morry El-Badry of the Kittery Chess Club survived stiff competition from a contingent of up and coming high schoolers to tie for second place with 3 points. In a daring move in round 3, Jacob Darrah of KHS offered a queen sacrifice to Morry to distract him from the real threat; a back-rank checkmate via his doubled rooks. Morry, taken by surprise at first, leaned on his many years of experience to see through the tactic and emerge victorious.
Also scoring 3 points on the day were Egemen Sari of Fryeburg Academy, Owen Wall, and Tanner Hachey.
U800 Results
Theo Reichl of Cape Elizabeth Middle School produced a clean sheet and earned the top score of 21 players registered and active in the U800 section. His first match with Uriel Valentim de Carvalho proved his toughest with both players having opportunities for checkmates, draw offers extended and denied from both sides in the match, and finally a passed pawn emerged for Theo which decided the match! Theo used this momentum to boost his confidence and emerge undefeated on the day.
Seven players in the U800 scored 3 points on the day with 6 of them hailing from South Portland High School, a remarkable achievement for SPHS. The aforementioned Uriel, Noah Kay, Logan Levesque, Brayden Blanchard, Tristan Brame, and Coach Doughty all from SPHS. Newcomer Jeremiah Knight of Sanford High School, competing in his first tournament, rounded out the 7 way tie for second place.
Coach Gil Doughty of SPHS takes on Pond Cove's Sebastian Holbrook in his first tournament appearance.
Xander Pettis of KHS and Owen Wall competed in round 1. Xander scored an upset in this early match.
Jonah Tafuto of Fryeburg Academy takes on Jacob Darrah of KHS. Jacob emerged victorious here to earn a point for KHS in the Scholastic Grand Prix.
