04.12.25 Chess players turned out in droves to compete in MDI Chess' No School Friday Chess Tournament on Saturday, March 14th at Northeast Harbor Library. Across the state, many students had that Friday off for a teacher professional development day. From Portland to Presque Isle and Auburn to Machias - students and adults came from every corner of the state. Here's the illustrated tournament report.

Thanks to Dan Monahan for contributing to this report.

>> US Chess Crosstable of this event <<

"TREMENDOUS" TURNOUT FOR NO SCHOOL FRIDAY CHESS TOURNAMENT

NORTHEAST HARBOR - Chess players turned out in droves to compete in MDI Chess' No School Friday Chess Tournament on Saturday, March 14th at Northeast Harbor Library. Across the state, many students had that Friday off for a teacher professional development day. From Portland to Presque Isle and Auburn to Machias - students and adults came from every corner of the state.

"This was MDI Chess' second library chess tournament this year," Tournament Director Dan Monahan said. "Our first tournament drew 10 local chess players. At our No School Friday event, however, we had over 50 players spread out on two floors of the Northeast Harbor Library. It was a tremendous turnout."

Unlike in other tournaments, players competed to win different chess books instead of trophies. Up for grabs were famous books such as Queen's Gambit star Beth Harman's favorite, Modern Chess Openings by Nick de Firmian, as well as introductory books like How to Beat Your Dad at Chess by Murray Chandler and How to Win at Chess by Levy Rozman (a.k.a. Gotham Chess). Participants also received chess medals.

"We received great feedback for having chess books instead of trophies for a change," Monahan added. "Trophies are nice but books are something you can keep going back to and learning from. Plus they go great with the theme of playing chess in libraries."

In the Open section, Bangor resident Tobias Coffey went all four rounds undefeated to claim top honors, while Bar Harbor resident Ezra Sassaman and Tremont resident Tony Freudig tied for 2nd place, each with two wins and a draw.

In the Under 1100 section, Washington Academy's Dr. Noah Dean and Thuong Duy Kha Phan placed 1st and 2nd with 3.5 wins and 3 wins, respectively. In third place was Machias Memorial High School student Jason Yang with 2.5 wins.

In the Under 700, Machias Memorial High Schooler William Good, William Cohen middle school student Edmund Haluska, and Washington Academy's Samuel Davidson and Hai Hoang all tied for first place with four wins out of five rounds.

After six rounds in the Rated Under 400 section, which was limited to Kindergarten through 5th grade players only, homeschooler Marin Alexander won first place with a perfect score of 6 wins and no losses followed by Conners Emerson 2nd grader Daniel Chang in 2nd place with 5 wins. Homeschooler Phoebe Alexander placed 3rd with four wins.

Finally, in the non-rated section, after six rounds, Mount Desert Elementary 5th grader Theo Schwartz was victorious in all six games to take home the top prize. Conners Emerson elementary student Everett Wood placed second with 2.5 wins and Mount Desert Elementary student Mark Wood came in third with 1.5 wins.

The tournament cross table is here: https://tinyurl.com/NoSchoolFridayChessTournament

MDI Chess is an informal association of chess coaches, players, and fans. Its mission is to foster chess education and opportunities on Mount Desert Island and around Hancock County, Maine. For more information contact mdichess1@gmail.com.

The U1000 and U700 contingent

Non-rated section top three finishers (left to right): Everett Wood, Theo Schwartz, and Mark Wood.

Players in the U400 section

Open section players (left to right): Ezra Sassaman, Tony Freudig, Tobias Coffey, and David Haluska.

Owen Nobel Brown (left) and Elijah Cox shake hands after their game.

Aiden Espling of Machias Memorial High School (right) contemplates his opening choices as the round is set to commence.

Former Maine Chess Association president J. Paul Ciarrocchi makes a move in his game.