Some New Looks Ahead

Six MECA members met Sunday, November 13 for the organization's annual meeting. Those six members were Andy Bryan, Lee Doucette, Jon Malev, Phil Lowell, Brian Roderick, and Ron Lewis. We took care of some 2011 business by recognizing MECA player of the year Roger Morin and runner-up Lance Beloungie and approving the cash prizes of $150 and $75 for their efforts. The MECA player of the year competition rewards two MECA members for their participation in MECA player of the year (POY) specified events with added points added for their results in these tournaments. Morin and Beloungie worked hard from the first tournament in Aroostook County to the Eastern Maine Open to garner the top spot. The competition was incredibly tight coming down to a less than one point difference. They should both be commended for the effort they made to participate in so many MECA POY events.

Next year the competition has been expanded to include 12 MECA recognized events. There will be three events in each part of the state that will be sanctioned. The areas are Northern Maine, the Bangor area, Central Maine (Waterville/Augusta), and Southern Maine (south of Augusta). Players will accumulate points from 8 of the 12 events toward their POY standing. A player must be a member of MECA to participate. A player may play in more than 8 events but will only take points from just 8 events - their best 8 events. Points are earned by rounds played and points accumulated. (Half-point byes will not be scored.) Each event will be worth 8 points except for the Maine State Closed Championship which is worth 10. For examples: if an event is three rounds, points will be worth 1 and 1/3, while in a quick-rated event of 12 rounds, points would be worth 1/3. For complete rules be sure to read the specifics on chessmaine.net. The tournaments will be announced as soon as the events have been sanctioned by MECA.

MECA is still looking for multiple officers. Lee Doucette is running for Secretary again, and Phil Lowell is running to be a member of the Policy Board. The rest of the positions are looking for candidates for a December election. All positions are now two-year terms. The Policy Board positions are now two year terms after approval of the change made at the annual meeting. I, Andy Bryan, will continue to fill the presidency until a MECA member decides to step forward and run for this position. Please contact a member of the board or Dan De Luca to announce your intentions. The role of MECA is to help promote chess in Maine, and it is a non-profit organization run by volunteers. Check on MECA's website, chessmaine.net, to learn more about the Maine Chess Association.

I've enjoyed the experience as president, but I also feel frustrated that I haven't been able to spend as much time as I would have liked on helping Maine chess. That is the main reason that I am hoping that someone else will step forward who has more time to promote chess than I have had the last few months. As I stated earlier, I will continue in the position until someone else expresses their interest. Please contact me if you have any questions - bvbryan@aol.com.