After 31 players gathered in Saco for the first Chess Player of the Year event, 63 players competed at the MLK - Stillwater Montessori event in Old Town. What a tremendous weekend for Maine chess! The Saco event featured Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov (2590) and International Master David Vigorito (2505) who tied for first in the four round, two day event. Maine's own Matthew Fishburn finished a clear third and raised his rating to 2144. Carther Theogene won the Under 1750 by gaining a perfect 4.0.
In Old Town Max Berube and Steve (Chester) Young tied for first with 3.5, and Roger Morin finished third with 3.0. The K-12 section was won by Medomak Valley's Joe Powell (4.0), the K-8 section was led by Ben Amar (4.0), while the K-6 non-rated event was captured by Cole Stewart (4.0). The largest section was the K-8 section that had 28 combatants. The Open section saw a wide variety of ratings, but the games were all fairly competitive. It was nice to see both familiar and new faces squaring off.
In the drive to attract new members to MECA this year, we gained nine new members in Old Town and hopefully a like number in Saco. Not only are MECA members eligible for the Player of the Year competition, but they will receive discounts in future MECA events and receive email updates from the chessmaine.net website, the official MECA website. Please consider enrolling and supporting Maine chess: Adults $12 and Students $6. It will be worth your while to be a supporter of Maine chess.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Join MECA (the Maine Chess Association)!
MECA is looking to increase membership in 2014. The leading chess organization in Maine promotes Maine chess, helps fund the award-winning chessmaine.net website, and oversees the statewide MECA Player of the Year competition as well as sponsors the official state championship.
Yearly dues are $12 for adults and $6 for scholastics; that is $1 and 50 cents a month respectively - not very much to support Maine chess. Membership automatically includes one in the POY competition. The competition is to reward those that play in the 12 POY events. There are prizes for the 1st place finisher as well as the runner-up, and this year there are prizes for the top class B, C, and D and under finishers. The current cash rewards are $100, $50, $25, $25, and $25 respectively. If enrollment is high, the prize fund will be increased. Our goal is to double MECA membership this year which would mean having 80 members.
Let's make 2014 a chess year to remember! Follow chessmaine.net event page for upcoming events.
Yearly dues are $12 for adults and $6 for scholastics; that is $1 and 50 cents a month respectively - not very much to support Maine chess. Membership automatically includes one in the POY competition. The competition is to reward those that play in the 12 POY events. There are prizes for the 1st place finisher as well as the runner-up, and this year there are prizes for the top class B, C, and D and under finishers. The current cash rewards are $100, $50, $25, $25, and $25 respectively. If enrollment is high, the prize fund will be increased. Our goal is to double MECA membership this year which would mean having 80 members.
Let's make 2014 a chess year to remember! Follow chessmaine.net event page for upcoming events.
A New Year - Many Chess Opportunities
The New Year started out with a great turnout at John Bapst Memorial High School for their annual New Year's tournament. It was the largest turnout since 2008 with 43 players. There were ten players in the two Open quads, 18 in the Under 1200, and 15 in the Under 600.
The big upset of the day was Gabe Borland (1664) winning the top section. Borland had the lowest rating of the six players and garnered all three points in the three round/G60 event. His defeat of Aaron Spencer (1979) in the last round solidified the victory. Spencer had earlier defeated top seed Roger Morin (2034). All games in the top section were highly competitive despite the 370 point spread. Tom Sandford (1786) tied with Spencer in second with 2.0 points. Curt Brock (1680) and Rob Shore (1721) rounded out the section.
The second quad ended in a three-way tie with Ryan Tripp, Dan DeLuca, and Corey Dunn all gaining two points. Nathan Shemwell completed the quad. In the U1200 Joseph Powell defended his top rating by scoring 4.0 to win the Bob Solinger Trophy. Osage Crie won the U600 section by gaining 4.0 points in the four round section.
Next weekend there are two MECA Player of the Year events: one a two-day event in Saco (1/18-1/19) and the other the annual MLK event in Old Town (1/20). The Saco event is one of the larger purses in Maine during the year and is brought to you by Relyea Chess. The Old Town event is usually a heavily attended scholastic event. These are two excellent opportunities to get a good start in the new MECA POY format. Register early to help out the TD's. Hope to see you at one of the events!
The big upset of the day was Gabe Borland (1664) winning the top section. Borland had the lowest rating of the six players and garnered all three points in the three round/G60 event. His defeat of Aaron Spencer (1979) in the last round solidified the victory. Spencer had earlier defeated top seed Roger Morin (2034). All games in the top section were highly competitive despite the 370 point spread. Tom Sandford (1786) tied with Spencer in second with 2.0 points. Curt Brock (1680) and Rob Shore (1721) rounded out the section.
The second quad ended in a three-way tie with Ryan Tripp, Dan DeLuca, and Corey Dunn all gaining two points. Nathan Shemwell completed the quad. In the U1200 Joseph Powell defended his top rating by scoring 4.0 to win the Bob Solinger Trophy. Osage Crie won the U600 section by gaining 4.0 points in the four round section.
Next weekend there are two MECA Player of the Year events: one a two-day event in Saco (1/18-1/19) and the other the annual MLK event in Old Town (1/20). The Saco event is one of the larger purses in Maine during the year and is brought to you by Relyea Chess. The Old Town event is usually a heavily attended scholastic event. These are two excellent opportunities to get a good start in the new MECA POY format. Register early to help out the TD's. Hope to see you at one of the events!
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