Busy MLK Chess Weekend Concludes in Old Town

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.