There never has been a 15-minute Eastern Maine Chess champion. Neither has there been an elevator for handicapped people in the Keith Anderson Community House in Orono. What do these situations have in common?

Both situations are about to be remedied as an Elevator Committee begins raising money for the elevator through a quick chess tournament in October.

Quick chess is a new development. The U.S. Chess Federation has a separate rating system for games played with time control of 10 minutes a game and for those played at 15 minutes a game. There have been five-minute games rated by Walter Browne’s organization and 30-minute rapid games rated by Yasser Seirawan’s organization. And there have been regular games of 30 moves in 30 minutes, or slower, rated by USCF and FIDE, but the gap in time controls inspired quick chess for those to whom five-minute games were too fast and 30-minute games were too slow.

The New York Chess Festival last month staged two quick chess championship tournaments, one for each of the time controls. Now, eastern Maine will have its own.

The Elevator Tournament will be held Oct. 10 at the Keith Anderson Community Center and half the entry fee will benefit the Elevator Fund. Plans may change but for now entry is $15 for a 7- or 8-round event beginning about 9:30 a.m. A $3 discount may be given for advance mail registration. Players will be seeded according to their USCF ratings. USCF membership is required and will be available at the site.

Solution: White wins with 1.b4-b5! White still must be careful to maintain the opposition 1…Kb8, 2.Ke5?? Kc7!, for example, allows black to draw, while 1…Kb8, 2.Ke4!! Kc7, 3.Ke5! Kd7, 4.Kd5 Kc7, 5.Ke6 Kb7, 6.Kd7 Ka8, 7.Kc6! Ka7, 8.Kc7 Ka8, 9.Kxb6 and wins. Note that the white king must use care in each move to avoid a draw. The key to winning is opposition. Lose opposition and lose the game.