Champs crowned in state chess competition

ORONO – State individual chess champions were crowned last weekend from Airline School, All Saints School, Center Drive School, Bangor and Orono high schools.

The annual Maine State Scholastic Individual Championships were held March 19 at the University of Maine. Sponsored by the UM Admissions Office and the College of Engineering, 83 chess players from all over the state gathered to compete for individual honors and the titles of State Elementary, Junior High and High School champions for 2004-2005.

The K-3 section winner was Anna Bryan of Airline Community School in Aurora, with a perfect 4-0 score. In second, with a 3-1 score was Andy Turner from Deer Isle-Stonington. In a tie for third place, Eric Babbitt of Deer Isle-Stonington and Ezra Briggs of the Maranatha Homeschool Fellowship of Lubec finished with 2.5-1.5 scores, with the third place trophy going to Eric Babbitt on tie-breaks.

The K-6 section saw a repeat winner in Drew Fahey of All Saints in Bangor. Drew had a perfect 4-0 result as well. He becomes the State Elementary Champion. In second place was Ian Pelletier of Deer Isle-Stonington with three wins and one draw for a 3.5 score. Four players scored three points; Kurt Eyerer, from Reeds Brook Middle School; Margaret Bryan from Airline Community School; Peter Campbell, from Cape Elizabeth Middle School; and Ben Morgan, from Westbrook. Kurt Eyerer received the third-place trophy on tie breaks.

In the Junior High Division, Andrew Jacobs of the Center Drive School in Orrington became the new State Junior High Champion with a perfect 4-0 score. Nikolai Renedo of Orono Middle School finished second with a 3.5. Fellow Orono Middle School teammates Henry Chai and Avery Cole tied for third place.

In the High School Under 1,200 section, Eric Brown and Brian Chick of Bangor High School tied for first with three wins and a draw each. On tie breaks, Eric received the first place trophy and Brian the second place trophy. Daniel Bourgeois-Capozzi of Bangor High and Zach Smith, Caribou High, tied for third, with Dan receiving the third place trophy on tie breaks.

In the High School Championship section, Cullen Edes of Orono became the new State High School Champion with a perfect score of 4-0. Four players tied for second with 3-1 scores: Alex Kimball of Westbrook, Zening Chen of Orono, and Conor Campbell and Kevin Townsend of John Bapst. Alex received the second place trophy and Zening, the third place trophy.

John Bapst High School will hold a “Chess-a-thon” on April 2 as a fund-raiser to attend the National Chess Championships later in April in Nashville. The events include quads, Blitz and Bughouse competitions. Contact Ralph Townsend at Ralph.Townsend@umit.maine.edu for entry and information.