John Bapst players earn state chess title

BANGOR – On March 5, the John Bapst Memorial High School Chess Team won the Maine State High School championship title for all classes with a perfect 4-0 record. In addition, the school’s reserve team won the reserve state title for all classes by taking the first five places.

“This was an exciting event for us,” said first-year team coach Kurt Klappenbach. “These young people have been working toward this goal for years. They’ve worked incredibly hard to get to this point and we couldn’t have asked for better results. I give a lot of credit to the school’s prior chess coach, Scott Burgess, and the team’s co-coach, Bob Solinger. Both have contributed greatly to this win.”

The chess team has begun fund-raising for the trip to Nashville, Tenn., where players will compete in the National Chess Tournament in early April. Among their fund-raising events will be a bottle drive, a 24-hour chess marathon, and community chess tournament with an adult section and a student “bug house” match. The team also is seeking corporate sponsors.

The last time the John Bapst Chess Team won the state championship was in 2001. That year they went on to place fourth in the national event.

Chess team members are Brian Rand, Orrington; Joseph Lawlor, Holden; Ben Amaral, Carmel; Josh Andrews, Levant; Colin and Conor Campbell, Orrington; David Jones, Orrington; Frank Kessler, Amherst; Ray Solinger, Eddington; Kevin Townsend, Orono; Jordon Trundy, Clifton; Murray Bridges, Amherst; Zack LaPierre, Milford; Matt Verosloff, Levant; and Fritz Eyerer of Newburgh.

To learn more about how to provide financial support for the chess team’s trip to Tennessee, call 947-0313, ext. 116, or e-mail Melody Weeks at weeksm@johnbapst.org.