Five champions crowned in state chess tournament

ORONO – The University of Maine Memorial Union sprang to life in early March as 327 chess players gathered for the annual State Scholastic Team Chess Championships – the biggest one-day chess tournament ever held in the state.

Five state champions were crowned in four grade categories, along with champs in reserve and novice sections.

At the championship level, Deer Isle-Stonington won kindergarten through grade six and junior high titles, while tying with John Bapst of Bangor among high school teams, and Airline Community School from Aurora was the kindergarten through grade three champ. Anna Bryan and Haley DeLuca-Lowell of Airline carded 4-0 scores while teammates Andrew Jones and Laddy DeLuca-Lowell scored 3-1 records.

Deer Isle-Stonington and Perry Elementary tied for second, while on tie-breaks, Deer-Isle received the second-place trophy. Also receiving trophies were Laddy DeLuca-Lowell for the top girl player and Jeff Stanhope of Perry Elementary School for top unrated player.

The kindergarten through grade three team score is based on the top three scorers, who were for Deer-Isle, Ivan Zembrusky, Reid Bartlett and Claire Diehlmann; and for Perry Elementary, Macky Hood, Jeff Stanhope and Savannah Turner.

In the kindergarten through grade six division, Deer-Isle Stonington edged out Cape Elizabeth, 16 to 15.5. The total of the top five players is the team score. Winning for Deer Isle were David McManus, Sam Grindle, Nathan Davis, Nick Eaton and Lucas Oliver; for Cape Elizabeth, Peter Campbell, Matthew Fishbein, Daniel Brett, Shannon Daly and Ethan Duperre. Paul Rudnicki of All Saints and Peter Campbell had perfect 4-0 scores. Receiving a trophy for top girl scorer was Chelsea Brown of Deer-Isle Stonington, while Alex Silva of Cape Elizabeth received the top unrated player trophy.

In the junior high division, Deer Isle-Stonington edged out Orono 16.5 to 15.5. The top five players totaled the team score. The Deer Isle top five were Jay Boyce, Andrew Babbitt, Ian Pelletier, Deven Haskall and Goldie Garcia; for Orono, Avery Cole, Ari Dimoulas, Jaiwei Zou, Nickolai Renedo and John Robinson. The top girl scorer was Margaret Bryan of Airline. The top unrated prize was shared by Garrett Sullivan of Perry Elementary and Liam Mullen of Bristol Consolidated.

Fourteen teams competed in the high school championship section. In round three, Deer Isle-Stonington and John Bapst Memorial High School fought to a tie with 2.5 match points, while Orono had secured a perfect 3.0 total. In the final round, defending John Bapst squared off against Orono.

John Bapst won the match while Deer Isle-Stonington won its match to leave the two tied to become state high school team champions. While the teams were declared co-champions, John Bapst took home the first-place trophy on tie-breaks. Orono, Marshwood and Hampden Academy tied for third.

Members of the winning teams were Kevin Townsend, Ray Solinger, Colin Campbell, Conor Campbell and Jordan Trundy for John Bapst; and for Deer Isle, Daniel Robbins, Bryant Ciomei, Shane Eatone, Colin Ciomei and Jon Eaton.

The top girl was Mariah Gleaton of Erskine Academy. The top unrated player was Matt Arey of Cheverus.

In high school reserve, John Bapst took first place. Top scorers for John Bapst were Joshua Andrews, Zach Lapierre and Murray Bridges. Second place went to Bucksport with Craig Kneeland, Max Cronin and Lloyd Turk.

In high school novice, the top player was Zachary Smith of John Bapst. The John Bapst team, with Smith, Alex Ortiz and Ken Willey as top scorers, took home the first-place team trophy. Second place was a tie between Machias and Bucksport with 6.5 points each. On tie-breaks, Machias received the second-place team trophy. Machias fielded Jeanifer Pelletier, Ryan Beck, Chris Sanborn and Chris Buxton, while Bucksport had Chris Holmes, Corey Landeen and Eric Falvey.

In elementary novice, Bucksport Middle School bested Belgrade Central Elementary. Top scorers for Bucksport were Joseph McNamara, Brady MacLeod and David Fucillo; for Belgrade, Jacob Archer, Sean Boylan and Jai Aslam.

In junior high novice, Warsaw Middle School of Pittsfield took first place, topping Bristol Consolidated. Top-scoring players for Warsaw were Donovan Miller, Nathan Nadeau and Eric Weeman; for Bristol, Donald Cundy, Steven Severance and Skip Grant.

The tournament was hosted by the University of Maine with sponsorship by the College of Engineering, Provost-Enrollment Management and the University Women’s Studies. The tournaments are overseen by the Maine Chess Coaches Association.