ORONO – The University of Maine Memorial Union on Saturday played host to nearly 100 scholastic chess players from throughout the state vying for top individual honors in elementary, junior high and high school sections.

In the high school championship section, several of the top seeds proceeded as expected with key matchups in the third round between first seed Cullen Edes of Orono and fourth seed Fritz Eyerer of John Bapst Memorial High School and between third seed Lucas McCain of Yarmouth and second seed Nimrod Drizlikh of Scarborough.

Edes and McCain won their games to set up the title match in the final round.

After a prolonged struggle of attack and counterattack, the position dissolved into equality with neither player having an advantage. The players agreed to a draw, becoming co-champions for the state high school title for 2007.

Tied for third were Fritz Eyerer of John Bapst and Murray Bridges of John Bapst, both with 3-1 scores.

In the high schools under-1,200 rating section, Max Berube of South Portland and Reed Wommack of Yarmouth both scored 3.5 points – three wins and a draw – to become co-winners of the that section. Tied for third were Frank Kessler III of John Bapst, Sorel Edes of Orono and John Soong of South Portland.

In the junior high section, Margaret Bryan of Airline Community School continued to add to her impressive chess resume by taking the title.

Tied for second were Nikolai Renedo of Orono, Jiawei Zou of Orono, Zebulon Coombs of China and Kurt Eyerer of Newburgh. This section saw some of the more evenly matched players and games of any of the sections, with a large group of players tied at 2-2 for the day.

In the elementary kindergarten through grade six section, which crowns the elementary state champion, Matthew Fishbein of Cape Elizabeth followed up his kindergarten through grade three championship of a year ago to become the 2007 state elementary champion.

Fishbein was locked in a tight fourth round game with Sam Grindle of Deer Isle-Stonington when he sacrificed his rook to stop Grindle’s passed pawn and promote his own passed pawn to a queen and then win the game, finishing with a 4-0 score.

Fishbein, a third-grader, continues to show that it’s not always the older player that can come out on top in the elementary section.

Past young players accomplishing this have included Drew Fahey, who shared the title as a second-grader in 2003, and Michael Enamorati and Aaron Lewis, third grade, in 1999 and 1989, respectively.

Sam Grindle, Hayden Ciomei and Eric Babbit of Deer Isle-Stonington, Paul Rudnicki of All Saints School in Bangor, Ezra Briggs of Maranatha in Washington County, Brett Parker of Cape Elizabeth and John Kenneway of Old Town all had three wins and one loss to tie for second place.

In the elementary kindergarten through grade three section, Wesley Parker of Cape Elizabeth was the clear winner with four wins. Isaac Robinson of Bangor, Max DeLuca Lowell of Airline Community School and Eli Spahn of Palermo shared runner-up honors with the same 3-1 score.

In addition, the individual tournament featured a “sidekick quad” event, an adults-only tournament to help raise money for the Maine Chess Coaches Association.

Part of these proceeds defray costs while MCCA also contributes some surplus funds for team travel to the national chess tournaments.

Twelve players competed in a quad format, with Alba Briggs serving as organizer and tournament director. Winners in each of the quads were Mark Woida, Andy Bryan and Ben Johnson.

Tournament directors for the scholastic events were Phillip Lowell and Lee Doucette. Ron Lewis was the individuals tournament Leader.

Tournament trophies were coordinated by Bob Solinger. The annual state scholastic tournaments are overseen by the MCCA, Kathy Richards, treasurer. The organizers extend thanks to the many coaches, parents and volunteers that make this event special year after year.