Post-Supernational Letdown

Since it has been almost three weeks since I last commented, it's obvious that there was a letdown after the big event: Supernationals. Letdowns bring out a bevy of emotions but then one realizes that it was a heck of an experience. Everyone certainly enjoyed their moments of a lifetime.

It's been disappointing that an event of this magnitude with 29 Mainers taking part did not get more press coverage. It does take someone to call the newspapers and alert them to the happening, and I suppose that I could do it as well as anybody. I plan on sending a wrap to the Bangor Daily News; it's always a question if I'll follow through or not.

I've been playing online a little bit again, mainly working on the Chess Tactics Server. I also have four games going on Gameknot. I do feel like I'm keeping my skills better than dull. I'm sure there will be a tournament in the future.

There's still no news on the Maine Closed Championship. There is a date for the Chessmaine.net Championship: Saturday, June 27. That has become the most anticipated event of the season for the Open crowd.

The rumor mill has it that Gabe Borland is deferring to Lucas McCain and letting him represent Maine at the Denker. Does anyone have any confirmation on that? If so, wow! Gabe had a great year and certainly has earned his right to be Maine's representative. He really enjoyed himself at the Supernationals in Nashville and already has been a terrific ambassador for Maine scholastic chess. Once again, congratulations to Gabe on his stellar senior season and to being a top sportsman.

Some More Results

The high school group may not have come home with hardware but their effort against daunting competition was commendable. Led by Aaron Spencer in the Championship Section with 3.5 points, the John Bapst team totaled 8.5 for a 37th place finish out of 50 teams. Zach Smith and Maggie Bryan both won their last round games to finish on an upbeat note. Smith was particularly pleased with his three points and the decision to play in the Championship Section. His three wins included two over 1600 players and one over a 1700. The Orono team found the competition very tough garnering 4.5 points over the seven rounds. Gabe Borland scored 2.5 to lead the way. In other high school sections Kurt Eyerer scored 3.0 in U1600, Dan Honeycutt and Omar Khan scored 4.0 in U800, and Deanna Power scored 3.0 in the Unrated section. It was a great learning experience for all.

The two Maine students competing in the Elementary sections both brought home hardware. Matthew Fishbein led all players from the state by scoring 5.5 points and finishing 16th which placed him ahead of Susan Polgar's son Tommy who played in the same K5 Championship section. Anna Bryan, competing in the K6U1000 section scored 5.0 points and tied for 18th that earned her a T-25th place trophy. Fittingly Matthew and Anna were the last Mainers playing in the last round with both securing wins.

The Jr. High Sections brought the most success and trophies. Deer Isle-Stonington finished 9th in the K-8 U750 section and 11th in the K-8 U1000 section. Hayden Ciomei received a trophy for his 5.0 showing and 24th place position, but DI-S as usual was propelled by their depth and consistent performance. Great job, Mariners! The other coastal team (albeit from the southern coast of Maine) Cape Elizabeth secured an 8th place trophy behind the stellar efforts of Wes Parker and Anthony Freccero's scores of 5.0 a piece in the K9 U1250 section. Terrific performance, Capers!

Final Round Complete

Final round complete and here's a partial report on players' final point totals.

Hayden Ciomei, Nathan Davis, and Bethanny Humphrey of DI-S finished with 5.0 points. Wesley Parker and Anthony Freccero also scored 5.0 for Cape Elizabeth. Anna Bryan joined this contingent in another marathon affair with only Matthew Fishbein's last round game still in progress for the Mainers.

Final results and report will be done after awards ceremony tonight.

Round 6 Winds Down

Unable to get all results but I do have some. Cape Elizabeth had a good round in the K9U1250 section gaining 2.5 points and poising themselves for a run at some hardware in the final round. Wesley Parker and Anthony Freccero each have 4.0 points while Brett Parker (3.5) and Matthew Reale-Hatem (2.5) complete their scoring.

In the K-12 section John Bapst had a difficult round with only Deanna Power's win and Aaron Spencer's draw are the only positives to report so far.

Anna Bryan continues her strong play in the K6U1000 section as she climbed to 4.0 with another win over a higher ranked opponent.

More later!

Team Standings through 5 Rounds

High School Championship: (50 Teams)
John Bapst 35th
Orono 44th

High School U800: (40 Teams)
John Bapst 23rd

K9 U1250: (58 Teams)
Cape Elizabeth 10th

K8 U1000: (32 Teams)
Deer Isle-Stonington 15th

K8 U750: (52 Teams)
Deer Isle-Stonington 9th

Partial 5th Round Reports

The fifth round started out better in the high school section before ending on a downside. Looking toward the successes first, Maine High School champ Gabe Borland won his second game in a swift fashion, Deanna Power did the same, and Aaron Spencer defeated Californian Charles Sun (1859) very methodically. Unfortunately Daniel Honeycutt lost for the first time in five rounds and his teammate Omar Khan (3.0) also fell in rd 5. The ratings followed form with the other secondary school players. Maggie Bryan lost to Ohioan Trey Modlin (1803), Zach Smith lost to Vikas Kumar (1699) of Tennessee, and Kurt Eyerer fell to Texan Christopher Pena (1571). Ryan Vienneau moved to 1.5 with a victory as Sorel Edes stayed at 0.5. They all seemed positive and happy to be here. Go get 'em tomorrow high schoolers!

Anna Bryan from the Airline gained another half point with a draw (3.0).

Deer Isle-Stonington early results from Hayden Ciomei, Sam Grindle, and Bethanny Humphrey landed in the positive column. I'll have more in the morning.

Honeycutt Only Mainer To Remain Undefeated through Four Rounds

Daniel Honeycutt kept his score perfect with a quick checkmate in Round 4. Matthew Fishbein fell to a two-time national champion in his fourth round while Wes Parker and Omar Khan also fell from the ranks of the unbeatens. The overall showing of the Mainers has been very steady considering their ratings.

The John Bapst team has scored 15.0 out of a possible 28.0 while Cape has scored 12.0 out of 20.0. The Cape U1250 team is in 13th and the Bapst U800 team is in 20th. Deer Isle U1000 is in 15th and their U750 is 9th.

The fifth round is the endurance round as everyone here has had a long day of chess. It will be the battle of wills more than ever. The K12 Championship section is loaded. Margaret Bryan is playing her highest rated opponent to date, an 1803 rated player with only 1.0 points! Aaron Spencer's opponent is 1859, Zach Smith's is 1699, and Kurt Eyerer's is 1571.

I'll get as many of the Round 5 results out as I can tonight.

Start of Round 5 Scores

Bapst:
Spencer 2.0
M. Bryan 1.0
Smith 1.0
Eyerer 2.0
Honeycutt 4.0
Khan 3.0
Power 1.0

Airline:
A. Bryan 2.5

Cape Elizabeth:
Fishbein 3.0
W. Parker 3.0
B. Parker 2.0
Freccero 2.5
Reale-Hatem 1.5

Deer Isle-Stonington:
Grindle 2.0
Ciomei 3.0
Turner 2.0
Davis 3.0
Humphrey 3.0
N. Eaton 2.0
I. Zembrusky 2.0
Morey 1.5
Bartlett 1.0
C. Brown 1.0
W. Brown 1.0
A. Eaton 1.0
S. Zembrusky 1.0

Orono:
Borland 1.0
Vienneau 0.5
Edes 0.5

Midway Point of Tournament

Just finished losing a game to the venerable Dick Powell of Deer Isle-Stonington and visiting with Isaac Marnik who's lending a hand to analyzing games for the DI-S players. You can just tell this group is used to Nationals.

The Bapst group continues to hold their own with only one or two disappointing defeats and nice games from all. Anna Bryan was rewarded for her hard work yesterday by gaining a quick win in the third round. And Matthew Fishbein (Cape E.) continues to move up the ladder in the K5 Championship section. Wes Parker, also from Cape, remains undefeated in his section as do Omar Kahn and Daniel Honeycutt in theirs.

Must go check on those fourth round games.

Results through Rd. 3

Sorry I forgot the Deer Isle scores last time, so here goes:

Sam Grindle 1.0
Andy Turner 2.0
Hayden Ciomei 2.0
Conner Morey 0.5
Chelsea Brown 1.0
Nathan Davis 2.0
Bethanny Humphrey 2.0
Ivan Zembrusky 1.0
Alec Eaton 1.0
Tyler Bartlett 1.0
Sasha Zembrusky 0.0
Whitney Brown 1.0
Nick Eaton 2.0

Airline:
Anna Bryan 1.5

Cape Elizabeth:
Fishbein 3.0
Wes Parker 3.0
Brett Parker 2.0
Reale-Hatem 1.5
Freccaro 1.5

Bapst:
Spencer 1.0
Bryan 1.0
Smith 2.0
Kahn 3.0
Honeycutt 3.0
Eyerer 1.0
Power 1.0

Orono:
Borland 1.0
Vienneau 0.5
Edes 0.0

Day 1 Results

John Bapst :
Aaron Spencer 1.0
Margaret Bryan 1.0
Zach Smith 1.0
Kurt Eyerer 1.0
Daniel Honeycutt 2.0
Omar Kahn 2.0
Deanna Power 1.0

Orono High School:
Gabe Borland 1.0
Ryan Vienneau 0.5
Sorel Edes 0.0

Cape Elizabeth:
Matthew Fishbein 2.0
Wesley Parker 2.0
Brett Parker 2.0
Matthew Reale-Hatem 1.5
Robert Freccero 0.5

Airline:
Anna Bryan 0.5

Day 1 Over - Phew!

Day 1 came to a fitting conclusion for the John Bapst group when Anna Bryan resigned in the longest game of Round 2. The results are partial as we all were exhausted from our never-ending journey yesterday. Daniel Honeycutt was 2-0. Aaron Spencer, Margaret Bryan, and Kurt Eyerer were all even at 1.o while we waited for results on the others. Ryan Vienneau of Orono had 0.5 which matched Anna's score. The Cape Elizabeth team had a great first round scoring 3.5 out of a possible 4 in the K-9 Under 1250 section as Matthew Fishbein won his first round.

Tomorrow will be more organized and I promise to have more useful information. Stay tuned!

Round 1 - When A Draw Is A Triumph

Round 1 went well for the Bapst contingent overall with wins from Aaron Spencer, Kurt Eyerer, Daniel Honeycutt, and Omar Khan while Margaret Bryan and Zach Smith lost to higher rated opponents and Deanna Power lost in the Unrated section. But the game of the day belonged to Anna Bryan as she played for four hours and earned a draw over one of the higher rated players in her section. Playing on minimal sleep after arriving at her hotel room at 4:00AM, she battled tooth and nail to the very end to a stalemate. From the length of the ballroom (spectators were not allowed) we saw her opponent crumple in disgust as the last piece was captured to reduce the board to just kings.

There were some other Maine results, but it would be best to go to the results page www.supernationalsiv.com and hit Pairings and Standings to get the latest.

We Made It!

It's 4:20 EST and we have made it to our room. I'm not sure that a trip like that is conducive to winning chess, but we will soon find out.

Due to a canceled flight, being rerouted to Atlanta, and severe weather, we finally found our room at the Gaylord. Joel Benjamin was checking in at the same time, so I guess we fit in with a chess grandmaster! Many other families were on the wee hours flight. I wonder what the quality of the first round will be like.

Next time I'll be a little more coherent.

Stuck in Boston

Well, it didn't take long to leave Maine, but when we got to Boston we found out that our flight to Cincinnati was canceled. We now have been rerouted through Atlanta and are hoping that we can get to Nashville tonight. The Bapst group is staying loose, using electronic toys, and playing a little chess. The next departure time is 4:20.

Aaron Spencer is most concerned with our delay because he is signed up for the simul with Women's World Champ Alexandra Kosteniuk in the morning. Let's hope the rest of the trip goes more smoothly.