The First Round of the State Championship

I went down to South Portland to watch the first round of the State Championship sponsored by the Maine Chess Association. I went to see some interesting chess and campaign for president.

The first round saw a few upsets in 15 games. The biggest was by Matthew Reale-Hatem over Andrey Savov. It really wasn't that close. The other rating upsets were by high school age students over some of the older veterans. The top rated players cruised easily.

I was disappointed that there were only 31 players in the championship section. Of course the fact that it is later in the year than usual did not help. There were no signs nearby even pointing out where the tournament was held. The venue was fine but the room itself was cramped and difficult to view games or even move around.

Roger Morin asked me why I would be a better candidate than Akagi. I mentioned that I would bring more visibility to chess and promote new tournament opportunities. I'm not sure what the major differences would be. I basically feel that I'm a good fit for Maine chess. I have been observing chess in Maine for the last twenty years and have many contacts and friends who would support me in pushing chess forward. I would be honored to have the opportunity to be at the front promoting Maine chess.

I'll continue to mention ideas that I have as we head toward the election.