The Bob Solinger Memorial Tournament, named after a former Bapst chess coach, took place at John Bapst on Saturday, January 11. For the last two years, the Solinger Memorial has rung in the New Year and been Maine’s largest non-scholastic championship tournament. This year, 85 players from several schools and districts from across the state came to Bapst to do battle over the board.

   In the Open section, Benjamin Mock finished tied for second place with 2.5 points in four rounds after competing at a track meet earlier in the day. Benjamin is one of the state’s best players, let alone a top scholastic player, and played tough in the tournament’s most challenging section.

   In the U1500 section, Prince Wang scored a win in three games in a very competitive section.

   In the U1000 section, Andrew Castellanos, John Hoang, and Tony Huang tied for second with 3.0 points in four rounds. Michael Mai finished with 2.0 points in four rounds, and Jake Grover also played in the section, scoring 1.5 points in four rounds.

   In the U600, Rachel Norment notched a perfect score to take first place in her section. Dakota Colson finished close behind in fourth place with 3.0 points. Peter Clark, Khanye Cogdell, and Tyler McGoldrick finished with 2.0 points, and Hayden O’Connell scored a win in three games.

   Congratulations to all for a great start to the 2020 scholastic chess season.