Camden Hills Regional High School chess masters are Maine champions at statewide competition
The CHRHS Championship team consisted of Miles Kaplan, Hector Clayton, Oliver Mitchell, Victor Clayton and Miles Gupta. (Photo courtesy Kate Ervin Kaplan)
Miles Kaplan on Board 1, Miles Gupta on Board 2, Hector Clayton on Board 3, and Victor Clayton on Board 4. (Photo courtesy Kate Ervin Kaplan)
Here are the CHRHS champs in 2019, when they won the championships. From the left: Hector Clayton, Sam Blystone, Miles Kaplan. (Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)
(Photo courtesy Kate Ervin Kaplan)
(Photo courtesy Kate Ervin Kaplan)
Holding the red trophy, Aiden Waters, Coach Bruce Haffner. Next row up with the ball cap Patrick Rasmussen; to the right of Coach Haffner with black pants holding the blue trophy is Sewall Peet, and then Ben Goodwin in the green pants. Top row: Axel Johnson, Layla Levin, Olivia Waters, Kenneth O’Hara and Aidan O’Hara.(Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)
The board closest on the left is James Lacy, the middle board on the right is Aidan O’Hara, and the furthest board on the left is Aiden Waters. The team finished tied for first with Connor’s Emerson Elementary School. Each team had 7 points: Aiden waters had 3 wins and Aiden O’Hara and James Lacy each had to wins. The team lost 2 to 1 in the playoffs, so they got the second plates trophy. (Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)
Aiden Waters, Coach Bruce Haffner, Aiden Ohara and James Lacy. (Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)
Zachary Egeland and Carver Heyniger (Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)
James Kimmett (Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)
Rory Malpes, Nico Levin, Coach Bruce Haffner, Camillo Serafini, Garrett Butcher, Matias Cruz (Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)
Aiden Waters, while losing his last game in the playoffs (Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)
The CHRHS Championship team consisted of Miles Kaplan, Hector Clayton, Oliver Mitchell, Victor Clayton and Miles Gupta. (Photo courtesy Kate Ervin Kaplan)
Miles Kaplan on Board 1, Miles Gupta on Board 2, Hector Clayton on Board 3, and Victor Clayton on Board 4. (Photo courtesy Kate Ervin Kaplan)
Here are the CHRHS champs in 2019, when they won the championships. From the left: Hector Clayton, Sam Blystone, Miles Kaplan. (Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)
(Photo courtesy Kate Ervin Kaplan)
(Photo courtesy Kate Ervin Kaplan)
Holding the red trophy, Aiden Waters, Coach Bruce Haffner. Next row up with the ball cap Patrick Rasmussen; to the right of Coach Haffner with black pants holding the blue trophy is Sewall Peet, and then Ben Goodwin in the green pants. Top row: Axel Johnson, Layla Levin, Olivia Waters, Kenneth O’Hara and Aidan O’Hara.(Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)
The board closest on the left is James Lacy, the middle board on the right is Aidan O’Hara, and the furthest board on the left is Aiden Waters. The team finished tied for first with Connor’s Emerson Elementary School. Each team had 7 points: Aiden waters had 3 wins and Aiden O’Hara and James Lacy each had to wins. The team lost 2 to 1 in the playoffs, so they got the second plates trophy. (Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)
Aiden Waters, Coach Bruce Haffner, Aiden Ohara and James Lacy. (Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)
Zachary Egeland and Carver Heyniger (Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)
James Kimmett (Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)
Rory Malpes, Nico Levin, Coach Bruce Haffner, Camillo Serafini, Garrett Butcher, Matias Cruz (Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)
Aiden Waters, while losing his last game in the playoffs (Photo courtesy Coach Bruce Haffner)Camden Hills Regional High School chess masters placed first overall in the high school division of the Maine Scholastic Team Chess Championship, March 7, at the Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center at the University of Maine at Orono.
This annual competition matches the top four players from each high school in Maine against each other in a team play format.
The CHRHS Championship team consisted of Miles Kaplan on Board 1, Miles Gupta on Board 2, Hector Clayton on Board 3, and Victor Clayton on Board 4.
Kaplan scored a total of 3.5 points for the team, Miles Gupta scored 3 points, Hector Clayton scored 2.5 points, and Victor Clayton scored 2 points.
Each player was awarded one point for each win and 0.5 point for each draw. The outcome of each match was determined by which team scored the most points.
CHRHS defeated the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in the first round 3-1, Caribou High School in the second round 3-1, South Portland High School in the third round 3-1, and finally tied John Bapst in the final round 2-2, ultimately winning the Championship trophy on tie-breaks.
In this case, the winner was determined by the team scoring the most points overall throughout the day of competition.
CHRHS chess masters have been playing for years. In 2022, Victor Clayton, then in fifth grade, was crowned state chess champion at the Maine Scholastic Individual Chess Championships.
Miles Kaplan and Hector Clayton met in Chess Club in third grade and became close friends. That year, they led Camden-Rockport Elementary School's team to win the K-3 division of the State Team Chess Championships.
More recently, they had both stepped away from chess, but decided to come "out of retirement" to play in this State Championship together.
"What fun to see them victorious again," said Kate Ervin Kaplan.
In addition, all players not competing in the Championship section entered a team-restricted Swiss tournament to determine the Maine Scholastic Team Chess Reserve Champions. CHRHS also won this title.
Oliver Mitchell scored 3 points, Carver Heyniger scored 3 points, James Kimmett scored 2.5 points, and Zachary Egeland scored 2 points. This was the first time in recent history that one school claimed both titles in the same year.
Meanwhile, Coach Bruce Haffner was encouraging the elementary and middle school students toward success. In the end, the two Camden-Rockport school students tied for first place in K/1; they won 2/3; came in fourth in 4/5; and sixth in 6/8.
