Welcome!

Maine Chess Association

Interested in playing rated games?

About MECA

MECA Website

3rd Maine State Correspondence Chess Championship
21 May 2022 to 18 October 2022

You can see the results here.

Upcoming Tournaments

Massachusetts
31st Mid-Winter Classic
Regionals
Florence, Massachusetts
Saturday, January 28, 2023

February Big Money Blitz
Enhanced Grand Prix
Boston, Massachusetts
Friday, February 3, 2023

New Hampshire
9th Queen City Tornado
Grand Prix
Manchester, New Hampshire
Saturday, January 25, 2023

Vermont
2023 UVM Open
Burlington, Vermont
Saturday, February 11 - Sunday, February 12, 2023

For more tournaments

You can check out more tournaments in other states by going to the USCF website. Just select a state and click the Apply button.

Chess Cheating Scandal

Cover of January 2023 ChessLife magazine
L'affaire Niemann - Great article in January 2023 issue of ChessLife by John Hartmann

December 19, 2022 - January 23rd, 2023. We play "club chess" at Waterville Chess Club. Tournament chess is a bit more intense (even our local events here in Maine), but by the time you get onto the world stage and add in Magnus Carlsen it gets very intense. Ever since the Sinquefield Cup tournament in August 2022, the chess world has been absorbed with the clash between Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann that exploded with Carlsen's withdrawal from the tournament. Opinions about whether Hans cheated and why Magnus refuses to play him again vary, but it is clear that the controversy has captured our attention (perhaps distracting us from other scandals and controversies that have a more significant impact on our lives, at least in the long run).

There have already been a ton of videos and articles, lots of news coverage, and now a lawsuit. You might not find this particularly interesting; after all, we meet every week for the pleasure of playing chess or improving our game [most of us, anyway]. But if you do find it interesting: I created a new web page that collects up most of the articles and videos and images I have been following (because there are just so many of them)! The material ranges from commentary to coverage to satire. And, for good measure, some of the videos showcase some of Hans Niemann's games (before and after the game that started the ruckus). To be honest, much of it covers the same ground, but I found it interesting to hear different opinions of the meaning behind the publicly available information. And some of the games are fun to review.

I have certainly been getting my money's worth from Google and YouTube (and the New York Times), but I have been paywalled from some other publications (so your mileage may vary). As a full-fledged armchair commentator, I have thrown in my two cents to the debate. And, yes, it is taking forever for me to finish the new page, so I am publishing half a loaf for now and will add the rest when I can; more material comes out almost every day, so I will continue to update the page until people stop writing, blogging, vlogging and podcasting about it! After all, cheating (or the suspicion that there has been cheating) is not likely to go away any time soon.



Schedule and News

Usually Refreshed on Sundays

Next in-person meetings in this area:

  • Mondays. We will be meeting on Monday afternoons at the Dunkin' in Oakland [848 Kennedy Memorial Drive, Oakland, Maine] at 1 pm;

  • Tuesdays. We will be meeting on Tuesday evenings at Five Guys in Waterville [373 Main St., Waterville, Maine] at 5:00 pm;

Next scheduled online meeting(s):

  • Thursdays. The Waterville Chess Club online games are available this week [at 6 pm].

    Let us know if you want to play and which platform you prefer (lichess.org, chess.com or itsyourturn.com); we will reply with an acknowledgement and a link to the Zoom session.

  • Fridays.
    Online Camden Chess Club Announcement
    The Camden Chess Club meets online every Friday at 4 pm.

Ad hoc games:

  • Waterville Chess Club members can also play by arrangement (either online or over the board).

    Let us know when you want to play and where you want to play (in person, or online [and which platform you prefer (lichess.org, chess.com or itsyourturn.com)]; when we reach an agreement on the date and time, we can also provide a link to a Zoom session [if needed].

Note:

We usually send an email to our regular mailing list shortly before the beginning of the week with information about when, where and how we will meet; we typically use the Camden Chess Club community team at lichess.org; online meetings at other times are also available by request [see Contact and FAQ]. The optional Zoom link is in the weekly email; participation by Zoom is optional. Drop us a line if you want to play without being on Zoom. You can also participate on chess.com or itsyourturn.com by special arrangement. If you have a different online chess presence, let us know!