Mark Hayden Fineman Chess Tournament

Mark Hayden Fineman Chess Tournament
By Staff reports
Thu May 07, 2009, 12:48 PM EDT
Cape Codder – Brewster, MA, USA

Cape Cod –
The 2009 Mark Hayden Fineman Chess Tournament was held on May 2 at the Harwich Elementary School, as twenty-four players competed in three sections in this year’s event.

The annual tournament awards prizes totaling $1,900 to pre-high school students in the towns of Brewster, Chatham, Eastham, Harwich, Orleans, and Wellfleet.

The fund was established in 1985 by Dr. Abraham Fineman of South Wellfleet and is administered by the Boston Foundation.

Six players competed in the K-2nd grade section. In a closely contested round-robin tournament, Ben Slater of Harwich ran away with the tournament by scoring four straight victories to capture the first place prize of $200.

Cameron Archibald of Harwichport won the second prize of $100. However, had Caleb Caldwell of Harwich found that elusive checkmate in the final round, he would have tied for second place and caused a playoff round.

Caldwell only managed a draw, leaving Archibald in undisputed second. James Kiernan of Brewster acquitted himself well and could have scored higher than his final result.

Eleven players competed in the 3rd-5th grade section. The four-round Swiss tournament was handily won by fourth grader Alexis Roma, who defeated the opposition to capture the top prize of $500.

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