Sunday, March 15, 2015

2014-15 MHSCL Season In Review


The Mount Academy Team Two won the 2014-15 Mid-Hudson Scholastic Chess League (MHSCL) championship by compiling a record of 5-0 during the match portion of the season, and defeating Rondout Valley HS and Monroe-Woodbury in post-season play. The other team from The Mount Academy, The Mount Academy Team One, also went 5-0 in matches before losing to Monroe-Woodbury in the semi-finals. It was the first time in which two teams from the same school finished in first place with perfect scores. Here is a summary of the 13th MHSCL season.

Kickoff Swiss Tournament

The Mount Academy started the season on the good note by scoring 16.5 points to win the Team Championship in the 34-player Kickoff tournament that was held last October 25. Cornwall Central High School finished in second-place on tiebreaks Kingston High School (each had 12 points). Rondout Valley High School finished in fourth-place, one-half point below Cornwall Central and Kingston. The top four scores from the individuals attending the same school counted for that school’s team score.

Titus Decker of The Mount Academy finished in first with a 5-0 record. Lucas Donnellan (Cornwall Central), Rudi Meier (The Mount Academy), and Stephen Decker (The Mount Academy) finished in second-through-fourth place, each scoring 4.0 points. Seven of the top ten players were from The Mount Academy.

Match Play

The Mount Academy players continued to perform well, as both teams won their five matches. In the first round, The Mount Academy Team One rallied from a 3-0 set-one deficit to defeat Rondout Valley, 5-4. Rondout Valley High School clinched a playoff spot after defeating Kingston 7-2 in the fourth round.

Cornwall Central HS Team One and Monroe-Woodbury battled for the fourth playoff spot. Led by Kostya Shetekauri’s three wins, Monoroe-Woodbury clinched the playoff spot, defeating the five-time defending champs, 6.5-2.5. It was the first time since 2003-04 season that Monroe-Woodbury participated in post-season play.


Please click here to view standings.


Individual Points: Kostya Shetekuri lea all individuals with 15 points in 15 games. Kyle Pacia of Middletown HS finished in second with 14 points, Aman Patel of Kingston High School and Meteo Wareham of The Mount Academy Team One each had 11 points, Ella Collins of Cornwall Cenrtral HS Team One had 9.5 points.

Playoffs

Semi-Finals

Monroe-Woodbury High School vs The Mount Academy Team One: Kostya Shetekuri’s Three wins and Jordan Glass’s two wins led Monroe-Woodbury to a 7-2 win over The Mount Academy Team One.

The Mount Academy Team Two vs Rondout Valley Hish School: Rondout Valley only had only two players. One would think the match would be an easy win for The Mount Academy since it would get three forfeit wins and needed only two wins out of six games to advance to the finals. . Also, in the fifth round, Rondout Valley lost, 9-0 to The Mount Academy Team Two. This was not the case. The match was tied 3-3 after two sets. Aiden Cullo had two wins and Brian Wiebke won one game. In the third set, Titus Decker and Judah Ben-Eliezer won their games (plus the forfeit win), clinching the match for The Mount Academy Team Two, 6-3.


Consolation Match: Rondout Valley vs The Mount Academy Team One. The match was tied, 3-3, after the second set. Jeff Baird won the third-set game and the forfeit win resulted in The Mount Academy Team One winning the match, 5-4. Brian Wiebke won three games for Rondout Valley.

Rondout Valley’s Brian Wiebke and Aiden Cullo battled their opponents in the playoffs despite odds stacked against them.


Championship Match: The Mount Academy Team Two vs Monroe-Woodbury: Rudi Meier’s two wins and Titus Decker, Stephen Decker, and Judah Ben-Eliezer winning one game each helped The Mount Academy win its first championship, 5-4. Kostya Shetekuri won three games and Jordan Glass one game for Monroe-Woodbury.

While the playoff matches were held in Cornwall High School’s library, the End-Of-Season Swiss tournament took place in the school’s cafeteria. Ella Collins of Cornwall High School finished first the event, wining four games and drawing one. Second-through-four-place finishers, with 3.5 points each and in tie-breaking order, were Carl Tyce of James O’Neill HS, Jensine Orcullo of Cornwall Central HS, and Rourke Bywater of Cornwall Central HS.



End-Of-Season Swiss Tournament: The End-Of-Season Swiss event was also a combination of individual and team tournament. Cornwall Central HS won the team trophy with 14.5 points. Kingston High School, with 11 points, held on to win second place, After a slow start, James O’Neill High School finished in third with 10 points.

Please view the league’s website, mhscl.lktechnodude.com,   for additional information on the 2014-15 season and the league.



Attention Mid-Hudson Valley, New York, High, Junior, and Elementary Schools - If your school is interested in participating in the MHSCL league next year, please email LDKing@yahoo.com