The Mid-Hudson Scholastic Chess League 2021-22 Season Recap

 

by Larry King

The Mid-Hudson Scholastic Chess League s(MHSCL) tarted its 19^th season after a 20-month hiatus due to Covid. Prior to the start of the season, the coaches decided to change the format from a head-to-head team competition to holding four five-round Swiss tournaments. The top four scores of individuals would count for the team’s score in each Swiss. The team with the best cumulative score after the End-Of-Season  last Swiss would win the Championship.

Cornwall Central won the 2021-22 Championship, accumulating 63 points. Monroe-Woodbury finished second with 55.5 cumulative points and Pawling HS finished with 22 cumulative points.

                                         Cornwall Central HS - First Place

It was Cornwall Central’s sixth title. The Mount Academy and Newburgh Free Academy each won four championships.

In the in the individual competition, Ben Harrell of Cornwall won 18 games and drew two games (total 19 points). The two draws were against teammate Nathaniel Silichta, who finished second with 16 points. Chris Mastrokostas of Monroe-Woodbury finished with 14 points.

Ben Harrell finished with the third-best regular season point total in league history. Jared Montal of Monroe-Woodbury had 21 points in the 2003-04 season and Stephen Decker of The Mount Academy had accumulated 19.5 points in the 2017-18.

                                          Monroe-Woodbury HS - Second Place

Fall Swiss: Ben Harrell won the tournament on tiebreaks over Nathaniel Slichta. Both players scored 4.5 points. Players with four points were Chris Mastrokostas of Monroe-Woodbury, David Lanuti of Monroe-Woodbury, Kaelan Morales of Cornwall Central, Zion Barnes of Monroe-Woodbury, and Ed Li of Monroe-Woodbury. Cornwall Central edged Monroe-Woodbury 16.5 – 16.0. Pawling High School finished with 7.5 points.

Holiday Swiss: Ben Harrell won the individual tournament with a 5-0 sweep. Matt Safizadeh of Monroe-Woodbury, Nathaniel Slichta, and Zion Barnes each finished with four points. Cornwall Central again edged Monroe-Woodbury 15.0 – 14.5.

Winter Swiss: Cornwall Central extended its league by scoring 16 points to Monroe-Woodbury 12. Ben Harrell was again perfect, winning five games. Kaelan Morales and Nathaniel Slichta Scored three points apiece.

End-Of-Season Swiss: Cornwall Central (15.5team points) and Ben Harrell (4.5 points) finished winning the team and individual titles. Players finishing with four points were Nathaniel Slichta, Andrew Wingfield (of Cornwall Central), and Chris Mastrokostas.

Attention Mid-Hudson High and Middle Schools: We are looking for teams to join the league in 2022-23. If your school is interested, please email MHSCL president Doug Stack at  dstack@cornwallschools.com.

Please go to www.mhschess.com for detailed information on the league.

 

 

MHSCL 2019-20 Season Summary

By Larry King

The Mid-Hudson Scholastic Chess League (MHSCL) consisted of ten teams from seven schools. Below is a recap of the league’s 18^th season.

Twenty-one players participated in the Opening Swiss. Travis Meier of the Mount Academy won the event, scoring five points. Dominick Copplino and Nate Woinicki, both Cornwall Central HS players, each had four points. Wilson Robohm of Haldane (fourth place) and Grant Ross of Cornwall Central HS (fifth place) each scored three points. The Opening Swiss was also a team event, where the top four scores of members of the same school counted as that school’s team points. Cornwall Central HS finished first ahead of The Mount Academy on tiebreaks, each school scoring 14 points. Haldane finished in third with 10.0 points.

Match portion of the season: Woodbury HS Team Two finished first and The Mount Academy Team One finished second in the Fischer Conference. In the Kasparov Conference, Cornwall Central HS finished in first, winning all five matches. Second-place finisher, Monroe-Woodbury HS Team One, was one match points behind Cornwall Central. The top individual performers were Albert Pizzo (13 points out of 15 games) and Charles Lui (9.0 points of 12 games), both of Monroe-Woodbury HS Team One.  Justin Bell of Monroe-Woodbury HS Team Two had the third-most points (8.5 points out of 11 games).

Playoffs: Ryan Donnellan and Dominick Coppolino, winning three games apiece, helped Cornwall Central HS defeat The Mount Academy Team One, 7-2. Albert Pizzo had three victories and Sam Koyfman won two games as Monroe-Woodbury HS Team One defeated Monroe-Woodbury HS Team Two, 6-3. In the consolation match, The Mount Academy Team One, led by Ike Blough and Adam Blough, won the match, 5-4, versus Monroe-Woodbury HS Team Two. Justin Bell won three games for Monroe-Woodbury HS Team Two. Cornwall Central HS won the championship, defeating Monroe-Woodbury HS Team One, 5.5-3.5. Nate Woinicki scored 2.5 out of three points and Dominick Coppolino won two games for the champs.

Above: Cornwall Central HS, League Champs

The Closing Swiss tournament, an individual-team event, was held at the same time as the playoff matches.  Vlad Perry of Rondout Valley won the tournament, 5-0. Second-place finisher was Johann Kaiser (3.5 points) of The Mount Academy. Ray Hofer (3.0 points) of The Mount Academy clinched third-place on tiebreaks.  The Mount Academy won the team trophy with 11.5 points, followed by Rondout Valley HS (8.0 points) and Cornwall Central HS (7.5 points).

The Mount Academy, Closing Swiss Tournament Champs!

To Mid-Hudson High and Middle Schools: We are looking for teams to join the league in 2020-21.  If your school is interested, please email me at LDKing1313@yahoo.com.

Please go to www.mhschess.com for detailed information on the league.

2016-17 Mid-Hudson Scholastic Chess League Kickoff Tournament Summary

The Mid-Hudson Scholastic Chess League (MHSCL) launched it’s 15^th season by holding the Kickoff Swiss tournament at Cornwall Central HS (NY) on October 29, 2016. Twenty-Six players participated in the five-round event.

Carl Tyce of James O’Neill HS finished in first-place with a perfect 5-0 score. Second-to-Fourth place finishers, each with 4-1 records (in tie-break order), were Curin Odell of West Point Middle School, Ella Collins of Cornwall Central HS, and Cristian Garcia of Middletown High School. Emil Vyskocil of Cornwall Central HS and Collin Strauch of Middletown High School finished with 3.5 points apiece.

The event was a combination of an individual and team tournament. The top four scores of players from the same school counted as that school’s points. Cornwall Central HS won the team trophy with 13.5 points on tiebreaks over Middletown HS. James O’Neill HS finished in third with 12.5 points.

The matches will start Saturday, December 10, 2016.

You can follow the 2016-17 season by reading this blog or go to www.mhschess.com website.

Monroe-Woodbury HS Team One Wins MHSCL Championship

Monroe-Woodbury Team One won the Mid-Hudson Scholastic Chess League (MHSCL) championship, beating the defending champions, The Mount Academy Team One, 7-2. Both teams went in the championship series with perfect 6-0 record.

During the round-robin portion of the season in which the team finished in first-place in the Kasparov Conference, Monroe-Woodbury HS Team One dominated the matches, scoring at least seven game points in each of the five matches. Monrow-Woodbury scored 37.5 game points. Kostya Shetakauri led the team with 13 game points. Scott Abott (8 game points) and Chris Felice (7 game points) were the other two players on Monroe-Woodbury HS Team One.

The Mount Academy Team One had a perfect 5-0 record in the Fischer Conference. Other than the first-round win over Monroe-Woodbury HS Team Two, 5-4, the Mount-Academy averaged six points in the last four matches. Stephen Decker (11.5 game points), Rudi Meier (11 game points), and Andrew Maendel (6 game points) were the top three players on the team. The team finished in second place in the playoffs.

Monroe-Woodbury HS Team Two made the playoffs, finishing in second-place in the Fischer Conference by defeating Cornwall Central HS Team One, 5-4, in the last match round. Both Monroe-Woodbury teams met in the semi finals, The Monroe-Woodbury Team Two lost to Monroe-Woodbury Team One, 5.5-3.5. A. J. Fini (10 game points), Steven Li (9 game points), and Andrew Qu (7 game points) led the second Monroe-Woodbury team. Monroe-Woodbury Team Two finished in third place in the playoffs, defeating Kingston HS Team One in the consolation round.

Kingston HS Team One, with a three-win, one-draw, and one-loss record in the match portion of the tournament, finished in fourth-place in the playoffs, losing to The Mount Academy Team One in the semi-finals, 5.5-3.5, and Monroe-Woodbury HS Team Two in the consolation round, 6-3. Aman Patel (8.5), Skye-Daniel McClure (7.0), and Joshua Grossbohlin (7.0) led the Kingston Team.

Check here to view playoff crosstables.

Check here to view standings.

Players’ Individual Game Points During the Match Portion of the Season

Kostya Shetakuri of Monroe-Woodbury Team One led all players with 13 game points. Other players with double-figured game points were Stephen Decker of The Mount Academy Team One (11.5), Rudi Meier of the Mount Academy Team One (11), Ella Collins of Cornwall Central HS (11), Keenan Cleary of Rondout Valley HS (10.5), and A. J. Fini of Monroe-Woodbury HS Team Two (10).

Check here to view players’ points stats.

End-Of-Season Swiss Tournament

The End-Of-Season Swiss tournament was held as the same time as the playoffs. Ella Collins of Cornwall Central HS won the 24-player event with a perfect 5-0 score. Second-through-fourth-place finishers, scoring four points apiece, were Kennan Cleary of Rondout Valley HS, Lucas Donellan of Cornwall Central HS, and Dylan Blough of The Mount Academy.

The above event was a combination of an individual and team tournament. The top four scores of individuals from the same school counted as that school’s points The top three teams were Cornwall Central HS (15 points), Kingston HS (11.5 points), and The Mount Academy (8 points).

Please check here to view End-Of-Season tournament crosstable.

Please view the league’s website www.mhschess.com for more information on the 2015-16 season and the league.

Attention Mid-Hudson Valley, NY schools. If your school is interested in participating in the MHSCL league next season, please email LDKing1313@yahoo.com

2014-15 MHSCL Playoff Preview

Monroe-Woodbury HS Team Two clinched the fourth and final playoff spot, defeating Cornwall Central .HS, 5-4, at Cornwall HS on February 25. This match was played five days later than the scheduled date because several students had to take exams.

Monroe-Woodbury HS Team Two will face Monroe-Woodbury HS Team One and The Mount Academy Team One will play Kingston High School Team One.

The two Monroe-Woodbury team paired against each other would be the fourth time in league history that two teams from the same school faced each other in the playoffs. The two Cornwall Teams played each other twice, in the semi-finals in 2009-10 when Cornwall Team One defeated Cornwall Team Two, 5-4, and in 2012-13, when Cornwall Central Team Two upset Cornwall Central Team One, 5-4,  in the championship match.



The MHSCL playoffs will take place March 5 at Cornwall HS.

MHSCL Season October - December 2015

The Mid-Hudson Scholastic Chess League (MHSCL) launched its 14th season by holding the Kickoff Swiss tournament on November 7, 2015, at Cornwall Central High School in Cornwall, NY. Thirty-seven players participated in the event.



When the tournament ended, Stephen Decker of The Mount Academy won the tournament, winning all five games. Six players tied for second-place with 4 points (in tiebreak order) : Ella Collins of Cornwall Central HS, Carl Tyce of James O'Neill HS, Joshua Grossbohlin of Kingston HS, Uriel Calixto of Kingston HS, Gideon Shirky of The Mount Academy, and Emil Vyskocil of Cornwall Central HS.



The event was a combination of an individual and team tournament. The top four scorers of players from the same school counted as that school's team points. Prior to the last round, Cornwall Central HS and The Mount Academy each had 12 points, and Kingston 11.5 points. The Mount Academy, winning three points in the last round, won the team trophy with 15 points. Kingston leapfrogging over Cornwall Central HS, claimed the runnerup spot with 14 points, and Cornwall Central HS finished in third place with 13.5 points.



After two rounds of the match portion of the season, four teams had perfect 2-0 records. Cornwall Central HS Team One defeated Kingston Team Two and James O’Neill by 6-3 scores. The Mount Academy Team One narrowly defeated Monroe-Woodbury HS Team Two 5-4 and swept Kingston HS Team Two, 9-0. Monroe-Woodbury HS Team One defeated The Mount Academy Team Two, 8-1, and Cornwall Central HS Team Two, 7-2. Kingston HS Team One beat Roundout Valley HS, 6-3, and dominated Highland Falls Middle School, 8-1.



Rounds three and four, which will be played January 16, 2016, at the Mount Academy, will clarify the playoff picture. Cornwall Central HS Team One will play The Mount Academy Team One in the third round and. Monroe-Woodbury HS Team One will play Kingston HS Team One in round four.


Please check www.mhschess.com for more information on the league.

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 13^th 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