2013-14 MHSCL Season Recap

Cornwall Central HS Team One became the first team in the Mid-Hudson Scholastic Chess League (MHSCL) to win five consecutive championships when it defeated Rondout Valley Team One, 5-4, in a very tough match. Cornwall broke Newburgh Free Academy's four-peat record (from 2004 to 2007).

Kick-Off Tournament

Thirty-One players participated in the 2013-14 Kickoff tournament. Chase Huestis of Cornwall Central HS won the event on tiebreaks.over five players. Rondout Valley HS won the team trophy on tiebreaks over Corwall Central HS. Click here for the Kick-Off tournament blog, here for crosstable.

MHSCL Season

Rondout Valley HS Team One finished in first-place with a perfect 5-0 record in the Kasparov Conference. The other undefeated team was The Mount Academy Team One, which finished with 4.5 points. A draw versus Middletown High School prevented The Mount Academy Team One from finishing with a perfect record.

Click here for the final 2013-14 standings.


　

Top Players’ Individual Points during the match portion of the season: Thomas Roddy of Rondout Valley HS Team One 14 points; Ian Fade of Rondout Valley Team One 13 points; Kostya Shetekauri of Monroe-Woodbury HS 12 points; Chase Huestis of Cornwall Central HS Team One 12 points; Kyle Pacia of Middletown HS 11.5 points; Lucas Donnellan of Cornwall Central HS Team Two 11.5 points.

Playoff Results

Semi-Final Matches

Rondout Valley HS Team One vs James O'Neill HS: Thomas Roddy's three wins and Ian Fade's two wins guided Rondout Valley to a 6.5-2.5 match victory over James O'Neill.

Cornwall Central HS Team One vs The Mount Academy Team One: Kyle Emanuelle’s three wins and Chase Huestis' one-and-a-half points led Cornwall to a 5.5-3.5 victory over The Mount Academy Team One. Shawn Burnett’s two points and Titus Decker’s one-and-a-half points accounted for The Mount Academy points.

Consolation Match

James O'Neill clinched third place as a result of its 5-4 win over The Mount Academy Team One. Denthew Learey won three games and Timothy.Mills had two victories for James O’Neill. Titus Decker won two games for The Mount Academy.

Championship Match

The top two teams in the Kasparov Conference met in the championship match. Chase Huestis and Ella Collins won their set three games to give Cornwall Central HS Team One a 5-4 win over Rondout Valley Team One. Ian Fade and Thomas Roddy had two victories apiece for Rondout Valley. The championship match went down to the wire, lasting almost three hours.
　

End-Of-Season Swiss Tournament

As the playoffs matches were being played in the Cornwall High School’s library, the 29-player End-Of-Season Swiss tournament games took place in the school’s cafeteria. The above event was a also a team tournament in which the top four scores from individuals attending the same school counted for that school's team score.

Carl Thomson of The Mount Academy won the event with a perfect 5-0 score. Second through fourth-place finishers, in tie-break order and all with four points, were Sam Fisher of Monroe-Woodbury High School, Lucas Donnellan of Cornwall Central High School, and Jesine Orcullo of Cornwall Central High School. Players with 3.5 points were Asa Witt of Rondout Valley High School, Aman Patel of Kingston High School, and Scott Abbot of Monroe-Woodbury High School.

Vince Orcullo, Jesine’s older brother who also attended Cornwall Central HS, finished in fourth place in last year’s End-Of-Swiss tournament with 3.5 points.

Cornwall Central High School won the team portion of the End-Of-Season Swiss tournament on tiebreaks over The Mount Academy High School. Both teams scored 13 points. Monroe-Woodbury High School, finished third, scoring 12.5 points. Rondout Valley High School finished in fourth with 11 points.

Please view the league's website for detailed information on the 2013-14 season.

Attention Mid-Hudson Valley High, Junior, and Elementary Schools: If your school is interested in participating in the league next year, please email LDKing1313@yahoo.com.




　

　

One Playoff Spot Claimed; Seven Teams Battle for Three Spots

After nine matches (including three make-up matches), were played January 11 at The Mount Academy. Rondout Valley HS Team One clinched first-place in the Kasparov Division with a 4-0 record and better tiebreaks than Cornwall Central HS Team One (which lost to Rondout Valley HS Team One in round two).


The first tiebreak is head-to-head competition. The second-tiebreak is number of game points.
Cornwall Central Team One clinches second-place if it defeats The Mount Academy in the last round.
 
The Mount Academy Team Two can clinch second-place if it defeats Cornwall Team One and Monroe-Woodbury draws or loses vs Highland Falls Middle School.



There is a possibility of a three-way tie for second-place if Cornwall Central HS Team One loses and both Monroe-Woodbury and The Mount Academy win. If this is a case, Cornwall Central HS Team One has an advantage since it has an eight-game point advantage over Monroe-Woodbury and nine-and-a-half game point advantage over The Mount Academy Team Two.


In the Fischer Conference, Cornwall Central HS Team Two clinches first if it defeats The Mount Academy Team One. The other playoff scenarios are unclear because two postponed matches have to be played in addition to round five matches.


Kostya Shetekuri of Monroe-Woodbury leads individual players with 12 wins in 12 games. Kyle Pacia of Middletown has 11.5 points out of 12 games. Two other players with double-digit points are Thomas Roddy of Rondout Valley Team One with 11 wins in 12 games and Ian Fade of Rondout Valley Team One with 10.5; points in 12 games.



The date of the fifth-round match is February 22, 2014.
 
Please visit mhscl.lkechnodude.com for more information on the league..

MHSCL Kickoffs 2013-14 Season With Swiss Tournament

The Mid-Hudson Scholastic Chess League started it's 12th season by holding a five-round Kick-Off tournament, which was held October 26 at Cornwall Central HS, in Cornwall, NY. Thirty-One high school, middle, and elementary school students participated in the event.

When the fifth round ended, six players had four points, and tiebreaks had to be used to determine the order of finish. Chase Huestis of Cornwall won the tournament. Second through six places, in tie-breaking order, were Titus Decker of The Mount Academy, Ian Fade of Rondout Valley, Michael Liu of Kingston, Ella Collins of Cornwall, and Ryan Lamastro of Rondout Valley HS.


The event was a combination of individual and team tournament. The top four scores of individuals from the same school counted as a team’s points. Rondout Valley HS, returning to the league after a three-year absence, won the team championship on tiebreaks over Cornwall Central (four-time Kick-off and defending champs). Both Rondout Valley and Cornwall HS finished with 14 points. The Mount Academy finished third and Kingston HS finished in fourth. Kingston and The Mount Academy each had 13 points.