Chess Tournaments in Maine

The Maine Chess Association (MECA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in Bangor, is the state's USCF affiliate and runs the Maine State Championship along with scholastic events. Club chess in Maine is spread across a handful of towns: Portland has the Baxter Academy Community Chess Club, the Bangor area has the long-running Queen City Chess Club, and Augusta hosts informal chess nights at Barnes & Noble as well as a chess club at the Lithgow Public Library. The state championship has moved around over the decades, with recent editions held at the Waterville Grand Hotel, and MECA's tournament archive project has worked to document every USCF-rated Maine result back to 1992. Scholastic chess has real momentum too: Baxter Academy's team won the 2024 Maine State Championship in its first year and has traveled to national scholastic events out of Portland.

• The Maine State Championship, MECA's flagship weekend event, held in recent years at the Waterville Grand Hotel
• Queen City Chess Club in the Bangor area for regular Wednesday-night club play
• Baxter Academy Community Chess Club in Portland, a hub for young players whose team has competed at the national level