Couture first in chess tourney

David Couture, of Westminster, is one of three nationally rated chess players to tie for first place in last week's Edmund N. Wheeler Memorial tournament.

Couture tied with Martin Laine, of Lunenburg, and Larry Gladding, of Leominster. They each scored 3.5 points out of five to finish deadlocked for the top spot in a field of 17 players.

Couture is a regular member of the Wachusett Chess Club, but said that he rarely comes in first. He has been playing the game since he was a child.

The tournament is sponsored by the Wachusett Chess Club and was held at Fitchburg State College.

The event honored the memory of Wachusett Chess Club charter member Edmund Norman Wheeler (1919-1998) of Fitchburg, who played a key role in bringing multi-time U.S. champion and eventual world champion Bobby Fischer to Fitchburg for a simultaneous exhibition at First Parish Church at the Upper Common on March 2, 1964.

The club meets Wednesdays from 7 to 11 p.m. in Room C199 of the McKay Campus School at the college.