Knight Raiders host SPICE Cup

Check mates: Knight Raiders hosting international chess tourney
Jenna Jones
Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: La Vida

The Texas Tech Knight Raiders chess club and the Susan Polgar Foundation will continue to host the SPICE Cup International Chess Tournament today through Friday.

The Susan Polgar Institute of Chess Excellence will host 10 Grandmasters and International Grandmasters who are competing to win the SPICE Cup.

According to the World Chess Federation Web site, the rank of Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain in his or her career. The tournament is being conducted in memory of Samuel Reshevsky, an International Grandmaster.

Susan Polgar, executive director of SPICE and founder of the Susan Polgar Foundation, said the Grandmasters and International Grandmasters have come from all over the world, including Poland, Mexico, Russia, Cuba and the Ukraine, to compete at Tech this week.

"This tournament will provide excellent recruitment opportunities for Texas Tech," Polgar said. "The matches can be viewed online and will be viewed by over 10 million people."

Polgar said one of the Grandmasters, Imre Hera, is a senior in high school who likely will attend Tech in the fall of 2008. Hera is currently one of the top chess players in Hungary, and he earned the Grandmaster title in July 2007. Hera was the National Student Olympic Champion in 2004 and will represent Hungary in the World Cup later this month.

Polgar said because SPICE was established in Lubbock, the Tech campus is a logical place for the tournament. The tournament is a round-robin format meaning the player with the most points at the end of the tournament will win the cup.

"Spectators are welcome at all of the matches," Polgar said. "There is also an exhibition of chess sets open to the public at the Southwest Collections library."

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