Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Knight Raider Shines on the World Stage


News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: Nov. 16, 2011

CONTACT: Karin Slyker, karin.slyker@ttu.edu

(806) 742-2136


Knight Raider Shines on the World Stage


Grandmaster Georg Meier, co-captain of the Texas Tech University Knight Raiders, has defeated a former top 10 world professional chess player, Sergei Movsesian of Armenia. The win came in the final round of the 2011 European Team Championship.


Meier, a freshman from Germany, tied for second place last month in the 2011 SPICE Cup at Texas Tech, along with Cuban Grandmaster Leinier Doniguez, a former World Blitz champion.

Meier also tied for first and beat Grandmaster Le Quang Liem of Vietnam in the playoff at the 2011 SPICE Cup Blitz Championship.


“One of the top young talents in the world, Meier is the best German-born player in the past two decades, said Paul Truong, marketing director for the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE). “Last year, he decided to give up his very lucrative professional career with Baden Baden, the top club team in Chess Bundesliga, to join the SPICE program at Texas Tech.”


He is now being trained by Grandmaster Susan Polgar, winner of four Women’s World Championships and five Olympiad Gold Medals.


Meier will play board one for the Texas Tech Knight Raiders, the No. 1 ranked collegiate team in the nation with four Grandmasters, at the 2011 PanAm Collegiate Championship in Dallas in December. He will also lead the Knight Raiders in their title defense at the 2012 Final Four in Washington, D.C.


Full standings of the 2011 European Team Championship can be found here: http://euro2011.chessdom.com/etcc-2011-standings-open-section.


A photo of Meier and Polgar is available here: https://picasaweb.google.com/SPICEChess/0SPICECup2011B#5667585805572112706


Find Texas Tech news, experts and story ideas at www.media.ttu.edu and on Twitter @TexasTechMedia.


CONTACT: Paul Truong, director of marketing, SPICE, Texas Tech University, (806) 742-7742, or paul.truong@ttu.edu.

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