Seasons Greetings!

I would like to wish all of you the special gifts of this holiday season - Peace, Joy and Lasting Happiness.

Susan Polgar

Excellence ON and OFF the board

Excellence ON and OFF the board

The accumulative grade of the Texas Tech Knight Raiders chess teams this semester is approximately 3.30, with 4 players earning a perfect 4.0!

Here are some of their majors: Economics, Finance, Math, Electrical Engineering, Psychology, Law, Spanish, English, Political Science, Biotech, and Microbiology, etc.

In addition to getting good grades, they also worked hard to improve their chess skills. Through the special SPICE training program, 3 of our players earned the GM title in the past 6 months!

In addition, many members of the Knight Raiders also volunteered countless hours to teach and promote chess in the Lubbock community through schools, libraries, and senior centers, etc.

I am very proud of my players and we will work hard to continue the tradition of excellence on and off the board.

SPICE 3rd Grandmaster in 6 months

IM Gabor Papp has just earned his 3rd and final GM norm! He is the 3rd Texas Tech Knight Raider in the past 6 months to become a GM (Davorin Kuljasevic and Gergely Antal).

Congratulations to GM Papp!! We are all very proud of you!

Here are his results :

Kolo	SNo		Ime	RtgI	FED	Bod.	Rez.
1	41	FM	Đurović Goran	2328	CRO	4,0	s 1
2	3	GM	Stević Hrvoje	2621	CRO	4,5	w ½
3	5	GM	Kovačević Aleksandar	2594	SRB	5,5	s ½
4	10	GM	Sedlak Nikola	2546	SRB	5,0	w 1
5	1	GM	Berkes Ferenc	2680	HUN	5,5	s 0
6	2	GM	Predojević Borki	2632	BIH	5,5	w ½
7	23	IM	Kovačević Blažimir	2447	CRO	4,0	s 1
8	14	GM	Jovanović Zoran	2527	CRO	5,5	w ½
9	8	GM	Brkić Ante	2564	CRO	4,5	s½

Full tournament results here: http://www.crochess.com/turniri/zadar/10/index.shtm

First ever UIL Chess Competition

First ever UIL Chess Competition

Texas Tech and the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence invite K-12 students to take part in the first ever historic UIL (University Interscholastic League) Invitational in Chess Puzzle Solving on Jan. 22 at the Science Spectrum.

There will be four grade sections:

K-3
4-5
6-8
9-12

Entry fee is only $5!

Onsite registration: 11:30 am-12:15 pm; Competition: 12:30 pm-1:00 pm.

There will be awesome chess prizes for the winners in each section!

For information, please call 806-742-7742 or email SPICE@ttu.edu.

Texas Tech, LISD look to add SPICE to UIL

Texas Tech, LISD look to add SPICE to UIL
Last Update: 10:47 pm

Texas Tech and the Lubbock Independent School District are plotting to pilot a new statewide UIL competition.

The program was proposed by Texas Tech's Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence, known as "SPICE."

Now it's a UIL competition.

Next year , Lubbock elementary and middle school students will be given 30 minutes to solve 20 chess puzzles designed by Grandmaster Polgar.

Vice President for Institutional Diversity at Texas Tech, Juan Munoz, said, "It teaches critical thinking, planning, strategizing. It teaches patience, focus, mathematical computation. One has to estimate the number of moves to achieve a certain objective. So there are a number of academically transferable skills in chess."

Munoz says Chess has such wide appeal because anyone can play anywhere, adding that he hopes the UIL level competition will spark students' interest in Texas Tech.

Source: http://www.myfoxlubbock.com

Historic chess initiative in Texas

Texas Tech University and SPICE officially launched the UIL Chess Puzzle Solving Statewide Pilot in the state of Texas earlier today at Wester Elementary School in Lubbock, Texas. UIL is the largest interschool organization of its kind in the world!

More than 300 students, teachers, parents, administrators, and various media, etc. were on hand for the launching of this historic competition.

This will potentially provide excellent opportunities for millions of chess playing students in the entire state of Texas to compete and earn scholarships for years to come. This is the first time that Chess has been accepted as an UIL Competition in its 101 year history!

"The seeds of the UIL were planted in 1904, when Dr. S.E. Mezes, president of UT, decided the state's foremost university needed to be of service to the entire state.... Since 1910, the records and achievements of state high school participants have justified the decision of the University to support this program of public school service. The UIL has grown into the largest interschool organization of its kind in the world, and is the envy of similar groups nationwide. The UIL exists to provide educational extracurricular academic, athletic, and music contests. So successful is the program that one of every two high school seniors has participated in a UIL event prior to graduation. The initials "UIL" have come to represent quality educational competition, administered by school people on an amateur and equitable basis." (Official UIL Info)

Texas Tech, SPICE Introduces Old Game to Young Players

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: Dec. 10, 2010
CONTACT: Karin Slyker, karin.slyker@ttu.edu
(806) 742-2136

Texas Tech, SPICE Introduces Old Game to Young Players

WHAT: Texas Tech University announces a state pilot program for students of Lubbock Independent School District.

WHEN: 1 p.m. Monday (Dec. 13)

WHERE: Wester Elementary, 4602 Chicago Ave.

EVENT: Chess will be the subject of a University Interscholastic League (UIL) competition next year for elementary and middle school students. The pilot program was proposed by the Texas Tech Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE), part of the Division of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement.

The competition will be in the format of solving chess puzzles designed by Grandmaster Polgar. Competing students in grades two through eight will have 20 puzzles to solve in 30 minutes.

Elementary school students will choose their answers from mostly multiple choice questions in which white can checkmate black in one move, while older students will have puzzles that are checkmates in one or two moves.

According to Lynn Elms, the regional director for UIL, the pilot chess program is a historic moment for Texas Tech, which has a 75-year association with UIL. This is the first competition that Texas Tech has proposed.

Find Texas Tech news, experts and story ideas at www.media.ttu.edu.

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

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