College Chess Final Four Set

The College Chess Final Four will take place on March 30 - April 1 in Herndon, Virginia. It is sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton.

The defending champion and #1 ranked team in the nation is Texas Tech - SPICE Knight Raiders.

SPICE wins 2012 Southwest Collegiate Championship

SPICE wins 2012 Southwest Collegiate Championship

Posted: February 21, 2012 - 9:06am

February 21, 2012 - 10:06am

SPICE wins 2012 Southwest Collegiate Championship

The Texas Tech Knight Raiders clinched another first-place chess victory Sunday at the 2012 Southwest Collegiate Championship in Fort Worth.

Team members include Grandmaster Anatoly Bykhovsk of Israel, Grandmaster Elshan Moradiabad of Iran, Grandmaster Andre Diamant of Brazil, Grandmaster Denes Boros of Hungary, International Master-elect Faik Aleskerov of Azerbaijan and International Master Vitaly Neimer of Israel.

The University of Texas at Dallas finished second, followed by UT Brownsville and Texas A&M, respectively.

Source: http://lubbockonline.com

St. Louis: the new home of collegiate chess

St. Louis: the new home of collegiate chess
By Ben Finegold, Grandmaster, special to the Beacon
Posted 4:02 pm Wed., 2.8.12

Webster University stepped into the national chess spotlight after pulling off a major coup by luring GM Susan Polgar and the SPICE program (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) to St. Louis. Susan is bringing her championship chess team from Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, to Webster, along with a number of top players. The Webster team will feature eight grandmasters and two international masters, which creates two formidable teams.

Susan said she felt that this would be a perfect location for her chess team as the Chess Club and Scholastic Center and World Chess Hall of Fame have already made St. Louis the center of chess in the U.S. Susan, her husband Paul Truong, and their family will move permanently to the St. Louis area in June, and the strong grandmasters will soon follow for the fall 2012 semester.

The city of St. Louis is the big winner here, as many of the students in these programs will be able to play in strong events at the Chess Club, and the development of both of these programs will continue to bring international attention to our city. Prior to these monumental announcements, St. Louis was clearly the center of chess in the U.S., and starting in the fall of 2012, I think it would be safe to call us the chess center of the world!

Source: http://www.stlbeacon.org

Polgar leaving Texas Tech, taking championship chess team with her

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - NBC TV

Texas Tech's chess team, the Knight Raiders, are ranked #1 in the nation, but their head coach and director Susan Polgar is moving to Webster University, and she's taking some of Tech's best players with her. Polgar says the main reason for the move is not enough funding.

Polgar said her goodbyes in a blog post on Friday, praising Texas Tech for their "incredible support" and offering to help them continue the program.

An internationally known, Polgar was named the #1 chess player in the world at age 15, and is described as one of the strongest female chess players in history.

She came to Texas Tech in 2007 to establish SPICE, the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence. "We started from the ground up," said Polgar. "We had just a few students, but we now have 21 students in the SPICE program."

Recruiting players from around the world, Polgar built an unstoppable team that beat top universities like Yale and Harvard. In 2010 Knight Raiders division one made it to the Final Four Championship. In 2011 they won the championship, and this year they've once again made it to the Final Four and are expected to take the trophy home.

Polgar says it's that success that's causing the problem. "We kind of became the victims of our own success. The program grew so fast that the university had difficulty accommodating the fast growth of the program," said Polgar.

Her husband and professional business manager Paul Truong says with the fast growth, SPICE can't keep up with recruiting the best with the funding Tech allots to the chess program.

"A grandmaster is the highest title in chess, and around the world there is maybe 1,200. Tech could potentially have eight grandmasters next year if we would have enough funding," said Truong. "Imagine having eight Michael Jordans or eight Tom Bradys… it would be insane. Unfortunately we don't have funding, and if we don't have funding they go elsewhere."

Originally Tech gave SPICE $15,000 for scholarships, but after they won the championship last year the amount was doubled to $30,000. Polgar says that's simply not enough, and most rival schools will give $30,000 to one player alone. She says the only way the team was able to stay afloat for as long as it did was because of a very generous donation.

"It's not that they didn't want to support the program. I think being a state institution their hands were tied and they weren't at liberty to give as much as perhaps they wanted to," said Polgar.

Tech communication and marketing managing director Chris Cook says that's exactly the case. "With the most recent rounds of budget cuts, we're all experiencing a little tightening in the purse strings so to speak," said Cook. "We have other national championship programs. We did see the importance of the chess program, but you have to meet the needs of all programs while staying in the overall budget."

In addition to Polgar and her husband leaving, eight of the A-Team, or division one, players are following her to Webster University in St. Louis. Polgar says many of them came to Tech solely for the SPICE program, so it's not surprising they're making the move.

"For many of them it was a pretty natural and logical decision. For others who are closer to their graduation here at Tech it was logical to stay," said Polgar.

Polgar says Webster has international campuses and is a private institution that can give more money to the chess program. While her students are going with her – she still says the move is bitter sweet. "It was a very difficult decision I must say," she said. "We love Texas Tech. We love Lubbock and had a lot of support.

The following students have been accepted / committed to Webster University for the Fall 2012 (August):

Grandmaster Georg Meier - Germany - Sophomore
Grandmaster Elshan Moradiabadi - Iran - Graduate student
Grandmaster Anatoly Bykhovsky - Israel - Junior
Grandmaster Andre Diamant - Brazil - Junior
Grandmaster Denes Boros - Hungary - Junior
International Master Vitaly Neimer - Israel - Sophomore
International Master - elect Faik Aleskerov - Azerbaijan - Graduate student

Polgar will continue coaching the Knight Raiders for the Final Four Championship in March.

After she leaves in June, Tech officials will be looking to hire a new coach and director for the chess program.

Source: http://www.kcbd.com

Lindenwood Launches World-Class Collegiate Chess Program

For more information, please contact:
Mike Wilmering
Communications Specialist
Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis
For Immediate Release

Lindenwood Launches World-Class Collegiate Chess Program
University Offering Chess Scholarships, Forming Team for Competition

ST. LOUIS, January 31, 2012--Lindenwood University is putting out a call for some of the finest young chess players in America and abroad. And the university is willing to provide scholarship money to build the nation’s top collegiate chess program.

Located in the St. Louis metropolitan area just west of the City of St. Louis, Lindenwood University is a private four-year liberal arts school that is dedicated to excellence in higher education.

What is unique about Lindenwood’s plan is the number of competitors it plans to have in the program. Organizers say there could be 25-30 players on up to six different teams.

“We are planning to recruit some of the highest-rated competitors in the world,” said Tim Canavan, Lindenwood’s Director of Student Life Sports. “We are also going to recruit people who aren’t at the elite level yet, but want to get there. Our interest is competing, promoting the wonderful game of chess, and providing a way for young people to get a good education.”

Canavan said the university has been collaborating with the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, which is known internationally for its quality. He praised the Chess Club for its guidance during the program’s developmental stages. Canavan said Lindenwood has retained the club’s Grandmaster-in-Residence, Ben Finegold, as coach.

“I was immediately impressed with the level of commitment Lindenwood has demonstrated to launching this program,” Finegold said. “It’s an exciting development for collegiate chess and also for the chess scene in the greater St. Louis area.”

Lindenwood already is on the recruiting trail and is building a collegiate schedule with plans to compete in the fall. Barger said the university already has designated a spot in the Evans Commons for practice and competition.

For information about a chess scholarship at Lindenwood University, call Lauren Nystrom at (636) 949-4949. For more information about the university, visit www.lindenwood.edu.

I would like to congratulate Lindenwood University for their bold and wonderful move. Bravo! GM Finegold is an excellent choice as coach for the Lindenwood Chess Program. He will no doubt do a great job.

College Chess Eligibility Requirements

Information about the USCF College Chess Committee and College Chess events.

The U.S. Chess Federation College Team Chess has, since its inception in 1945, welcomed non-traditionally aged players, particularly graduate students. For the time being, this custom will continue, with the following exceptions:

Rule 1

• For college and university teams, titled players (International Masters, International Grandmasters, International Woman Masters and International Woman Grandmasters) are eligible to participate if they satisfy at least one of the following stipulations: #1 or all three conditions listed in #2.
• 1. 1. Are less than 26 years old as undergraduate students, or under 30 years old as graduate students, as of September 1 of the academic year in which the tournament takes place.
  2. 2. Satisfy all of the following three conditions:
  3. • a) Are full-time, degree-seeking students (e.g., at least 12 semester credit hours for undergraduate students and 9 semester credit hours for graduate students)
     • b) Have a grade-point average of at least B (e.g., at least 3.0 on a 4-point scale)
     • c) Have satisfied conditions 1 and 2 for at least one full semester at their team’s college or university prior to the event.
• Rule 1 applies to all college events — individual or team. There are no age restrictions on players not having the four above-mentioned international titles.

Rule 2

• College and University players shall be enrolled at least half-time (e.g. 6 semester credit hours) during the semester of eligibility. For the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Championship, traditionally held between Christmas and New Year’s each year, players must be enrolled in the fall semester preceding the event.

Rule 3

• College and university players shall be eligible to play for a total of six years, where a year is defined as being either a traditional academic year of a fall and spring term or a fall term or a spring term, e.g., a player enrolled in spring of 1998, spring of 1999 and fall of 1999 is considered enrolled for three years under this rule.

Rule 4

• College and university players shall be enrolled in a degree-seeking program with a cumulative grade point average of at least a C.

Rule 5

• College and university players shall be resident at their campuses either in on-campus housing or in housing within reasonable commuting distance from campus, e.g., a player taking distance learning courses from another country shall not be eligible to play.

Rule 6

• Colleges and universities offering chess-related scholarships shall maintain records about the individuals awarded such scholarships, their time of attendance, the degrees received if any, and the grade point average attained.

Rule 7

• Faculty, staff and alumni are not eligible to compete in the National Collegiate Chess League Team Championship conducted over the internet each spring.

The following are suggestions offered for guidance:

• Faculty conflicts. A faculty member serving as a consultant or director to a university or college chess program should adhere to the following guidelines:
• 1. 1. To admit no player to their program who does not, in their judgment, demonstrate a serious likelihood of achieving a degree.
  2. 2. To not offer independent study courses to members of the chess team.
  3. 3. To not recruit players from other chess programs.
  4. 4. To scrutinize carefully undergraduate students applying for a second baccalaureate.
• Non-compliance:
• 1. 1. Winning teams should file a report to document compliance with these regulations with the USCF.
  2. 2. Any team’s standing may be challenged for non-compliance by a competing team through a written complaint sent within 30 days to the Executive Director or the Scholastic Director of the U.S. Chess Federation. That official shall gather the relevant documentation of the complaint, make a recommendation as to disposition, and send it to the USCF Executive Board for resolution.

Reports of the USCF College Chess Committee:

• 2001
• 2002
• 2003
• Pan American Intercollegiate and High School Team Chess Championships: Official Tournament Rules (PDF

College Chess Eligibility Requirements

College Chess Eligibility Requirements

Rule 1

• For college and university teams, titled players (International Masters, International Grandmasters, International Woman Masters and International Woman Grandmasters) are eligible to participate if they satisfy at least one of the following stipulations: #1 or all three conditions listed in #2.
• 1. 1. Are less than 26 years old as undergraduate students, or under 30 years old as graduate students, as of September 1 of the academic year in which the tournament takes place.
  2. 2. Satisfy all of the following three conditions:
  3. • a) Are full-time, degree-seeking students (e.g., at least 12 semester credit hours for undergraduate students and 9 semester credit hours for graduate students)
     • b) Have a grade-point average of at least B (e.g., at least 3.0 on a 4-point scale)
     • c) Have satisfied conditions 1 and 2 for at least one full semester at their team’s college or university prior to the event.
• Rule 1 applies to all college events — individual or team. There are no age restrictions on players not having the four above-mentioned international titles.

Rule 2

• College and University players shall be enrolled at least half-time (e.g. 6 semester credit hours) during the semester of eligibility. For the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Championship, traditionally held between Christmas and New Year’s each year, players must be enrolled in the fall semester preceding the event.

Rule 3

• College and university players shall be eligible to play for a total of six years, where a year is defined as being either a traditional academic year of a fall and spring term or a fall term or a spring term, e.g., a player enrolled in spring of 1998, spring of 1999 and fall of 1999 is considered enrolled for three years under this rule.

Rule 4

• College and university players shall be enrolled in a degree-seeking program with a cumulative grade point average of at least a C.

Rule 5

• College and university players shall be resident at their campuses either in on-campus housing or in housing within reasonable commuting distance from campus, e.g., a player taking distance learning courses from another country shall not be eligible to play.

Rule 6

• Colleges and universities offering chess-related scholarships shall maintain records about the individuals awarded such scholarships, their time of attendance, the degrees received if any, and the grade point average attained.

Rule 7

• Faculty, staff and alumni are not eligible to compete in the National Collegiate Chess League Team Championship conducted over the internet each spring.

http://collegechess.org

IM Antal finished 2nd at CTC

Texas Tech Knight Raider IM Gergerly Antal finished 2nd in the 2010 College Tournament of Champions behind GM Gareev.

Here are the full standings:

No. Ttl Name              St Rate Pts Rnd1 Rnd2 Rnd3 Rnd4 Rnd5 Rnd6
1 GM  Gareyev, Timur      TX 2689 5.5 D  6  -X- W  7 W  5 W  2 W4
2 IM  Antal, Gergely      TX 2578 5.0 W 11 W  8 W  4 W  3 L  1 W9
3 IM  Bercys, Salvijus    NY 2467 4.5 W 12 W  9 D  5 L  2 W  7 W8
4 IM  Cornejo, Max        TX 2456 4.0  -X- W 10 L  2 W  9 W  8 L1
5 NM  Hughes, Tyler B     CO 2384 3.5 W 14 W  7 D  3 L  1 L  9 W10
6     Safin, Artur K      TX 2174 3.5 D  1 L 11  -X- L  7 W 14 W13
7 IM  Sadorra, Julio Cat  TX 2471 3.0 W 13 L  5 L  1 W  6 L  3 W12
8 NM  Bantic, Mihail      TX 2344 3.0  -X- L  2 W 11 W 10 L  4 L3
9 FM  Liu, Elliott Joseph CA 2334 3.0  -X- L  3 W 12 L  4 W  5 L2
10    Lawrence, Danyul    CA 2193 3.0  -X- L  4 W 14 L  8 W 11 L5
11    Stein, Jeremy Aaro  CA 2124 2.5 L  2 W  6 L  8 D 13 L 10 W14
12    Robinson, Marcus    OR 1817 2.5 L  3  -X- L  9 D 14 W 13 L7
13    Poole, Kenneth J    CA 1878 1.5 L  7 L 14  -B- D 11 L 12 L6
14    Chen, Janice S      UT 1744 1.5 L  5 W 13 L 10 D 12 L  6 L11

Texas Tech Knight Raider IM Antal is 4-0 at TOCC

[Event "111th US Open, Tournament of College Champions"]
[Site "Irvine"]
[Date "2010.08.02"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Antal, Gergely"]
[Black "Bercys, Salvijus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "2578"]
[WhiteTitle "IM"]
[BlackELO "2467"]
[BlackTitle "IM"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bd3 c5 5.exd5 Qxd5 6.Bd2 Bxc3 7.Bxc3 Qxg2 8.Qf3 Qxf3 9.Nxf3 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Kf8 11.Bb4 Ne7 12.O-O-O a6 13.Nb5 Nbc6 14.Be4 Bd7 15.Rxd7 Nxb4 16.Bxb7 Rb8 17.Nd6 Nxa2 18.Kb1 Nb4 19.Rd1 g6 20.Rd4 a5 21.Rc4 Nf5 22.Nxf5 gxf5 23.Rcc7 Rg8 24.Rxf7 Ke8 25.b3 a4 26.Kb2 axb3 27.cxb3 Nd3 28.Kc3 Ne5 29.Rfe7 Kd8 30.f4 Rg1 31.Kc2 1-0

Click here to replay the game.

[Site "Irvine"]
[Date "2010.08.01"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Cornejo, Max"]
[Black "Antal, Gergely"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "2456"]
[WhiteTitle "IM"]
[BlackELO "2578"]
[BlackTitle "IM"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

1.e4 c5 2.c3 e6 3.d4 d5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Be3 c4 7.b3 cxb3 8.axb3 Bd6 9.Bd3 Nge7 10.O-O h6 11.b4 Nf5 12.Bc1 O-O 13.b5 Na5 14.Qc2 Nh4 15.Nbd2 Nxf3 16.Nxf3 Re8 17.Ba3 Bxa3 18.Rxa3 Nc4 19.Bxc4 dxc4 20.Qa2 Be6 21.Rxa7 Rxa7 22.Qxa7 Bd5 23.Re1 Bxf3 24.Rxe8 Qxe8 25.gxf3 Qxb5 26.Qb8 Kh7 27.Qf4 Qb1 28.Kg2 b5 29.d5 Qg6 30.Kh1 b4 31.Qxc4 Qb1 32.Kg2 b3 33.d6 Qg6 34.Kh3 b2 35.d7 b1Q 36.d8Q Qbf5 37.Qg4 Qgxg4 0-1

[Site "Irvine"]
[Date "2010.08.01"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Bantic, Mihail"]
[Black "Antal, Gergely"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "2344"]
[WhiteTitle "NM"]
[BlackELO "2578"]
[BlackTitle "IM"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O d5 6.Nbd2 c6 7.b3 a5 8.c4 Ne4 9.Bb2 a4 10.Nxe4 dxe4 11.Ng5 f5 12.h4 c5 13.bxa4 Nc6 14.d5 Bxb2 15.dxc6 Bxa1 16.cxb7 Bxb7 17.Qxa1 Qd4 18.Qc1 Qe5 19.Rd1 Rxa4 20.Rd2 Rfa8 21.Qb1 Rb4 22.Qd1 Rxc4 23.Rd8 Rxd8 24.Qxd8 Kg7 25.e3 Bd5 26.Bf1 Rc1 27.Kg2 h6 28.Nh3 Bxa2 29.Nf4 Bf7 30.Bb5 Qa1 31.Nh3 Qc3 32.Qxe7 Qe1 33.g4 Qh1 34.Kg3 Qf3 35.Kh2 Rh1 0-1

[Site "Irvine"]
[Date "2010.07.31"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Antal, Gergely"]
[Black "Stein, Jeremy Aaro"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "2578"]
[WhiteTitle "IM"]
[BlackELO "2124"]
[BlackTitle ""]
[Source "MonRoi"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7 5.Bd3 Bc6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.Qe2 Ngf6 8.Neg5 Qe7 9.Ne5 Nxe5 10.dxe5 Nd7 11.O-O Nc5 12.Bb5 Bxb5 13.Qxb5 Qd7 14.Qe2 Be7 15.b4 Bxg5 16.Bxg5 Na4 17.c4 h6 18.Be3 O-O 19.Rad1 Qe7 20.Rd4 Rfd8 21.Rg4 Kh8 22.Rf4 Rd7 23.Qh5 Qf8 24.h3 Nb2 25.Rh4 a6 26.f4 Nxc4 27.Bc5 Qg8 28.f5 Nb6 29.f6 Nd5 30.Rg4 Qh7 31.Rxg7 1-0