Texas Tech Graduate Earns Prestigious Title

Graduate Earns Prestigious Chess Title

Gergely Antal scored 6.5 points in his final seven games, at the Budapest First Saturday Chess Championship. In his final round victory, Antal defeated grandmaster Bui Vinh to tie for first place and clinch the grandmaster title.

(Media-Newswire.com) - Checkmate.

A Texas Tech graduate has just become one of the top chess players in the world.

Gergely Antal scored 6.5 points in his final seven games, at the Budapest First Saturday Chess Championship. In his final round victory, Antal defeated grandmaster Bui Vinh to tie for first place and clinch the grandmaster title.

Antal, already a Hungarian international master, came to Texas Tech in 2008, to be trained by Susan Polgar, director of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence ( SPICE ). Polgar was recently nominated by the World Chess Federation as one of the top coaches in the world.

Under Polgar’s direction, Antal’s rating jumped approximately 100 points, a difficult feat at this high level of competition.

In 2009, Antal won the prestigious National Tournament of College Champions and the Southwest Open. In December of the same year, he played an important role in helping the Knight Raiders make the Final Four for the first time in Texas Tech history.

In March 2010, he narrowly missed his final grandmaster norm by just half a point. And a few weeks later, he defended his Lubbock Open title with a perfect 4-0 score.

Antal graduated from Texas Tech in August 2010 with a degree in economics. He plans to return next year as a graduate student.

Grandmaster Antal’s next tournament will be the 2010 SPICE Cup, beginning Oct. 28.

Story produced by the Texas Tech Office of Communications and Marketing, ( 806 ) 742-2136.

Texas Tech Graduate Earns Prestigious Chess Title

October 15, 2010
Texas Tech Graduate Earns Prestigious Chess Title
Checkmate. A Texas Tech graduate has just become one of the top chess players in the world.
Written by Karin Slyker

Checkmate.

A Texas Tech graduate has just become one of the top chess players in the world.

Gergely Antal scored 6.5 points in his final seven games, at the Budapest First Saturday Chess Championship. In his final round victory, Antal defeated grandmaster Bui Vinh to tie for first place and clinch the grandmaster title.

Antal, already a Hungarian international master, came to Texas Tech in 2008, to be trained by Susan Polgar, director of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE). Polgar was recently nominated by the World Chess Federation as one of the top coaches in the world.

Under Polgar’s direction, Antal’s rating jumped approximately 100 points, a difficult feat at this high level of competition.

In 2009, Antal won the prestigious National Tournament of College Champions and the Southwest Open. In December of the same year, he played an important role in helping the Knight Raiders make the Final Four for the first time in Texas Tech history.

In March 2010, he narrowly missed his final grandmaster norm by just half a point. And a few weeks later, he defended his Lubbock Open title with a perfect 4-0 score.

Antal graduated from Texas Tech in August 2010, with a degree in economics. He plans to return next year, as a graduate student.

Grandmaster Antal’s next tournament will be the 2010 SPICE Cup, beginning Oct. 28.

Knight Raider Gergely Antal earns GM title

Gergely Antal (Texas Tech Economics Major), has just earned his final GM norm! He was the first titled player to come to Texas Tech in 2008 and also the first to capture a national chess title for the Knight Raiders. He missed his final GM norm at the 2010 SPICE Spring Invitational by just 1/2 point.

This time, he scored 6.5 points in his final 7 games, including the final round victory against GM Bui Vinh, to tie for 1st and clinch the final GM norm.

Congratulations to GM Antal!

His next tournament will be the SPICE Cup B group in a few weeks.

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	Rp	n	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	GM	Neelotpal Das	IND	2454	7,0	28,00	0,0	5	2627	9	7	5,07	1,93	10	19,3
2	IM	Banusz Tamas	HUN	2550	7,0	26,50	0,0	5	2616	9	7	6,29	0,71	10	7,1
3	IM	Antal Gergely	HUN	2526	7,0	25,50	0,0	6	2619	9	7	6,00	1,00	10	10,0
4	GM	Czebe Attila	HUN	2479	5,0	19,00	0,0	3	2447	9	5	5,38	-0,38	10	-3,8
5	FM	Natsidis Christoph	GER	2318	4,0	16,50	0,0	1	2379	9	4	3,28	0,72	15	10,8
6	IM	Wittmann Walter	AUT	2303	4,0	14,25	0,0	1	2381	9	4	3,08	0,92	10	9,2
7	GM	Bui Vinh	VIE	2449	4,0	13,75	0,0	2	2364	9	4	5,01	-1,01	10	-10,1
8	FM	Hagen Andreas Skytte	DEN	2311	3,0	11,50	0,0	2	2298	9	3	3,19	-0,19	15	-2,8
9	FM	Lorand Norbert	HUN	2369	2,5	7,50	0,0	1	2250	9	2,5	3,93	-1,43	15	-21,5
10	FM	Kislik Erik Andrew	USA	2357	1,5	5,00	0,0	1	2145	9	1,5	3,77	-2,27	15	-34,0

Texas Tech 1st titled player graduate

International Master Gergely Antal, an extremely valuable member of the Texas Tech Knight Raider A team, has just graduated with a degree in Economics (Arts and Sciences).

Congratulations to IM Antal!

Texas Tech Knight Raiders in the past 12 months

August 2010

Gergely Antal (Senior Economics Major) finished 2^nd at the College Tournament of Champions, the most prestigious national collegiate individual chess championship in the U.S. He won the same event in 2009.

July 2010

Rebecca Lelko (Freshman Math Major) won the 7^th annual Susan Polgar Girl’s Invitational Rapid Championship, the most prestigious all-girls national event.

July 2010

SPICE and Texas Tech hosted the annual Susan Polgar Girl’s Invitational for the 3^rd straight year. This is the most prestigious all-girls national chess event.

July 2010

Susan Polgar was named the Ambassador for Norway's bid for the 41st Chess Olympiad to be held in 2014.

June 2010 (1^st Knight Raider to earn Grandmaster title)

Davorin Kuljasevic (Graduate Finance Student) became the first Knight Raider in school history to earn the Grandmaster title, the highest title in chess. There are only about 1,000 Grandmasters worldwide.

June 2010

Gabor Papp (Senior Finance Major) earned his 2^nd Grandmaster norm. He needs one more norm to earn the Grandmaster title, the highest title in chess.

May 2010

Davorin Kuljasevic (Graduate Finance Student) won the Croatia Cup as part of the Mladost Zagreb team. This is the most prestigious team championship in Croatia.

April 2010

The 13 active members of the A team, B team, and women's team gained nearly 1,100 rating points in just this short time! That is an average improvement of nearly 90 rating points per player! This success is a direct result of the world class chess training program of SPICE at Texas Tech.

April 2010

The Knight Raiders A team qualified for the Final Four in its first year. In spite of being the lowest seed by quite a big margin, the team finished 3^rd in the country. No school has ever made the Final Four in its first attempt before. Susan Polgar became the first ever female head coach in collegiate chess to lead a men’s team to the Final Four.

March 2010

SPICE and Texas Tech hosted the 2^nd annual SPICE Spring Invitational, the 2^nd highest rated International Invitational Chess Tournament in the U.S. in 2010, only behind the SPICE Cup. Knight Raider Gergely Antal finished in a tie for 2^nd. 13 year old Darwin Yang from Plano, Texas, earned his first International Master norm in this event. This event was covered by many local TV stations, newspaper, and the news reached out to more than 160 countries worldwide.

March 2010 (1 city individual championship)

Members of the Knight Raiders chess teams captured the top 5 places at the annual Lubbock Open Championship, the most important annual local chess tournament in Lubbock. Gergely Antal finished 1^st, Chase Watters and Rebecca Lelko tied for 2^nd and 3^rd, while Joshua Osbourn and Brian Cassidy tied for 4^th.

February 2010

SPICE was featured as a part of the Texas Tech 2010 – 2020 Strategic Plan.

January 2010

Knight Raider Brian Cassidy tied for 1^st at the fourth "Get Smart! Play Chess!" Winter Chess Championship in Lubbock.

December 2009 (2 individual national titles – 1 team national title – Team made the Final Four)

The Knight Raiders A team tied for 2^nd place in Division I competition at the 2009 Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship held Dec. 27-30 on South Padre Island, and therefore qualified for the College Final Four. This is the most prestigious national collegiate team chess event in the U.S. It is the first time that Texas Tech has sent an A team.

Davorin Kuljasevic and Gergely Antal won the national individual honors as top performers on board 1 and 3 respectively. Gabor Papp finished 2^nd for top performers on board 2.

The Knight Raiders B team won 1^st place in Division IV competition at the same Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship.

November 2009 (2 state championships – 1 individual and 1 team title)

The Knight Raiders A Team (Gergely Antal, Davorin Kuljasevic, Gabor Papp and Chase Watters) captured the Texas State Collegiate Chess Championship team title in Houston. This is the first time Texas Tech has sent an A team to the state championship.

The Knight Raiders A Team members Gergely Antal and Davorin Kuljasevic captured 1^st and 2^nd place respectively at the Texas Tech State Collegiate Chess Championship individual competition in Houston.

The Knight Raiders B Team (Zach Haskin, Josh Osbourn, Rebecca Lelko, Brett James, and Ananya Roy) captured 3^rd place at the same Texas State Collegiate Chess Championship.

October 2009

SPICE and Texas Tech hosted the prestigious 3^rd annual SPICE Cup, the highest rated international invitational tournament in U.S. history. The event was held at the Student Union Building. The news of the event reached over 160 countries worldwide.

October 2009

The Knight Raiders and SPICE broke a world record for an officially rated chess tournament at the lowest point on earth, at the bottom of Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Knight Raiders A Team members Gergely Antal and Gabor Papp tied for 1^st and 2^nd place.

September 2009 (1 regional individual chess championship)

The Knight Raiders A Team member Gergely Antal captured the prestigious 75th Annual Southwest Open title in Fort Worth with 245 players. Teammate Davorin Kuljasevic finished 2^nd in the same event.

August 2009 (1 national individual chess championship)

The Knight Raiders A Team member Gergely Antal captured the 2009 College Tournament of Champions in Indianapolis, the most prestigious national collegiate individual chess championship in the U.S.

Texas Tech Knight Raider big winner at SPGI

Knight Raider big winner at annual Susan Polgar Girls Invitational
Posted: August 7, 2010 - 11:31pm
Lubbock Avalanche Journal

The seventh annual Susan Polgar Girl’s Invitational, the most prestigious all-girls chess championship in the United States, took place over six days at three separate venues (College of Education Building, English Building, and Rawls Business School Rotunda) on the Texas Tech campus, ended on Friday afternoon, July 30.

Each state can nominate one talented young female chess player, the top 18-year-old or younger from the state. Thousands of girls compete annually in local, state, regional, national and world events to earn the esteemed invitations. This year nearly 45 participants, as young as 6 years old, from all across the United States came to town to do battle on the 64 squares. In addition to the championship, these fierce competitors competed for chess prizes and scholarships.

There were a total of three individual championships. Trophies / plaques were awarded to the winners of the Susan Polgar Girls Invitational Puzzle Solving Championship, Blitz Championship, and Rapid Championship. The player with the highest combined score in the Puzzle Solving, Blitz and Rapid was crowned the Susan Polgar Girls Invitational Grand Champion.

Here is the summary of the competition:

Top 3 finishers in each championship

SP Girls Invitational Puzzle Solving Championship

There were four perfect 10 scores in this championship. Solving time was then used to determine the finishing order.

1. Anu Bayar (IL / Mongolia) 10 / 10 in 12 minutes

2. Taylor McCreary (CA) 10 /10 in 16 minutes

3. Brianna Conley (OH) 10 /10 in 29 minutes

4. Rebecca Deland (NM) 10 /10 in 30 minutes

SP Girls Invitational Blitz Championship

1. Anu Bayar (IL / Mongolia) 6.0 points in 6 games

2-3. Taylor McCreary (CA) 5.0

2-3. Victoria Bian (IL) 5.0

SP Girls Invitational Rapid Championship Full Standings

Texas Tech Knight Raider and honor student Rebecca Lelko pulled off a last round upset against tournament top ranked player Anu Bayar to win the main event, the 2010 SP Girl’s Invitational Rapid Championship, the most prestigious all-girls national championship.

1. Rebecca Lelko 5.5 points in 6 games (Texas Tech Freshman, Math Major)

2-3. Sayaka Foley 5.0

2-3. Anu Bayar 5.0

4. Annastasia Wyzywany 4.5

5. Julia Jones 4.5

6. Maggie Feng 4.0

7. Agata Bykovtsev 4.0

8. Brianna Conley 4.0

9. Mandy Lu 4.0

10. Katie Abderhalden 4.0

11. Rebekah Liu 4.0

12. Charity Carson 4.0

13. Clarisa Abella 4.0

14. Shayna Provine 3.5

15. Bethany Carson 3.5

16. Taylor McCreary 3.5

17. Emily Nguyen 3.0

18. Alexandra Timofte 3.0

19. Rachel Ulrich 3.0

20. Rebecca Deland 3.0

21. Devina Devagharan 3.0

22. Amelia Wyzywany 3.0

23. Helen Lou 3.0

24. Aiya Cancio 3.0

25. Minna Wang 3.0

26. Alexandra Wiener 2.5

27. Victoria Bian 2.5

28. Crystal Qian 2.5

29. Sydney Morris 2.5

30. Kristen Sarna 2.5

31. Emily Hasch 2.5

32. Isabel James 2.0

33. Tori Whatley 2.0

34. Sadia Qureshi 2.0

35. Bernadette Perez 2.0

36. Jacinda Lee 2.0

37. Susie Ulrich 2.0

38. Selena Wong 1.5

39. Estella Wong 1.5

40. Hannah Cheng 1.0

41. Anna Lee 1.0

Anu Bayar was crowned the 2010 Susan Polgar Girl’s Invitational Grand Champion by winning two of the three events while finishing in a tie for second in the third. She fell in love with Texas Tech, Lubbock, and the SPICE program and applied to come to Texas Tech in the Spring of 2011. She plans to major in math. Anu immediately headed for Poland on Saturday morning from Lubbock to represent Mongolia in the World Girl’s Championship.

List of Champions:

• 2010: Anu Bayar (Illinois / Mongolia)

• 2009: Yang Dai (Virginia)

• 2008: Courtney Jamison (Texas)

• 2007: Julia Kerr (New York) and Eunice Rodriguez (Florida)

• 2006: Abby Marshall (Virginia)

• 2005: Anya Corke (California / Hong Kong), Alisa Melekhina (Pennsylvania), Abby Marshall (Ohio)

• 2004: Roza Eynullayeva (Massachusetts)

All players and their families love Texas Tech, our campus, and the city of Lubbock. Many of these top students in the United States plan to apply to Texas Tech in the future. This is a win win event for Texas Tech, Lubbock, and Girl’s Chess in America.

IM Gergely Antal finishes second at College Tournament of Champions

The annual College Tournament of Champions is the most prestigious National Collegiate Individual Chess Championship in the United States. This event took place from July 31 to August 3, in Irvine, California this year.

IM Gergely Antal, an Economic major Senior, won this event last year. He was leading this year’s event after 4 rounds. Unfortunately, he came up just a little short at the end to finish 2nd this year, a mere ½ point behind the winner, Grandmaster Timur Gareev of UT Brownsville.

Congratulations to Rebecca and Gergely for representing Texas Tech very well at the nationals.

Source: LAJ

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

Pictures from game day recognition

70 pictures from the special game day recognition for IM Gergely Antal at the Texas Tech vs. University of New Mexico football game (October 3, 2009).

http://picasaweb.google.com/SPICEChess/AntalNationalChampionshipRecognition

Here is the special video of the recognition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TekRyJk5imw

Tech Chess Champ fueled by competition

Tech chess champion fueled by competition

By Sherrel Jones, Staff Writer

Published: Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Updated: Tuesday, September 15, 2009

While children his age were learning 4th-grade science, one future Texas Tech student was traveling throughout Europe participating in chess competitions.

Chess has been part of Gergely Antal’s life since he was 4, and he began competing at age 8 or 9 in tournaments around Europe.

“My grandfather was the first to teach me the game,” said Antal, an international master of chess from Hungary. “My father, uncles and my sister play chess. It is like a chess family, but they are not serious chess players. They just play for fun.”

Antal said he likes to compete in chess tournaments rather than playing leisure games because he likes the feeling of being under pressure during a chess tournament.

Hal Karlsson, faculty adviser for Knight Raiders, said he thinks Antal is a strong player.

“I always thought he had potential when he came,” Karlsson said. “He played in our spring tournament and didn’t do so well, but I think it was jitters. He also won the Southwest Open. I think he has done extremely well this year.”

The Southwest Open was hosted in the DFW area and had 160 players in attendance. Antal won first place and took home the $1,500 prize.

“Usually, they rank people by their strength, and he was the fifth-highest-rated player,” Karlsson said. “He was not the highest-rated player, but won it.”

Antal is a talented player, Karlsson said, but he is not the only talented player at Tech.

Antal did not have competition from his own team last year because he was the only international master on the team. This year, Tech has acquired two other strong players who are international masters.

“We have three international masters, and all of them are quite strong,” Karlsson said. “They all just need one more grandmaster norm to become grandmaster.”

Davorin Kuljasevic, who won second place at the Southwest Open, said Antal’s international master status would be the equivalent to master’s degree in college, and a grandmaster would be the equivalent of a doctoral degree.

“He also has two grandmaster norms,” said Kuljasevic, an international master of chess, “which means he is very close to achieving his grandmaster title. He has a grandmaster strength, which makes him probably top 500 chess players in the world.”

Antal has achieved many accomplishments to be an international master, including his most recent victory in the 2009 World Chess Live Tournament of College Champions during the summer.

“It was a collegiate tournament in Indianapolis,” Antal said. “Universities sent their best students to the competition.”

Antal was the only student from Tech to attend the competition.

“I was the strongest player at that time,” Antal said.

Kuljasevic said the upcoming individual tournaments are scheduled Sept. 19 through Sept. 27 and will be hosted in the matador room in the Student Union Building.

The tournament is going to be difficult, Kuljasevic said, because talented international players will be competing. Grandmasters and chess players from different areas of the United States will also gather in the matador room to compete.

Despite all the talented players and tough competition, Kuljasevic said it is possible for Antal to achieve his goal of becoming a grandmaster.

Source: http://www.dailytoreador.com

TTU Students and SPICE Members Earn Chess Titles

TTU Students and SPICE Members Earn Chess Titles

Texas Tech takes top two spots at 75th annual Southwest Open in Fort Worth.
Written by Jessica Benham
September 14, 2009

Texas Tech University’s SPICE members took home top honors at the 75th annual Southwest Open in Fort Worth.
International Master (IM) Gergely Antal, an economics major at Texas Tech and member of SPICE, placed first at the tournament, which took place over the Labor Day weekend and drew 245 players.

Antal, who was fresh off his national collegiate championship title in Indianapolis in August, scored six points in seven games with no losses to clinch the title. He yielded only two draws – both from Texas Tech teammates and roommates, IMs Davorin Kuljasevic and Gabor Papp.

Kuljasevic, a graduate student at Texas Tech, placed second scoring, 5.5 points in seven games.

Grandmasters Timur Gareev, of the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB); Amon Simutowe, of the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD); IMs Daniel Fernandez, of UTB and Daniel Ludwig of UTD; and Julio Sadorra tied for 3rd with five points.

This is the second straight major championship where Texas Tech players have finished ahead of two of the nation’s most powerful chess teams – UTD and UTB.

Paul Truong, director of marketing at SPICE, said the members of SPICE who played in the Southwest Open went on their own expense because the Student Government Association’s funds cannot be used to fund non-college tournaments.

“This is essential in order to keep the players in good shape by having them play in strong tournaments,” Truong said. “This is quite an accomplishment considering the youth of the chess program at Texas Tech and it is a great advertisement for the university.”

Story produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing, (806) 742-2136.

Source: http://today.ttu.edu/

Tech chess players take top two places

Tech chess players take top two places in tournament

By Joe Gulick Avalanche-Journal
Monday, September 14, 2009
Story last updated at -

Texas Tech international chess masters Gergely Antal and Davorin Kuljasevic placed first and second, respectively, in chess competition at the recent 75th annual Southwest Open in Fort Worth.

The match drew 245 players, and among them were Antal, Kuljasevic and two other members of Tech's Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE). Paul Truong, marketing director for SPICE, said this is the institute's second full year.

Antal, an economics major, had won the national collegiate championship title at the Tournament of College Champions in Indianapolis in August. In the Fort Worth tournament, he scored six points in seven games with five wins and no losses. He had two draws - against Tech teammates Kuljasevic and Gabor Papp - and the draws counted half a point each.

Because of the nature of chess tournaments, players sometimes have to play against their teammates, Truong said.

Kuljasevic, a Tech graduate student, scored 5.5 points in seven games in finishing second.

This is the second consecutive major championship, following the Tournament of College Champions, where Tech players have finished ahead of players on two of the nation's most powerful chess teams - the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Texas at Brownsville. Truong said the two Texas schools are among the top four universities in the nation in chess competition.

"To beat them in our second year is a phenomenal accomplishment," Truong said. "If we did the same thing in football, there would be a parade."

A five-way tie for third place at the Fort Worth tournament included grandmaster Timur Gareev and international master Daniel Fernandez of the University of Texas at Brownsville and grandmaster Amon Simutowe and international masters Daniel Ludwig and Julio Sadorra of the University of Texas at Dallas. All five scored five points.

Grandmaster is the highest title conferred by the World Chess Federation, and international master is the second-highest, Truong said. Both Antal and Kuljasevic are close to grandmaster status and could reach it at the 2009 SPICE Cup International Invitational Tournament, which will begin at Tech Saturday, he said.

Truong said the SPICE members who played in the Southwest Open went at their own expense because the Student Government Association's funds cannot be used to fund non-college tournaments.

The SPICE members call their chess team the Knight Raiders. Truong said the "knight" in the title referred to the chess piece and joked that it did not have anything to do with former Tech men's basketball coach Bob Knight.

Source: Avalanche Journal

Spectacular recognition for TTU Chess

Photo by Mike Strong

College football is BIG in Texas, especially in Lubbock, Texas!

During an upcoming Texas Tech football game, I will present the National Collegiate Champion plaque to IM Gergely Antal, winner of the 2009 WCL Tournament of College Champions, on the football field during the half time ceremony. He will also be recognized for winning clear first at the prestigious 75th annual Southwest Open in Fort Worth.

Between 30-40 members of the Texas Tech Knight Raiders Chess Club are expected to be on hand to cheer for IM Antal during this very special occasion.

IM Antal will be going for his final GM norm at the SPICE Cup next week.

International Master Gergely Antal

Winner of the 2009 World Chess Live Tournament of College Champions

The National Champ with President Bailey

U.S. National Collegiate Champion IM Gergely Antal with TTU President Guy Bailey

Interview with chess champions: The secrets of success

Polgar: Interview with chess champions: The secrets of success
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Story last updated at 8/16/2009 - 1:53 am

In this week's column, Rich Rice, Ph.D., associate professor in English at Texas Tech, interviews me, Gergely Antal, and Assistant Head Coach Paul Truong.

Gergely is an international chess master from Hungary who plays for the Knight Raiders at Tech. He was recruited by the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence, and two weeks ago in Indianapolis he won the U.S. Tournament of College Champions, the first national chess championship for Texas Tech.

RR: Congratulation Gergely! Tremendous achievement. Really, something.

GA: Thank you. But this isn't just my win. The national title goes to the Knight Raiders, to SPICE, and to Texas Tech. It's a team effort.

RR: Do you feel extra pressure being the first titled player recruited by SPICE? You're an international master, and now you're being recognized as one of the top players in college chess today.

GA: Not sure if you'd call it pressure; I just wanted to play my best. The confidence Susan has in me is important to my playing. I also wanted to make my teammates, SPICE, and Texas Tech proud. I'm very thankful for everyone's support. Studying and playing in Lubbock has really been a life experience for me.

RR: It's great having you here, Gergely. Susan, what do you look for when recruiting chess players for the team?

SP: A number of things, actually. First, I look for excellent students who take their education seriously, and who would appreciate the opportunity to receive an excellent education at Tech. That's most important. Second, I look for people who really want to learn and grow as individuals and chess players. We work hard. Third, we need team players, good citizens, and people who know the importance of positively representing Texas Tech.

RR: Chess is both art and science, certainly, and it has the ability to help others focus on what they're doing in life. Paul, what does this national championship brought about by Gergely's play mean to SPICE?

PT: In my opinion, this national title is unprecedented in college chess. With such spirited competition in the college chess arena, to win a national championship in less than two years in the development of a program says volumes about Susan's ability to spot talent, recruit and coach. She models excellence. Gergely is part of the first recruiting class. To hit a homerun so soon is very special. It says that we are on the right track, and that this program is heading in the right direction.

RR: What goals do you have for SPICE and the Knight Raiders in coming years?

PT: We have high expectations. Unlike other college sports where there are limits to the number of players in the program, chess is quite different. The more the better. And many young players now want to come to Texas Tech to play chess. No world or Olympic champion has ever run a chess institute or coached a college team before. Texas Tech and SPICE have hosted world-class, prestigious events like the SPICE Cup, SPICE Spring Invitational, and the Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls. If we're able to continue, we will play a role in significantly increasing the number of highly intelligent students at Tech.

RR: That's great to hear. And what is SPICE doing in the community?

PT: We've been working with Tech, the city of Lubbock, Lubbock Independent School District, Wolfforth Library, and many others. I am confident that SPICE will continue to grow in strength. One of our goals is to make the final four in the upcoming Pan-American Championship, which is the most prestigious national team chess championship in the U.S. Another goal is to work with Region 17 and LISD to promote scholastic chess. We'd like to continue to attract local students to attend college here. We've also been working to develop research projects that investigate correlations between chess and education, between chess and Alzheimer's, between chess and math, chess and computers, chess and engineering ... Winning national championships and developing research agendas can help Tech in its effort to become a tier one university.

RR: These are all very important things. Susan, what is the difference between being a professional player and being the head coach of the Knight Raiders?

SP: Not much, really. I apply some of the same principles to coaching that I've used since I started playing when I was 4. Discipline, diligence, practice, reflective inquiry, integrity, etc. Every coach uses different methods to maximize his or her players' potential for success. I communicate carefully and motivate my players thoughtfully. And, our players are very good. Gergely is one example.

RR: Final question. How do you like Lubbock now that you have been here for almost two years?

SP: I love it! My children love it! We love Texas Tech. We love Lubbock. We love the people we work with. We love the warmth and hospitality of the people in this community. When I came to town back in early 2007 to discuss the idea of moving to Lubbock to start SPICE, I was told that Texas Tech is committed to SPICE for a long, foreseeable future. I plan to be here for a long time and continue a tradition of excellence.

RR: Thank you all for your time and congratulations, Gergely, again, for capturing the first national chess championship for Texas Tech. I hope more will be in our future.