Class dates: April 3, 10, 17, 24 and May 1 (5 sessions)
Hours: 11:00am to 1:00pm on Saturdays at TTU’s Administration building.
Instruction will be provided by members of the nationally ranked Texas Tech Knight Raider Chess Team, based on Grandmaster Susan Polgar’s very popular and highly effective chess curriculum and direct guidance.
Registration fee: $99 by March 27, after add $20 late fee.
Please send registration form to: Texas Tech University, SPICE, Box 45080, Lubbock, TX 79409.
The school was established in 1923. Today, Texas Tech University has more than 39,000 students and 18,000 faculty / staff from over 100 countries. The main campus in Lubbock, Texas has 30,049 students.
Texas Tech University comprised a vast 1,850 acres, but elegant Spanish Renaissance-style buildings and attractively landscaped grounds give the campus an old-fashion collegial feel. Located in Lubbock, Texas Tech enjoys the area’s High Plains climate and four distinct seasons.
Texas Tech offers students a choice of more than 150 bachelor’s, 100 master’s, and 50 doctoral programs. Faculty members are nationally known for their work in a wide variety of fields. It is the ONLY institution in Texas with a graduate school, a law school, and a medical school in the same location as the main undergraduate campus. Overall, there are 14 colleges at Texas Tech University with 62 academics departments and 198 degree programs.
More than 400 clubs and organizations provide enrichment outside of the classroom.
Texas Tech also many other locations such as San Angelo, El Paso, Spain, and Germany, etc. It is expected to be designated as a tier one university soon.
Gender breakdown:
Undergraduate: Approximately 56% male - 44% female Graduate & Professional: Approximately 52.5% male - 47.5% female New Transfer Students: Approximately 57% male - 43% female
Top countries:
1. USA 2. India 3. China 4. Mexico 5. South Korea 6. Canada 7. Taiwan 8. Nigeria 9. Turkey 10. Nepal
SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) was established in 2007. It is the only established university chess institute in the United States and possibly in the world. The goal of SPICE is to work with our friends and colleagues to enhance chess, education, technology, and research, etc.
Why should a student / chess player come to Texas Tech?
Here are just a few of the many benefits:
1. To receive top notch education. 2. To receive world class intense chess training. 3. To have the opportunity to compete in multiple major SPICE chess tournaments (SPICE Cup, SPICE Spring Invitational, Get Smart! Play Chess!, Lubbock Open, and many more) every year.
SPICE is a premier center for chess education, research, technology, and outreach.
The goal of SPICE is to:
- Recruit outstanding undergraduate and graduate students to TTU and TTU-HSC
- Provide a substantial amount of scholarships to chess players
- Be a world leader in promoting women's chess
- Support the nation's most elite chess programs
- Promote chess as vehicle for enriching the education of children
- Serve as a center for chess education and research
- Support and promote competitive chess at the college level
Beginners to advanced K-12 players welcome. Campers will practice writing and computer skills. Sports and other activities offered.
• Commuter Plan: $295/week
Check-in Sunday 2pm-3pm. Camp hours are 3pm-5:30pm on Sunday, and 9am-5:30pm daily Monday - Thursday. Camp ends at 3pm on Friday. Lunch and snacks included.
• Residential Plan: $595/week
Arrive Sunday from 1pm-3pm. Dorm lodging and all meals are included, including dinner on Sunday through lunch on Friday. Camp ends at 3pm on Sunday. Residential plan is based on double occupancy. 5-12 Grades only.
The newly formed Lubbock just had its second meeting tonight. As I mentioned last week, chess has been growing at warp speed in Lubbock. Now chess enthusiasts can enjoy casual games on multiple nights each week at various locations.
A group of dedicated chess aficionados in Lubbock have decided to re-open the Lubbock Chess Club and the primary goal is to have chess enthusiasts get together and have fun playing chess.
I am happy to say that the new Lubbock Chess Club has found a new long term home and a wonderful partner. Lin's Buffet at 5608 Slide Road (near South Plains Mall) has agreed to host the club on Mondays from 5-9 p.m.
A room full of players were on hand tonight to enjoy a fun night of chess action.
Another challenging night of chess fun will be on Friday nights starting at 5:30 p.m. at J&B Coffee, 2701 26th St., just off Boston Avenue.
After school/after work chess club at Science Spectrum: Thursdays, 4:30-6 p.m.; Science Spectrum Atrium, 2579 S. Loop 289; www.sciencespectrum.org. The club is free and all ages and levels are welcome.
Springboard Chess Nights: Mondays and Wednesdays 5-7 p.m., 4204 Boston Ave. The event is free and all ages and levels are welcome.
Scientific conference: Chess should be taught at elementary classes
Scientific conference: Chess should be taught at elementary classes February 01, 2010
On the last day of January research and practice conference “Chess as an innovating school subject in educational system” started within the framework of international Moscow Open chess festival. Greeting speeches from RSSU rector Vasily Zhukov, the Federation Council and others government structure was read out to participants.
The head of the “pedagogic and chess work organization” department RSSU Aleksandr Kostiev told about the successful undertaking – publishing the information from chess education conference, which took place in RSSU, and a publication of premiere collection “Project “Chess in RSSU”. Volume 1. International research and practice conference materials “Chess in Russian and World educational system” (2009).
The leitmotif of the conference was the article “Russian Chess Education” of the First President of Sakha Republic (Yakutia), deputy chairman of the Federation Council Mikhail Nikolaev. This article was quoted in many speeches.
Aleksandr Schegortsov, Doctor of Social Sciences, director of Federation Council chairman deputy secretariat, impressed the audience with his speech. He noticed that chess should be involved not only in life of each school, but in each family life.
Reports from regions-leaders of chess education were also of great interest. Methodist Tatiana Partys (Tomsk) and director of Internet-center of chess skills Galina Kovaleva (Khanty-Mansiysk) speeches and presentations covered a lot of methodical aspects of general compulsory education. The main feature of Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous area is using information technology during the chess lessons, the main feature of Tomsk district – narrow facility preparation to general compulsory education and good covering of compulsory schools. Guests from Tomsk brought the just published substantial collection “Problems and prospects of chess education development in Russia: All-Russian research-to-practice conference data”.
The report of the deputy director of the school №758 Elvira Umanskaya (Moscow) was about chess lesson characteristics for “The Teacher of the Year” contest and also about the quality of teaching chess at elementary school.
The speeches of Alexander Timofeev, Vladimir Mechitov and others were dedicated to different issues arising at chess lessons at comprehensive schools. There was no special mood – there was a constructive, quite tough and emotional conversation among specialists.
Nevertheless, all the speakers were of the same opinion that a chess lesson at school is very essential. It should be in the main draw of the lessons and chess should be taught at elementary classes.
TTU the Victors: Red Raiders raked in the awards in 2009
By Matthew Mcgowan AVALANCHE-JOURNAL Monday, February 01, 2010 Story last updated at 2/1/2010 - 12:36 am
The trophies have been lining up at Texas Tech.
Forget football, basketball, track, or other sports. You won't find these - with one possible exception - on ESPN.
Red Raiders have been racking up the victories against rival groups across the country.
Since the beginning of classes last fall, they've won victories in chess, meat and livestock judging, paintball, plant science quiz bowls, and interior design.
Most, like the agronomy quiz bowl team, compete in groups - small cadres of participants who have spent months preparing for their respective fields of competition.
Others, like interior design champ Allison Yank, went it alone.
But regardless of whether in groups or solo, Tech's students have returned home with accolades.
The year's not over yet, so many of these extracurricular teams are still
competing for national and state titles.
This article doesn't include them all, but here's a rundown of some of the different student groups and their accomplishments.
Chess
Thirty-two pieces in two colors on 64 squares.
Then add to that four national and two state titles on top of one open championship and you've got chess on Tech's terms.
"Other schools have chess teams," said Paul Truong, assistant coach and director of marketing for Tech's 21/2-year-old Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence. "It's not about teams. We have an institute. It's not just about chess competitions. It's multi-faceted."
And, judging from the string of victories above, all won by Red Raiders in the past six months, Truong is right. SPICE has become a hot-spot breeding ground of chess champions.
The institute's select few Knight Raider chess teams have tacked a slew of accomplishments onto their resumes in the past few months.
Knight Raiders A-Team members Gergely Antal, Davorin Kuljasevic, Gabor Papp and Chase Watters - all international masters - collectively came home from Houston with a Texas collegiate championship in November.
In the same tournament, Hungarian-born Antal and Croatian-born Kujasevic won first and second place, respectively, in the individual competition.
The next month, the same team tied for second place for Division 1 of the 2009 Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship on South Padre Island.
Again at South Padre, Antal and Kujasevic took individual honors, tying for first place.
By that point, however, Antal, an economics student, had already been on a roll.
He won September's 75th Annual Southwest Open in Fort Worth. That's to say he took the No. 1 spot out of 245 players at the open.
But that was after he made history for Tech in August by winning the 2009 World Chess Live Tournament of College Champions - a major win, the first major national title for a Knight Raider.
The Knight Raiders A-Team's win in December qualified them for a seat at the President's Cup in March, which Truong described as "college chess' Final Four Championship.
Polgar: Lubbock chess tournament sees a record turnout Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Sunday, January 31, 2010 Story last updated at 1/31/2010 - 12:22 am
The fourth "Get Smart! Play Chess!" Winter Scholastic Chess Championship was held on Jan. 23 at the Lubbock Science Spectrum. The event drew around 100 players - ages 6 to older than 60 - from Lubbock, San Angelo, Amarillo, and Midland, etc.
The players fought hard for four rounds. However, players managed to have a blast exploring the exciting exhibits between rounds. Some even enjoyed an IMAX movie after the tournament.
This is a wonderful collaboration among Texas Tech SPICE, the Knight Raiders, the Susan Polgar Foundation, and the Science Spectrum. I am hoping to partner up with more local businesses in the future to provide more activities, excitement, and benefits to our community. Below are the top five individual finishers in each section (when tie, players are listed by the order of tie breaks):
K-2
1. D'Amico-Wong, Luca 4.0 points
2. McClure, Andrew 3.0
3-4. Church, London 2.0
3-4. Kotarski, Bridges 2.0
5. Walden, Sarah 1.0
K-5
1. Cheatham, Benjamin 4.0 points
2-6. McCarty, Danny 3.0
2-6. Polgar, Leeam 3.0
2-6. Mulligan, Brian 3.0
2-6. Simmons, Max 3.0
2-6. Asakawa, Anil 3.0
K-8
1. Simmons, Wolfgang 4.0 points
2-4. Tafoya, Emmanuel 3.5
2-4. Tafoya, Isriel 3.5
2-4. Butler, Anthony 3.5
5-11. Perez, Felix 3.0
5-11. Cassity, Taylor 3.0
5-11. Garcia, Gabriel 3.0
5-11. Arce, Jordan 3.0
5-11. Morris, Gordon 3.0
5-11. Sproles, Nathan 3.0
5-11. Johnson, Sam 3.0
K-12
1. Cortes, Joel 4.0 points
2. Perez, Bernadette 3.5
3-5. Smith, Quinton 3.0
3-5. Reyna, Gilbert II 3.0
3-5. Ball, Charles Adam 3.0
Open section for all ages
1-2. Cassidy, Brian (AZ) 1815 3.5 points
1-2. Polgar, Tom (TX) 1793 3.5
3-5. Haskin, Zachary (TX) 1869 2.5
3-5. Lelko, Rebecca (OH) 1835 2.5
3-5. Metzler, Shane (TX) 1465 2.5
Big thanks to Chase Watters, Brett James, Gabor Papp, Davorin Kuljasevic, Stephanie Ballom, Peggy Flores, Hal Karlsson, Lucia Barbato, Jerry Perez, Rich Rice, and Paul Truong for their help. Special thanks to Dr. Juan Munoz and Jeannie Diaz for their support. Last but not least, a sincere thanks to the Science Spectrum for hosting this event and for supporting chess in education.
Here is the link to 68 pictures from the 4th Get Smart! Play Chess! Winter Scholastic Chess Championship at the Lubbock Science Spectrum.
The event drew 101 players from Lubbock, San Angelo, Amarillo, and Midland, etc. Big thanks to Chase Watters, Brett James, Gabor Papp, Davorin Kuljasevic, Stephanie Ballom, Peggy Flores, Hal Karlsson, Lucia Barbato, Jerry Perez, Rich Rice...for their help.
Top 5 individuals:
K-2
1. d'amico-wong, Luca (1)........ TX 4.0 2. mcclure, andrew (4)........... TX 3.0 3. church, london (2)............ TX 2.0 4. kotarski, Bridges (3)......... TX 2.0 5. walden, sarah (5)............. TX 1.0
K-5
1. cheatham, benjamin (3)........ TX 4.0 2. mccarty, danny (1)............ TX 3.0 3. polgar, leeam (2).... TX 3.0 4. mulligan, brian Re (4)........ TX 3.0 5. simmons, max (5).............. TX 3.0 6. asakawa, anil (6)............. TX 3.0
K-8
1. simmons, wolfgang (3)......... TX 4.0 2. tafoya, emmanuel (2).......... TX 3.5 3. tafoya, isriel (40)........... TX 3.5 4. butler, anthony (15).......... TX 3.5 5. perez, felix (1).............. TX 3.0 6. cassity, taylor (4)........... TX 3.0 7. garcia, gabriel (10).......... TX 3.0 8. arce, jordan (11)............. TX 3.0 9. morris, gordon (12)........... TX 3.0 10. sproles, nathan (37).......... TX 3.0 11. johnson, sam (23)............. TX 3.0
K-12
1. cortes, joel ramir 4.0 2. perez, bernadette (3)......... TX 3.5 3. smith, quinton (2)............ TX 3.0 4. reyna, gilbert II (5)......... TX 3.0 5. ball, charles adam (11)....... TX 3.0
Open Section
1. cassidy, brian ham (4)........ AZ 1815 3.5 2. polgar, tom (5).................... TX 1793 3.5 3. haskin, zachary Jo (2)........ TX 1869 2.5 4. lelko, rebecca A (3).......... OH 1835 2.5 5. metzler, shane (8)............ TX 1465 2.5 6. santillan, carlos (1)......... TX 2000 2.0
Ms. Susan Polgar SPICE Texas Tech University Campus Mail: MS 5080
Dear Ms. Polgar:
It is a pleasure to again extend congratulations to you and the Texas Tech chess teams for their finishes at the recent 2009 Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship.
Please convey my personal congratulations to Knight Raiders A for their second place finish in Division I and for qualifying for the President's Cup championship, to Knight Raiders B for their Division 4title, the Lady Knight Raiders for second place finish in Division 4, and to Gergely Antal and Davorin Kuljasevic for continuing to garner individual titles in their competitions.
Congratulations to you as well for being the first woman to coach a men's team into the President's Cup competition.
Once again, the teams have demonstrated their determination to achieve excellence and their exemplary knowledge of chess in defeating teams from other well-known universities. We appreciate the recognition brought to the individual team members, to you and your program, and to Texas Tech.
Texas Tech University Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) The Knight Raiders and the Susan Polgar Foundation present 4th "Get Smart! Play Chess!" Winter Scholastic Chess Championship
Saturday, January 23, 2010 at the Science Spectrum more information and entry forms: www.SPICE.ttu.edu
Primary (K-2), Elementary (K-5), Middle School (K-8), High School (K-12) and Adults. There is a total of 30 minutes maximum per player per game.
On-site registration 8:30am - 9:45am All players must check in by 9:45am. Bring chess set, board and clock if you have one!
Round schedule:
Round - Start time
1 10:15 AM 2 11:30 PM 3 1:00 PM 4 2:15 PM
Entry Fees: $10 received by 1-20, $15 received by 1-22, after or on site $20. A valid USCF membership required. It can be obtained at www.uschess.org or on site on 1-23 until 10am. Entry fee includes access to the museum OR one free IMAX movie.
(For accompanying person there is an optional discounted entry ($4.50) to the museum or to the IMAX theatre. The discounted combined ticket is $7.)
Prizes: Trophies for top 5 individual and top 3 team finishers in each scholastic section. Team prizes are based on the top three scores from the same school in the same section. In the adult section 70% of the paid entries are returned in prizes. Also special trophy for top Sibling, top Parent/Child and top Coach/Student teams.
Prize giving ceremony will be held shortly after the end of the last game which is around 3:30pm.
Texas Tech Claims Three Chess Titles at Intercollegiate Championship Knight Raiders Team A tie for second, qualify for college chess' version of the final four. Written by Cory Chandler
The finish qualified Texas Tech for a berth at the President’s Cup – college chess’ version of a final four championship – slated for March to determine the U.S. college chess team champion.
Knight Raiders B team captured the Division 4 title while the Lady Knight Raiders captured second place in Division 4, finishing a half point behind the B team.
Paul Truong, director of marketing for the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE), noted that the A team achieved its success without the two reserve players allowed in tournament play due to limited scholarship availability.
“That would be like a basketball team playing with only five players during March Madness,” he said. “We had no flexibility in our lineup, but in spite of the big handicap, our players gave everything they had and they achieved the impossible.”
The Knight Raiders became the first team to make the Division 1 President’s Cup in its first attempt, and SPICE Director Susan Polgar became the first woman to coach a men’s team into the final four competition, Truong said.
The Lady Knight Raiders defeated teams from the University of Utah and Lone Star College and tied Yale University’s A team. Team members Davorin Kuljasevic and Gergely Antal also won individual titles, tying for having the most points on their boards, while Gabor Papp finished second behind them.
2009 PAN-AM INTERCOLLEGIATE TEAM CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP AWARD WINNERS
Teams going to The President’s Cup, also known as the Final Four of Chess, in April at UTB/TSC:
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County The University of Texas at Dallas Texas Tech University UTB/TSC
International teams:
First place: University of the West Indies, Bridgetown, Barbados Second place: University of Toronto "A" Team Third place: University of Toronto "B" Team
Division winners:
Division I: The University of Maryland, Baltimore County "B" Team Division II: UTB-TSC "B" Team Division III: Yale University Division IV: Texas Tech University "B" Team
Board winners:
Board 1: Leonid Kritz, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Davorin Kuljasevic, Texas Tech University "A" Team, Bogdan Vioreanu, Yale University Board 2: Sergey Erenburg, University of Maryland, Baltimore County "A" Team Board 3: Axel Bachmann, UTB-TSC "A" Team and Gergely Antal, Texas Tech University "A" Team Board 4: Sasha Kaplan, University of Maryland, Baltimore County "A" Team Alternate: Daniel Yeager, The University of Texas at Dallas "B" Team
GM Wesley So has just confirmed his participation in the 2010 SPICE Cup A group.
To make the event a lot more exciting, the SPICE Cup committee has unanimously voted to adapt the following new rules for the A group:
- No draw offer allowed prior to move 30 - A win = 3 points, a draw = 1 point, and loss = 0 point
GM Georg Meier (Germany), GM Jon Ludvig Hammer (Norway), GM Ray Robson (USA) and GM Eugene Perelshteyn (USA) have already confirmed their participation.
The format of the A group will once again be a 6-player DRR (category 16 or 17) event. The B group will be a 10-player (category 11-12) RR event. We are planning to add a 3rd group for 2010.
CHESS Winter Camp December 21-23, 2009 Science Spectrum Lubbock, Texas
Learn chess from world champion Susan Polgar’s curriculum through her team of instructors. Beginner to advanced players are welcome ages 7 to 12. Campers will focus on learning chess theory and practice, but will also spend time with other activities at the museum.
Participants will be taught basic chess tactics and strategy, scorekeeping, etiquette, logical thinking, and strategic planning.
Campers will be divided in groups based on age and skill level. Camp hours: 10am -3pm. Bring your own sack lunch.
Fee: $79. Early-bird discount of $5 if registered by 12/11/09.
For additional camp information or reservations call the Science Spectrum at 806-745-2525 x234.
Mon. to Wed., Dec. 21 to 23– Winter Chess Camp Learn chess from world champion Susan Polgar’s curriculum through her team of instructors. Campers will focus on learning chess theory and practice, but will also spend time with other activities at the museum. Participants will be taught basic chess tactics and strategy, score keeping, etiquette, logical thinking, and strategic planning. Campers will be divided in groups based on age and skill level, so all players, beginner to advanced are welcome.
Mon. to Wed., Dec. 21 to 23 – 10am to 3pm – Winter Chess Camp Learn chess from world champion Susan Polgar’s curriculum through her team of instructors. Campers will focus on learning chess theory and practice, but will also spend time with other activities at the museum. Participants will be taught basic chess tactics and strategy, scorekeeping, etiquette, logical thinking, and strategic planning. Campers will be divided in groups based on age and skill level, so all players, beginner to advanced are welcome.
