UTD Wins Pan American Chess Championship

Plus, the dudes are featured on the cover of Chess Life magazine.

Two teams from The University of Texas at Dallas led from start to finish and tied for first place in the 2006 Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship which ended today in Washington, D.C. With the victory, UT Dallas reclaimed the mythical title of best college chess team in the land, an honor it lost to longtime rival University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), at last year's Pan Am.

Front row L-R: Alex Chua, Alejandro Ramirez, Magesh Panchanathan, Chris Toolin, and Davorin Kuljasevic. Standing L-R: Coach Rade Milovanovic, Marko Zivanic, Drasko Boskovic, Igor Shneider, Nelson Lopez, Keaton Kiewra, Ryan Milisits, Jacek Stopa, Lilia Doibani, Yashodhan Gogte, Amon Simutowe, and John Bartholomew.

UT Dallas' “A” and “B” teams had an impressive record of five match wins and one draw each in the four-day event, long considered the most prestigious tournament of its kind in the Western Hemisphere and known as the “World Series of College Chess.” Out of 48 individual games, neither team suffered a loss. In the end, UT Dallas' B team was awarded the tournament trophy on tie-break points.

In the past decade, UT Dallas and UMBC have emerged as unquestionably the two best college chess teams in the nation. One or the other has won the Pan Am eight years in a row. In another major annual college chess competition, the Final Four of Chess, no team other than UT Dallas and UMBC has won the event in its six-year history.

UT Dallas' A team was composed of Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez (chess rating of 2566), Grandmaster Magesh Chandran Panchanathan (2526), International Master Drasko Boskovic (2526), FIDE Master John Bartholomew (2454) and FIDE Master Igor Schneider (2428). The B team included International Master Marko Zivanic (2569), International Master Davorin Kuljasevic (2477), International Master Dmitri Schneider (2517), International Master Amon Simutowe (2465) and International Master Jacek Stopa (2436). The A team boasted an average chess rating of 2500, slightly more than the B team's 2492.8.

For a silly and semi-pointless interview with International Master Jacek Stopa, click here.

Source: UTD