The University of Texas at Dallas chess team earned a spot in the President’s Cup — known as the Final Four of college chess — with a second-place finish at the Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship in McAllen, Texas.
The UT Dallas A Team registered five of a maximum six points in its six rounds of play at the tournament, which was held Jan. 4-7. The Comets will play the University of Missouri (MU), Webster University and UT Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) for the President’s Cup in April at a yet-to-be-determined site.
“I am very proud of all our players. They supported each other during the event on and off the board,” said Julio Catalino Sadorra BS’13, coach of the UTD chess team, which will participate in the President’s Cup for the 19th time since 2001. “Both teams prepared well in the fall semester and fought hard for the win against all their opponents. The alternates showed readiness to step in and provided moral support. Most of all, I am proud of them for applying lessons from last year’s Pan-Ams, in which we missed qualification.”
The UT Dallas A Team secured its berth with a 2½-1½ victory over the University of Chicago’s A Team. It also defeated teams from Arizona State University, MU and UT Austin, and earned draws with Webster’s B Team and the UTRGV A Team.
The tournament featured 40 teams in the open division, and most universities, including UTD, were represented by multiple teams.
Karolis Juksta won five of his six matches for UTD’s A Team, including a crucial fourth-board win over Chicago’s Yassamin Ehsani in the final match. Juksta received the award for the best Board 4 player at the tournament. David Brodsky took four points from his six matches. Koustav Chatterjee, Brian Escalante Ramirez, Saksham Rautela and Anastasia Paramzina also represented the A Team.
The UT Dallas B Team of Ivan Schitco, Andrei Macovei, Balaji Daggupati, Rahul Srivasthav Peddi, Gergana Peycheva and Tarini Goyal earned 4½ points to finish sixth. Macovei notched five points from his six matches and earned the event’s best Board 2 player honor.
UTD’s 19 appearances in the President’s Cup are the most of any university.
“Members of the UTD A and B teams played exceedingly well against very high-rated opponents,” UTD Chess Program director Jim Stallings said. “Their preparations with Coach Sadorra throughout the fall semester and between the tournament rounds produced championship results. The players deserve a lot of recognition for their three- to four-hour struggles each round. The continuing support of the University faculty, students and staff keeps team spirits high.”