UT Dallas Chess Program Keeps Moving

Despite just completing a victorious season, the UT Dallas chess program never slows down. Among its most recent activities, the team is heading to China May 12 for an international intercollegiate match, an 11-year-old Dallas girl was awarded a chess scholarship to the University, and the fifth annual All-Girls Chess National Scholastic Championship took place at UT Dallas on April 25-27.

• On May 12, five members of the University’s championship chess team, accompanied by Coach Rade Milovanovic, will depart for Beijing. The group will be co-hosted by Nankai University and the Chinese Chess Association, and, while there, they will play a two-round match with the Nankai University team. According to Jim Stallings, director of the chess program, three administrators at UT Dallas were instrumental in helping to set up the trip: University President Dr. David E. Daniel; Dr. Michael Coleman, associate provost and dean of undergraduate education; and Dr. Dennis Kratz, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities and advisor of the University’s Confucius Institute. The team plans to blog — complete with photos and video — from China. Members making the trip include GM Alejandro Ramirez, IM Davorin Kuljasevic, IM Marko Zivanic, IM Jacek Stopa and FM Igor Shneider. They plan to return to the U.S. on May 21.

• The All-Girls Chess National Scholastic Championship was held at UT Dallas April 25-27. More than 200 girls from public, private and home-schools across more than 20 states, Puerto Rico and Mexico participated in the two-day event. With a winning score of 5.0, Medina Parrilla of New York won the 18-and-under category. As winner, Parrilla received a four-year Academic Distinction Scholarship to UT Dallas, which is valued at $68,000 for out-of-state and $42,000 for in-state. It was the fifth year the Kasparov Chess Foundation organized and sponsored the event. The tournament was also sponsored by the Dallas Chess Club, the United States Chess Federation and UT Dallas.

• Kristen Raveneau, an 11-year-old sixth grader from Dealey Elementary in Dallas, won the Dallas Area Chess-in-the-Schools competition held at Henry B. Gonzalez Elementary on March 29. Ravenau had a perfect score of 5-0 for the tournament with five wins, no draws and no losses. As the winner, she was awarded an Academic Distinction Scholarship to UT Dallas, which covers tuition, mandatory fees and $2,000 a year towards housing. The tournament is held annually for Dallas school district students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

For more information about the UT Dallas chess program, including details about chess camps for kids being offered this summer, please visit http://chess.utdallas.edu/.