UTD to Sponsor First Chess Tournament for DISD High School Students

RICHARDSON, Texas (Jan. 5, 2004) – The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) will sponsor the first district-wide chess tournament for high school students in the Dallas Independent School District and will award a college scholarship worth up to $4,000 to the winner of the event, which will be held Saturday, Jan. 24, at Roosevelt High School, 525 Bonnie View Road in Dallas.

The tournament, which will begin at 9 a.m., will be open to DISD students in grades nine through 12. The number of rounds, or games, each student will be required to play will be determined by the number of players who sign up for the competition.

The scholarship will provide $1,000 toward a freshman year at UTD, as long as the winner meets the university’s admissions requirements, and will be renewable for three more years, as long as the student maintains a 3.0 grade point average and participates in chess activities on campus. Trophies will be awarded to the top five individuals and top three teams in each section, and medals will be given to those who do not win trophies.

There is no entry fee to participate in the tournament, but those interested in playing will be required to fill out a registration form and to submit it to Dr. William Thompson, chair of the Social Studies Department and chess team sponsor at Roosevelt High School (E-mail: waptjr@cs.com ; Fax: 972-925-6801). Registration also will be conducted between 8 and 8:30 a.m. on the morning of the competition.

“UTD for many years has been a strong supporter of the Dallas Independent School District,” said Dr. Tim Redman, professor of literary studies at UTD and director of the university’s highly acclaimed chess program. “We think this is another way we can help, because our studies indicate that there often is a strong correlation between chess and academic performance. We hope this tournament will become an annual event.”

UTD has one of the highest-ranked collegiate chess teams in the United States and, in recent years, has won or tied for several national championships. On Dec. 30, UTD emerged victorious in the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship in Miami, the top college chess competition held each year in the Western Hemisphere. Grandmaster Marcin Kaminski, a senior majoring in computer science and software engineering, and other members of the UTD chess team will be present at the DISD event to play students and to analyze games.

Also in attendance will be UTD Dean of Undergraduate Studies Dr. Michael Coleman and Dr. George Fair, dean of the School of General Studies. Coleman and Fair will be there to advise the students about other scholarship opportunities at UTD.

About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor®, enrolls about 13,700 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s web site at www.utdallas.edu.