Checkmate: Webster Chess Team Takes National Title

Checkmate: Webster Chess Team Takes National Title 
Sure, other schools have basketball. But we’ve got a national champ right here, too. 
By Kurt Greenbaum  
5:40 am 

Webster University welcomed its national championship team in a Monday morning ceremony in the university cafeteria. The champs? Yup, they’re chess champs.

The Gorloks of Webster University took first place in the final four event, becoming the first St. Louis team ever to win a Final Four collegiate chess championship on Sunday.

In an email to Patch, Webster University spokesperson Jennifer Starkey said President Elizabeth (Beth) Stroble and Provost Julian Schuster “congratulated the team on their hard work and thanked the Webster University community for being so welcoming to the team during their first year at Webster.”

This comes on the heels of another local chess championship: Vianney High won its second national championship.

In its article, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted that “the wins are the latest nod to St. Louis, home of the World Chess Hall of Fame, as it tries to establish itself as the chess mecca.”
The university sent six of its eight grand masters to the tournament: Georg Meier, an international business major and a sophomore, Wesley So, a freshman finance major, Ray Robson, a freshman who is still exploring majors, Fidel Corrales Jimenez, a freshman computer science major, Anatoly Bykhovsky, a finance major and junior, and Manuel Leon Hoyos, an economics major and freshman.

In a news release, the university said: “Webster swept Illinois in the first round, earning four points, and in the second round against Maryland the team drew three games and won the fourth. By the end of the day, Webster only led University of Texas by one-half point at 6.5 to 6.

“In the final round on Sunday, Webster faced the Texas team. Two of the games were a draw, and Webster won the final two matches, earning 9.5 points to Texas’ 7.”

Source: http://webstergroves.patch.com