Boskovic & Shulman Tie for 1st at UTD Grandmaster Invitational

Boskovic, Shulman Tie for First
In UT Dallas Grandmaster Invitational

University of Texas at Dallas student and chess team member Drasko Boskovic and former UT Dallas chess team captain Yury Shulman tied for first place in the university’s 2006 Grandmaster Chess Invitational, held Dec. 5-13 in Richardson. Both players had five wins, one loss and five draws for a score of 7.5 in the 11 rounds of the round-robin event, which featured a strong field of international competitors led by four grandmasters, a title reserved for the chess world’s top players.

The results of the fifth-annual event were somewhat of an upset, since Boskovic, who holds the title of international master and had a pre-tournament chess rating of 2444, equaled the effort of Shulman, a grandmaster whose rating was 2614 before the competition. Shulman entered the tournament as the top seed among the dozen entrants.

With his tie for first, Boskovic, 23, a sophomore business administration major from Serbia, earned his second of three “norms” required to become a grandmaster.

Following are the results for the rest of the field:

Alejandro Ramirez, four wins, one loss, six draws (7.0); John Bartholomew, two wins, no losses, nine draws (6.5); Igor Novikov, three wins, one loss, seven draws (6.5); Magesh Panchanathan, four wins, two losses, five draws (6.5); Davorin Kuljasevic, three wins, three losses, five draws (5.5); Joseph Bradford, three wins, three losses, five draws (5.5); Keaton Kiewra, two wins, four losses, five draws (4.5); Marko Zivanic, two wins, four losses, five draws (4.5); Jacek Stopa, one win, seven losses, three draws (2.5); Igor Schneider, one win, eight losses, two draws (2.0).

Due to the strength of the field, the Grandmaster Invitational was rated by the world governing body of chess, FIDE – a rarity in this part of the world. The event, perhaps the premier invitational chess tournament held by a university in the U.S., has become a helpful recruiting tool for UT Dallas in its search for talented masters and international masters at the high school level

UTD GM Invitational: Round Robin Standings

# Name US Rating US Post Country Total

1 IM Drasko Boskovic 2526 2556 SCG 7.5 (GM Norm)
2 GM Yury Shulman 2668 2660 USA 7.5

3 GM Alejandro Ramirez 2566 2577 CRC 7.0
4 FM John Bartholomew 2454 2484 USA 6.5 (IM Norm)
5 GM Igor Novikov 2647 2625 USA 6.5
6 GM Magesh Panchanathan 2526 2539 IND 6.5
7 IM Davorin Kuljasevic 2477 2486 CRO 5.5
8 FM Joseph M Bradford 2521 2518 USA 5.5 (IM Norm)
9 Keaton F Kiewra 2317 2343 USA 4.5
10 IM Marko Zivanic 2569 2534 SCG 4.5
11 IM Jacek M Stopa 2436 2408 POL 2.5
12 FM Igor Schneider 2428 2395 USA 2.0

Thank you Jim Stallings for the update! Congrats to UTD for putting on another magnificent event! In addition, congrats to future GM Boskovic and Shulman for tying for 1st!