Webster University Clings to Its Title at Final Four
APRIL 13, 2014
Chess
By DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN
Chess had its own version of the Final Four last week, with Webster University of St. Louis taking the title, known as the President’s Cup, for the second year in a row.
But it was close. Texas Tech nearly pulled off an upset at the tournament, held this year in New York.
Webster’s team — whose members have been recruited from all over the world by its coach, the grandmaster Susan Polgar — included Wesley So of the Philippines and Le Quang Liem of Vietnam. Both are ranked among the best 40 in the world. The team also included Georg Meier of Germany and Ray Robson of the United States, who are in the top 150.
Texas Tech has its own championship tradition, and a natural rivalry with Webster. Until 2012, Polgar headed the chess program at Tech, which won two consecutive President’s Cups before her departure.
The University of Maryland-Baltimore County, which has won multiple national titles in the last 20 years, and the University of Illinois, which was in the President’s Cup tournament last year, rounded out the Final Four. The participating teams were determined by their finish in last year’s Pan-American championships.
Full article here.
UT is best. Dallas sure knows how to win.