NYT spotlights Webster U’s chess masters

Webster University’s chess teams were spotlighted in the New York Times this weekend for their first-place performances at the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship Dec. 27-30 at Princeton University.

“So why were there more strong players than ever? Part of the answer is that players today are becoming grandmasters at younger ages than they did 30 and 40 years ago,” the Times wrote. In addition, schools see chess as a way to set themselves apart.

“Webster is an example of this philosophy. Last year it hired Susan Polgar, a former women’s world champion who was the coach at Texas Tech. When Polgar took the job at Webster, she also persuaded many of the players she had recruited for Texas Tech to follow her.

“At the championships, Webster’s teams were ranked No. 1 and No. 3 and included eight grandmasters: Wesley So of the Philippines, Georg Meier of Germany, Manuel León Hoyos of Mexico, Fidel Corrales Jimenez of Cuba, Anatoly Bykhovsky of Israel, Andre Diamant of Brazil, Denes Boros of Hungary and Ray Robson of the United States.”

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