SPICE reception at the International Cultural Center

5 minute clock simul against Dr. Jim Brink (Senior Vice Provost), Dr. William Marcy (Provost) and Mr. David Miller (Lubbock Mayor)

About 175 came for the official SPICE reception at the International Cultural Center. Among the attendees were Hall of Fame and former Ladies Red Raiders Coach Marsha Sharp, Mayor David Miller, Commissioner Ysidro Gutierrez, Dean Sheryl Santos and many more VIPs.

TTU Internal Release:

A touch of “SPICE” has arrived at Texas Tech University. Please join us as we welcome Ms. Susan Polgar, Director of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) and Mr. Paul Truong, Director of Marketing and Public Relations and Assistant Coach of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) to our Texas Tech campus.

The Office of the Provost extends an invitation to join us for this reception on Thursday, November 1, 2007, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the International Cultural Center, Hall of Nations.

There will be a brief chess exhibition between Ms. Susan Polgar and Dr. William Marcy, Provost and Dr. James E. Brink, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, at 5:00 p.m.

Please join us as we welcome Susan and Paul to our TTU family and cheer on Dr. Marcy and Dr. Brink as they challenge Susan.

News Release
CONTACT: Cory Chandler
DATE: Nov. 1, 2007

Texas Tech Formally Welcomes Chess Champions
Polgar, Truong prepare for first international invitational chess tournament in Lubbock.

Texas Tech formally welcomed chess dynamos Susan Polgar and Paul Truong, who will oversee the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) and coach the Knight Raiders chess team, during a Thursday reception at the International Cultural Center.

The event presented the first such occasion for red-carpet treatment of the international stars since their May hiring. Polgar and Truong spent the summer establishing the institute and traveling to an international slate of chess-related and academic events.

“This is our opportunity to present these acclaimed individuals to the campus and to the Lubbock community,” said Jim Brink, senior vice provost for academic affairs, noting that SPICE will be involved with Lubbock schools through its K-12 outreach efforts.

The reception also served as a venue to promote the 2007 SPICE Cup International Invitational Chess Tournament, slated for November 9-16 in Lubbock.

Organized by Polgar and Truong, the tournament will have an average participant rating of approximately 2,527, making it an impressive category 12 event. Categories of top-level tournaments are based on the average rating of the participants and are formed within a 25-point range. Players with a rating of above 2,400 are considered senior masters by the U.S. Chess Federation.

“This prestigious tournament will be one of the strongest International Invitational Round Robin tournaments held in the United States in the past decade,” Polgar said.

Polgar is a winner of four women’s world chess championships, five Olympic gold medals, four silver and one bronze. She is director of SPICE and coach the Knight Raiders chess team. She is also the only world champion in history to win the triple-crown (classical, blitz and rapid women’s world championships).

Truong, a multiple-time national champion and is the director of marketing for SPICE and the Knight Raiders assistant coach. He is also the captain of the 2004 US Women’s Olympiad team which captured 2 silver and 2 gold medals, the first ever for the U.S.

SPICE includes academic and outreach components and provides an almost unprecedented forum for academic research on the game.