UT Dallas Ties for First Place at ‘World Series of Chess’
Chess Team Earns First Place for the Third Year in a Row, Sending the Team to President’s Cup
The UT Dallas chess team tied for first place at the Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship, known as the “World Series of Chess.”
From Dec. 27-30 at Princeton University, the team competed against one of the most competitive fields since the tournament’s inception in 1946. Among the 44 teams at the tournament, UT Dallas faced schools such as Yale University, The University of Chicago, Texas Tech and The University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
UT Dallas played Webster University in the championship round, which ended with a 2-2 tie.
“The Webster team had an average rating of 2691. That’s the highest team rating in the history of the Pan Am. We played together as a team and held our ground,” said Jim Stallings, the UT Dallas chess program director.
The first place finish marks the 10th time since 2000 that UT Dallas has won or tied for first in the tournament. In the two previous years, the team won back-to-back victories, with undefeated records.
“Even though we won in 2011 and 2010, we didn’t go into the tournament expecting to take first. We were rated at No. 2 going in and knew it would be an uphill battle to keep the top spot. This year was the largest tournament since 1986, and every team had a chance to win. Anyone can win at anytime, that’s the nature of college chess,” Stallings said.
www.utdallas.edu
Nice job.