Webster University SPICE has decided to send 3 teams to the 2013 PanAm InterCollegiate Chess Championship. The costs to send these 3 teams to Lubbock, TX (airfares for 16, hotels for 16 for 5 days, meals for 16 for 5 days, $200-$240 entry fees per team, etc.) is nearly $20,000!!!
Unfortunately, the organizers decided to offer no cash prizes to the top finishing teams to help defray their costs as in past years. This is the first time since I have been involved in College Chess that this has happened.
Because of this, I initially decided to only send 2 teams. Most serious teams would have to spend $5,000-$6,000+ just to compete. I am afraid that many College Chess teams may not be able to afford to compete in the PanAm due to budgetary issue. I hope that I am wrong.
Below are our lineups based on the current ratings:
1
GM Wesley So – Philippines
GM Le Quang Liem – Vietnam
GM Ray Robson – USA
GM Georg Meier – Germany
GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez – Cuba
2
GM Anatoly Bykhovsky – Israel
GM Manuel Leon Hoyos – Mexico
GM Denes Boros – Hungary
GM Andre Diamant – Brazil
IM Vitaly Neimer – Isarel
3
FM Jake Banawa – Philippines
WIM Inna Agrest – Sweden
Mara Kamphorst – Brazil
Paul M. Truong – USA
Nice to see Texas Tech milking money from college students.