Home Page 
Chess Life Online 2015 January Webster Wins PanAms—UT-Dallas, UMBC, Texas Tech Join in Final Four
Chess Life Online 2015 January Webster Wins PanAms—UT-Dallas, UMBC, Texas Tech Join in Final Four | Webster Wins PanAms—UT-Dallas, UMBC, Texas Tech Join in Final Four |
|
|
| By Al Lawrence | |
| January 2, 2015 | |
Saagar Gupta, http://instagram.com/ericrosenphotography/
One individual, IM Jayaram Ashwin of Webster C, managed a 6-0 sweep despite his tough assignment on board one. As a matter of fact, his unblemished score was exactly as rare as 1. f4, played once in the event by GM Leonid Kritz of UT-Dallas' A team against Webster A's GM Ray Robson in the critical last-round showdown between the two squads. That game was drawn (the only contest Robson failed to win), but Webster won the match, spoiling UT-Dallas' unbeaten record and springing past them to take sole first place. 
The victorious Webster squad
Webster A's winning lineup, made up of GMs Le Quang Liem, Illia Nyzhnyk, Ray Robson, and Vasif Durarbayli, set the bar at a dizzying height with a team average USCF rating of 2734. Liem and Vasif finished with 4.5-1.5. Nyzhnyk was 5-1. 7755 
Illia Nyzhnyk, Photo Eric Rosen
Robson equaled his team's score with 5.5-.5. On Monday night, UT-Dallas A defeated the University of Maryland-Baltimore County to end three days of play with the only 5-0 score, assured of qualifying for the Final Four of College Chess before the final day. GM Yaro Zherebukh of Texas Tech A, in mutual time pressure on board one against former U.S. Championship participant GM Robert Hess of Yale A, kept Tech in the running as he tightened a mating net into a noose around Hess' king. Zherebukh,Yaro - Hess,Robert PanAms, 29.12.2014 1...Rc7
So the top three seeded universities-Webster, UT-Dallas, and Texas Tech-gained entry to the Final Four, along with the number five pre-tournament favorite, UMBC. UT-Brownsville, hosts of the event and seeded fourth, finished with 4-2. Strong B-teams provided a perilous gauntlet for the top squads and put their imprint on results in round three, when Webster University-A was nicked by UT-Dallas B, and UT-Brownsville, ranked among the top four going into the event, fell victim to Texas Tech-B. UT-Dallas B (4-2) won the Division I trophy, this year given to a team not placing in the top six. UT-Dallas C won both Division II and Best Women's Team honors. The University of Illinois, who had been the dark-horse Final Four qualifier the past two years, couldn't three-peat, but collected significant division hardware. Illinois C captured the Division III title, and Illinois D won the Division IV trophy. Texas A&M-Kingsville A won Division V. The University of Toronto A won Best International Team, while Toronto B took second place in that category. Carleton College took best Small College honors. Miami Dade won best Community College. For complete results and round-by-round standings, go to the UTB site. Webster, UT-Dallas, UMBC, and Texas Tech will meet in the Final Four of College Chess on Easter weekend at New York City's Athletic Club in mid-town Manhattan. The winning team will be national college chess champion and take possession of the President's Cup. The Final Four is sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton, a Virginia-based technology consulting firm and major defense contractor. 
NTD Mike Hoffpauir
Look for further coverage of the Pan-American Championships by participants Priyadharshan Kannappan and Ben Silva. Find more games on Monroi.com. |
