Chess Team Qualifies for Presidents Cup for Eighth Consecutive Time
January 03, 2020
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - Webster University’s chess team took second place at the 2019 Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Championship, held Dec. 27-30 at the Hilton Charlotte University Place in Charlotte, North Carolina. This is the eighth time Webster has finished in the top four, qualifying it for the “President’s Cup” tournament to be held in April, which will determine which university will be crowned the collegiate chess champions in Central and North America.
Webster will face University of Texas, Dallas, Texas Tech and St. Louis University for the President’s cup.
“The competition was tough, but three of our four teams finished in the top six when all the games were completed,” said Susan Polgar, coach of Webster’s chess team. “No other university had nearly all their teams as contenders for the top four spots, which shows the overall strength of our program and indicates that we have a good chance at taking back the President’s Cup.”
At the Pan-American tournament, Webster’s teams finished in second, fifth, sixth and 17th place. Altogether, 63 teams from 38 universities in Central and North America competed. The President’s Cup tournament will be held in April at the historic Marshall Chess Club in New York City. Webster has won the President’s cup five times during the past seven years.
Out of the 267 students who played at the Pan-American tournament, four Webster University students also won individual medals: Peter Prohaszka for best board 1 performance, Emilio Cordova and Illia Nyzhnyk tied for top board 3, and Aaron Grabinsky tied for top board 4.
For more information about the Pan-American tournament and the official results, visit http://chessstream.com/Pan-American-Intercollegiate-Championship/PairingAndStanding.aspx. For more information about Webster’s chess team, visit https://www.webster.edu/spice/.