Webster’s Chess Team Sweeps the Pan Am, Headed to the National Championship

Webster University dominated the field during the 80th annual Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Championship, held Jan 2 – 5 in Oak Brook, Illinois. With this win, Webster qualified for the national collegiate championship and will compete for the President’s Cup for the 13th consecutive year.

This marks the 10th time Webster University has won or tied for first place at the Pan American Championship. Since it was founded in 2012, Webster’s chess team has consistently been the highest-ranked collegiate team in the United States and has earned more national championships than any other university since the President’s Cup was established in 2001 — seven in total.

“The addition of two strong grandmasters this year strengthened our lineup, and the team chemistry was excellent,” said Webster Chess Coach Liem Le. “Everyone competed at a very high level, both individually and as a team, which allowed us to deliver a consistent performance throughout the tournament.”

Webster fielded two teams in this year’s competition. The championship-winning team featured six grandmasters:  Awonder Liang, Lazaro Bruzon, Yasser Quesada, Francesco Sonis, Harsha Bharathakoti, and Emilio Cordova. The team won five of six matches and drew one to finish in clear first place, without losing a single game during the tournament.

By winning the Pan American Championship, Webster qualified for the President’s Cup, the national collegiate chess championship. Webster enters the event as one of the top contenders and will face teams including University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, University of Missouri, and Saint Louis University. Webster previously won the President’s Cup in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2023 and 2025. The date and location of this year's President’s Cup have not yet been announced.

Webster’s second team at this year’s Pan-American tournament was an all-women’s lineup. Members included International Master Anna Sargsyan, Woman Grandmaster Annamaria Marjanovic, Woman International Master Mounika Akshaya Bommini, and Woman FIDE Master Toshali Vittanala. The team finished tied with two other universities for the top women’s score but narrowly missed the women’s team title due to tiebreaks. Webster’s women’s team did qualify to compete for the Women’s President’s Cup championship later this year. The women’s team finished in 21st place overall at the tournament.

The 2026 Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Championship featured 86 teams from 47 institutions. Final results are available online.