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The UTB/TSC Chess Team is leading in the U.S. Chess Federation [USCF]
Online Team Championship.
“[It is a] five-week tournament,” said Russell Harwood, chess
program director.
“We’ve played two matches, so far. The first match was against
Texas Tech [University] Feb. 3, and we won 4-0.” The team also
won 4-0 against the University of Utah’s B Team on Feb. 10.
Eighteen collegiate teams from throughout the United States are
vying for the championship, including Harvard University and the
University of Texas at Dallas.
Representing UTB/TSC in the tournament are grand master Axel
Bachmann and international masters Daniel Fernandez, Nadya Ortiz
and Luciana Morales. Alternates for the team are freshman Jesse
Lozano, junior biology major Vince Flores, junior computer
science major Javier Alejandro Nieto and freshman biology major
Alan Gracia.
Round 3 of the Online Team Championship was played on Sunday.
Results were not available at press time. Round 4 is scheduled
Feb. 24.
Five members of the chess team competed in the Region VIII
Championship on Saturday and Sunday at Homer Hanna High School:
sophomore biology major Arturo Gracia, freshman biology major
Alan Gracia, senior management major Joseph Molina, junior
biology major Vicente Flores and freshman Jesse Lozano.
Asked what he was expecting to get out of the Region VIII
tournament, Arturo Gracia replied, “[We’re] expecting … maybe a
couple of points … nothing special. Hopefully, one of us … will
win regionals.”
In other chess news, Harwood and grand master Susan Polgar of
Texas Tech University will be the keynote speakers at the Texas
Chess Association Chess in Education Conference, to be held
March 8-9 in Houston.
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