March Madness concludes this weekend in the sport of college basketball. But did you know that the Final 4 of College Chess will be contested this weekend as well? Teams from Texas Tech, University of Illinois, University of Maryland - Baltimore County (UMBC) and Webster University will face off across the chess board at New York City Athletic Club’s Olympic Suites. Spectators are welcome, but please note that there is a strict dress code at NYAC which will be enforced throughout the event.
The four teams qualified at the Pan American Intercollegiate Championship held this past December in Lubbock, TX. My previous coverage of the PanAms can be found here:
Top teams face off in rd. 4 of PanAm Intercollegiate
Webster takes big match with Texas Tech; UT-Dallas also at 4-0
PanAm update: Five teams fighting for 3 remaining spots...
Webster sweeps; UMBC, Illinois and Texas Tech advance
Further details are provided below:
Schedule
Saturday, April 5 –
-9:45 am: The tournament begins with an opening ceremony
-10 am – 3 pm: First round of play
Boards 1 thru 4: Webster (1) vs. Illinois (4)
Boards 5 thru 8: Texas Tech (2) vs. UMBC (3)
-5 pm – 10 pm: Second round of play
Boards 1 thru 4: Webster (1) vs. UMBC (3)
Boards 5 thru 8: Texas Tech (2) vs. Illinois (4)
Sunday, April 6—
-9 am – 2 pm: Third (final) round of play
Boards 1 thru 4: Webster (1) vs. Texas Tech (2)
Boards 5 thru 8: UMBC (3) vs. Illinois (4)
-2 pm: Tie-Break/Shootout match (if necessary)
-2:30 pm (approximately): Awards/closing ceremony and presentation of the President’s Cup
Please note: Matches consist of four boards per team and each team can carry up to two alternates. All four teams will compete against each of the other teams in a head to head match. Irina Krush and Max Dlugy will provide commentary and the games should be available on monroi.com and live commentary by Max Dlugy and Irina Krush is available on chess.com (by following GM Max Dlugy). I will add information concerning the official web site and access to live commentary and game scores as soon as it becomes available.
Team Rosters (in alphabetical order):
Texas Tech
Yaroslav Zherebukh
Elshan Moradiabadi
Andrey Gorovets
Luis Carlos Torres
Faik Aleskerov
Head Coach: GM Alex Onishchuk
University of Illinois
Eric Rosen
Xin Luo
Michael Auger
Akshay Indusekar
Head Coach: GM Yury Shulman
University of Maryland - Baltimore County
Niclas Huschenbeth
Akshayraj Kore
Levan Bregadze
Nazi Paikidze
Sabina Foisor
Head Coach: GM Sam Palatnik
Webster University
Ray Robson
Georg Meier
Wesley So
Le Quang Liem
Fidel Corrales Jimenez
Anatoly Bykhovksy
Head Coach: GM Susan Polgar
Note: The seedings, based on rating order are 1.Webster 2.Texas Tech, 3.UMBC and 4.Illinois and in order of qualifying, 1.Webster, 2.UMBC, 3.Illinois and 4.Texas Tech.
Some notes on the New York Athletic Club—
Address and phone number: NY Athletic Club
180 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019 | Tel: (212) 247-5100
Spectators are welcome. However, all attendees must be in compliance with the NYAC dress code. Business attire is the standard. A tie is not necessary, although always appropriate. Jeans, sneakers and t-shirts are not permitted. Slacks, dress shoes, a collared shirt and jacket are perfect. The dress code is located here.
· Photographers may only take only shoot in the area(s) for which permission has been granted, in this instance the Olympic suites where the tournament is being held. Unless permission is granted by the Tournament Director (Mike Hoffpauir), Video and Photography are not permitted after the first 10 minutes of each round.
· No cell phones, chess engines or any electronic communication devices will be allowed in in the playing venue.
Sponsored by: Booz Allen Hamilton
Chief Arbiter: Michael Hoffpauir
Time Control: 60-minutes, with a 30-second time increment
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