Women’s chess team event awaiting approval

Sol Garcia | THE RIDER

The UTRGV Chess Program is planning to host the first U.S. National Collegiate Women’s Championship next spring. 

Chess Coach Bartek Macieja said the virtual championship is awaiting approval and could occur around March. However, the UTRGV Women’s Chess Team, founded this semester, is already preparing for it. The team virtually meets with Macieja twice during the week and practices on their own.  

“It’s great that we have a chance to meet twice a week to work with chess, and we play some other tournaments online,” said Woman International Master Julia Antolak, who plans to compete in the championship.

Antolak, a mass communication sophomore, said she experiences both excitement and nervousness when it comes to tournaments. 

“When it’s a long time to [a] championship, I feel actually excited that it is going to happen,” she said. “But then, when it’s closer, sometimes I get kind of nervous. But each time when I start playing, I’m not nervous anymore.” 

On Oct. 24, the UTRGV Women’s Chess Team played against Texas Tech University in an unofficial championship. The event served as promotion for the spring championship, said Macieja. 

“Thousands of people saw it,” he said. “We had over 2,000 views on YouTube.” 

While Texas Tech University won the match, the UTRGV players learned from the experience, said Woman FIDE Master Ana Shamatava, a graphic design freshman.

“I learned that I have to be a little faster and not to be so nervous,” Shamatava said. “When I’m nervous, [I] make more mistakes.” 

She is also expected to compete in the U.S. National Collegiate Women’s Championship. 

“It’s exciting that we’re part of something big, and it’s more exciting to be part of the team,” Shamatava said.

Macieja contacted the U.S. Chess Federation to let it know the match against Texas Tech University went well, and that UTRGV would like to host the first U.S. National Collegiate Women’s Championship.

“The U.S. Chess Federation [said], ‘Well, that’s great. We never had such an event. Let us discuss. Let us prepare some details,’” he said. 

Based on feedback received from the Federation, Macieja said he is sure the organization will approve the event. 

“I know by their feedback …  that everybody’s very positive, everybody wants this to happen,” he said. 

In an email to The Rider, Macieja said a member from the U.S. Chess Women’s Committee also supports the idea.

“She was very supportive towards the idea of the U.S. National Collegiate Women’s Championship,” he wrote. 

Macieja has let coaches from various universities know about the championship, many of which have started preparing teams for it, too, he said. 

“We had a meeting with top coaches, and some of them have already created the team for this Fall 2020 semester,” Macieja said. “Some of them will be ready for the Spring 2021, and some others will join us only for Fall 2021, but everybody said yes.” 

The idea of the championship came from wanting to get more women involved in chess, since it has been traditionally dominated by men, he said. 

“[In] the top 200 chess players in the world, there is only one woman,” Macieja said.

With that ratio in mind, he decided something had to be done for female chess players.

Macieja had thought about forming a women’s chess team before, but his motivation to start it came from Shamatava’s move to Brownsville. With Shamatava joining the program, the female chess players could receive a scholarship by competing as a team, said Macieja.

“The arrival of Ana to Brownsville motivated me because I thought, ‘Well, we already have a student here,’” he said. “That’s the situation which I always had in mind. There are really good female students that, in the world of women chess, they are good and should be given opportunities, the same as men are given for chess.”

If approved, Shamatava said this will be a new experience for her. 

“It’s pretty big,” she said. “I have never had such an experience.” 

Antolak said she’s happy to have the chance to compete in such an event, which she would play from her home in Poland.

“It will be just great to play, and I’m very happy to be part of it,” she said.

 The UTRGV Chess Team will virtually compete in the Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Team Championship from Jan. 3 to 6, Macieja said. As previously reported by The Rider, the team won the championship in 2018 and 2019, while this year’s in-person event was canceled due to COVID-19.