UTRGV Chess Team advances to Final Four

Sol Garcia | THE RIDER

The UTRGV Chess Team A will defend its title at the Final Four after placing fourth at the Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Tournament Jan. 4-6. 

In 2018 and 2019, the team won the championship tournament back-to-back. In 2020, the team did not advance to the Final Four, but the Final Four competition was canceled due to COVID-19. 

This year’s Pan American tournament took place online, with 59 teams participating from across the country, Canada and Mexico. 

UTRGV’s Team A was the only team in the championship that did not lose a match, with four wins and five draws. 

“We’re the only team in the entire championship that didn’t lose even a single match,” said Bartek Macieja, chess coach and grandmaster. “We didn’t win all of them, but we didn’t lose.” 

Vladimir Belous, grandmaster and an accounting graduate student, competed in Team A. Playing online didn’t affect Belous, but he did get nervous about playing in such a big event, he said. 

“I’m always nervous in such [a] competition because it’s actually the main competition of the year,” he said. “This tournament, by itself, it motivates me to give my best.” 

Team A will compete in the Final Four competition in early April, and Belous said he would love to give it his best.  

“We already [won] two times, so why not three?” he said.   

Team B placed ninth in the tournament, while the Women’s Team placed second in the women’s classification.

Lauren Tovias, a nursing freshman and member of the Women’s Team, was nervous about playing online and against high-rated players. 

“I wasn’t very sure with online,” Tovias said. “I was more nervous if I lost connection, or for example, they had a high rating. … It was different, especially if you had two cameras on you, so it was a little pressuring.” 

The championship taught Tovias she needs to study harder and play more, she said. 

“I know that I got to study a lot harder than I usually do and play a lot more games,” Tovias said. 

Participating in a team with other women is a good experience for Tovias, since there hadn’t been many girls who played chess in her high school, she said. 

“It’s nice to have women who are playing chess in a solid team,” Tovias said. 

Despite the online transition, the Chess Team kept its motivation for the championship, Macieja said. 

“My students took it really responsibly, so they prepared well,” he said. 

Macieja and Alex Mista, manager for the Chess Program, virtually met with the team members to help set up the required technology and prevent internet connection issues for the competition. One player went to a hotel to participate in the competition, fearing his internet connection would fail and result in a disqualification. 

“I could really see the highest level of motivation, and I was very proud of him,” Macieja said. 

Team A will compete against Webster University, Saint Louis University and Texas Tech University in the Final Four. 

“[We] know that some of the colleges, they want to take the championship from us, and we’re really motivated to … keep the trophy at UTRGV,” Macieja said. “We will not let anybody take our trophy.”

On Jan. 9, the UTRGV Men’s Chess Team beat Russia’s Ural State Mining University in the Clash of Collegiate Chess Champions with a score of 13.5 to 10.5. The URSMU’s Women Team beat UTRGV’s Women Team 11 to 5. 

The Chess Team’s next virtual competition will be the Texas Collegiate Individual Championship at the end of January.