Breaking the glass ceiling: UTRGV promotes women in chess

The UTRGV Chess Team held the second annual Shining Chess Jewels Top 4 Tournament, a women-only competition created last year to promote women in chess and provide them with opportunities and scholarships.

In the first installment of the event last year, only UTRGV and Texas Tech University competed, according to UTRGV Chess Program Manager Alex Mista.

On March 27, the competition took place for a second time and was held virtually due to scheduling issues with the other universities.

Saint Louis University, Texas Tech, the University of Missouri and UTRGV were each represented by a team of three players. 

UTRGV’s team consisted of graphic design sophomore Ana Shamatava, computer science freshman Maria Malicka and management sophomore Maili-Jade Ouellet.

“We would like to invite more teams,” Mista said in an interview with The Rider. “I think [next year] will be much easier, because last year, you know, it was very difficult to travel for most of the time.

“And now, it seems it’s getting better. So, hopefully, we have this tournament bigger but, probably, we will discuss next academic year. We will discuss … where it can happen and when, so everything has to be decided.”

Promoting female players is important to the UTRGV Chess Team because it helps women get scholarships, he said.

“There is a huge gap between female and male players receiving scholarships, and we wanted to change this situation,” Mista said. “For example, we have female players who are one of the best in their countries and they have been playing chess for years and they won many international tournaments.

“They couldn’t get any scholarships that they apply to. … They ask various chess programs, but UTRGV was the only one that offered the scholarships, and today, they continue their education.”

Shamatava, a graduate student and woman FIDE master, represented UTRGV at both Shining Chess Jewels Top 4 Tournaments so far and said the competition was strong.

“Almost everyone was a titled player,” she said. “So, they were, like, woman grandmasters. They were, like, woman international masters and woman FIDE masters.

“So, basically, the tournament was strong. Like, most of the players were higher rated than me.”

Saint Louis University earned first place at the event. UTRGV followed in second, winning its first two matches and losing only the final one.

Shamatava said playing collegiate chess is a “great opportunity” and she is thankful for opportunities provided by UTRGV.

“I’m getting a scholarship,” she said. “So I’m thankful that I can study. I can also play. So I think this is a great opportunity for everyone. So, every lady out there who plays chess and wants to also study, it’s just a perfect opportunity for them.”

Mista encourages all female players from the Rio Grande Valley to play chess and said the chess club’s in-person tournaments take place from 6 to 10 p.m. every Friday in the Student Union on the Brownsville campus and at the same time at MoonBeans Coffee, located at 5524 N. St. in McAllen.

“We will try to develop this project,” he said. “We would like to show that by playing chess, you can achieve a lot and you can finish your education. … We are here for them and we would like to give equal opportunities to all students. I would like to help them through chess.”