On route to reclaim the championship

UTRGV Chess Team talks future tournament

Labeled the No. 1 most successful team in the nation according to win statistics, UTRGV Chess is poised to compete in the Final Four competition the first weekend of April, says head coach Bartek Macieja.

The chess team secured third place at the Pan-American Championship in early January, qualifying it for the Final Four, where it will compete against the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Missouri and the current champion, Webster University.

Macieja said Rebecca Gadson, the Dean of Students, and Douglas Stoves, associate dean for Students Rights and Responsibilities, supported the team during the Pan-American Championship.

“Team spirit is very important,” he said. “I would definitely like to thank them for being with us [and] supporting the team during the event.”

The Vaqueros placed second the first time they made it to the Final Four in 2016. The team went on to win first place three times in a row in 2018, 2019 and 2021, as the competition did not take place in 2020.

Macieja said after losing the tournament in 2022 and 2023, the goal this year is for the team to reclaim the championship title.

“We’re not the favorites for the Final Four,” he said. “Other teams, at least theoretically, are stronger. … But our goals, our aspirations, are much higher. In none of the championships that we’ve won and, as you can see, we’ve won three, were we the favorites.” 

The team UTRGV is sending includes International Master Shawn Rodrigue-Lemiux, Grandmaster Gleb Dudin, Grandmaster Viktor Gazik and International Master Irakli Beradze. However, Macieja added that teams are allowed alternates to create “the best lineup for a particular match.”

Rodrigue-Lemiux, a biomed freshman who became interested in the game in first grade, said this is his second semester with the UTRGV Chess Team.

“We’re going to have some trainings together with the coach,” he replied when asked what the team is doing to prepare. “We’re going to, maybe, find some weaknesses in our opponents, maybe some players to target specifically. And yeah, just normal opening work just making sure that we’re ready to play some good chess.”

Dudin, a psychology sophomore who first got into chess by playing with his grandfather and father, said the team’s main competition is the University of Texas at Dallas.

“Because we’re, like, in the same state, we play a lot of tournaments,” he said. “At almost every tournament, like, collegiate tournament, we meet them, and that’s a long story of rivalry, I guess.”

The Rider asked Rodrigue-Lemiux, Dudin and Macieja what they enjoyed most about chess.

Rodrigue-Lemiux said his favorite aspect of the game is that “there’s a lot to learn” and there is no luck aspect.

“There’s no outside factors, really,” he said. “So, yeah, I like that you can pretty much control everything.”

Dudin said chess is a great way to connect with people.

“I like to break the egos of opponents,” he added, paraphrasing a quote by American Grandmaster Robert Fischer. 

Macieja said what he finds most fascinating about chess is the fact that it allows players to travel to many places, adding that his favorite destination is India.

“I’ve been to over 50 countries … just by playing tournaments,” he said. “I’ve been to many continents, so this is something which chess brings on the table, to travel. You meet new people. You meet new cultures and completely different ways of thinking.”