UTRGV Chess Team successfully defends national title
Brigitte Ortiz | THE RIDER
Four UTRGV students competed in a two-day virtual tournament to become three-time national chess champions, successfully defending the university’s title after the tournament was canceled last year.
Previously, the chess team won in 2018 and 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was scrapped in 2020 but proceeded this year online.
UTRGV competed in and won the United States Chess Federation President’s Cup Tournament last Saturday and Sunday against Webster University, St. Louis University and Texas Tech University.
UTRGV Chess Coach Bartek Macieja said he was pleased to see his players compete.
“For me, for instance, [it] was very important to see the motivation of my students,” Macieja said. “The fact that we can win the championship, and even in such difficult circumstances, and also win when everybody thinks we can’t win because [of] how many times in a row one team can win and the other teams were not weak. … They were very strong teams.”
He said that by winning this tournament, it says a lot about how the chess team goal oriented.
“They can succeed and especially when you play in such important events; this situation is always really stressful,” Macieja said. “It’s not only the matter of how good you are in chess, it’s also your resistance to pressure.”
Hovhannes Gabuzyan, a business management sophomore and grandmaster, said the team already knew how to win this tournament, so they expected to be successful.
“The beginning was a little bit difficult,” Gabuzyan said. “The first round I was playing not the best, like, I lost [the] first two games. But later on, I kind of managed to, you know, make a comeback and won, like, four or three games out of the last four.”
He said he felt tension because the competition was a team event.
“So, you just can’t lose the game and … feel satisfied,” Gabuzyan said. “No, it doesn’t work that way. You should be much more responsible. So, with me in general, [I] was fine. I would say we’re happy we won.”
This is the first year that the President’s Cup tournament was held virtually.
Asked what his thoughts were on the tournament being virtual, Gabuzyan replied, “Well, actually, I’m not a big fan of online chess. I prefer much more playing over the board.”
He said playing online is also comfortable for different reasons.
“We don’t have to travel and sometimes to play, like, two chess games, we have to go to San Francisco … which took, like, forever,” Gabuzyan said. “[This has], let’s say, [advantageous] and negative sides. … This is chess nowadays.”
Vladimir Belous, an accounting graduate student and grandmaster, has been playing with the UTRGV Chess Team since 2016.
He said the online tournament was difficult, especially competing with strong universities.
“Since the beginning, we had a big disadvantage because we didn’t have substitute players,” Belous said. “So, we had other [teams], they had like six players, and they could manipulate the roster. So, it was much more difficult for us to prepare.”
He said he enjoys playing chess in person because he likes to watch his opponents in distress during the game.
“I also can watch through Zoom how they suffer, but it’s not the same feeling,” Belous said. “When you sit in front of your opponent and you understand that he is in big trouble and you see how nervous he is, it gives you extra [motivation].”
Asked if there was pressure for the team to win for a third consecutive time, Belous replied, “We won twice, so, of course, we wanted to win third time. Not much pressure, I just wanted to play the chess that I like and, maybe, it’s not a good strategy for team championship. … I always fight, and … I have a very aggressive style. That’s why I just made one draw. I lost some games, but I also won many.”
