UTB team better than ever!

To the point: As of this semester the UTB/TSC chess team counts with 3 grandmasters!

ONE. The brand new GM Mauricio Flores from Chile got a terrific performance at the Continental in Brazil-- see previous posts for pictures and games.

TWO. As announced, GM Axel Bachmann from Paraguay made a comeback to school and is now among us! We missed him so much!

Last but not least, Uzbek GM Timur Gareev is the top player in our team again! With a current FIDE rating of 2602, the remarkable Gareev led UTB to win their first national title in 2005. Then, he played in UMBC for a while before deciding to come back to Texas. Welcome back! :D

Ta-daa . With these three GMs, the team is up and running. Stay tuned!

National Champions Under 2100 and Under 1700

The Tournament of Collegiate Champions just ended this morning. After 6 rounds the winner was IM Gergely Antal of Texas Tech while UT Dallas fellows IM Jacek Stopa and IM Sal Bercys tied for the 2nd-3rd place. Our teammate IM Daniel Fernandez placed 6th.

Remember when last year Arturo Gracia won the first place in the Under 2100 category? Well, this year he went on to fight higher ranked opponents (all categories merged) and did great again! Erik Patchell from Oregon was playing the tournament and wrote a chronicle for CLO in the middle of the tournament and, among other things, he talks about Arturo. Wanna read? Click here. You can also read his wrap up of the tourney here.

And Russell Trevino (in the picture) got us happy as well as he won the category Under 1700! Ok, he tied for the first place with Aaron Hamlin but had better tiebreaks. Congratulations, guys!

Group picture from the Closing Ceremony. Photo: Monroi.com

Mau didn't make it to the World Champs but what a tournament he had anyway! See the press release featured in the UTB/TSC website here.

Axel, Mau and Max should be in town by the weekend.

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Luciana

Wrap up of the Continental in Brazil: Mauricio Flores 6th

Time to make a wrap up of the Continental championship that just finished in Brazil. Two players shared the first place with 9 points out of 11, they were GM Alex Shabalov (USA) and GM Fidel Corrales (CUB). Behind them, 6 players got 8,5 points. Among them was our very own Mauricio! He clinched the 6th place on tiebreaks. However, these 6 players will play a rapid tourney to determine the 4 lucky guys who will advance to the World Champs --Shabba and Corrales are already onboard. Mauricio can be one of them! Cross your fingers!

Mauricio sporting the team's gear in the closing ceremony

Teammates Axel Bachmann and Max Cornejo got 7 and 6,5 points respectively. Definitely, not their best tournament.

See the final standings here.

For Mauricio this is an important milestone in his promising chess career. Mauricio got convincingly the norm and the rating required to become a GM! As if this was not enough, he managed to beat several grandmasters being Jaan Ehlvest his victim in the eleventh round. Reply Moe's victory over Ehlvest:

*Photo courtesy of FIDE America

Mauricio Flores New GM!

So thrilled to tell you that Mau just won a GM norm by drawing his 9th game! Such a result with GM Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela was enough to get our Chilean teammate a norm that is worth 20 games since it was earned in the Continental champs. Congratulations to Mauricio, whose talent and hard work have just made him one of the youngest grandmasters in the Americas! As for the 2500 rating points requirement, no doubt that after this wonderful performance, his rating will go up!

This is certainly not the first time that Moe makes us proud. Visit the memories box and see all posts related to Mauricio here.

Comment and send your good vibes to Mau!

Read More 2 comments | Posted by Luciana

Updates from Continental in Brazil

Yesterday Mau (aka Moe) Flores drew after a few moves with Brazilian GM Rafael Leitao while Axel lost to GM Julio Granda of Peru. Thus, they enter the 8th round with 5 points while Max Cornejo is catching up after a victorious game with 4,5 points. Actually, Max was not able to play the first round of the tournament and lost by default because his flight was delayed. Pity. Anyhow, they are doing great and this seems to be a perfect chance for Mau to make his last GM norm. Let's wish them luck!

Mau Flores and Max Cornejo

In other news, today a group of UTB representatives are going to Indianapolis! IM Dan Fernandez and the new version of Arturo Gracia (only a picture can explain this) are to defend their titles in the Collegiate section of the Tournament of Champions. This goes in conjunction with the 110th US Open Champs. Also, the high spirited Russell Trevino will play! Best of luck to all of them who, by the way, are going along with UTB chess program director, Russell Harwood.

Meanwhile, Julia Jones just finished playing the Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls in Lubbock. There she tied for the 8th-19th place. Texas Tech was the host of the most engaging girls tournament EVER! I'm trying to recall where else I've seen side events that include chocolate making and dance lessons-- Sometimes the organization arranges tours around the city but this was one interesting novelty, to say the least. Curious? Go have a look.

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Luciana

UTB/TSC Chess

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* * * Pan-Am Intercollegiate 2009 * * *

UTB team better than ever!

National Champions Under 2100 and Under 1700

Wrap up of the Continental in Brazil: Mauricio Flores 6th

Mauricio Flores New GM!

Updates from Continental in Brazil

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