Knight Raiders earn more national titles

Chess Team Earns Four National Titles at Pan-Am Intercollegiate Championships
Written by Karin Slyker
January 6, 2011

Texas Tech has made it into the Final Four, in what some call the World Series of College Chess.

Texas Tech has made it into the Final Four, in what some call the World Series of College Chess. The Knight Raiders are among 30 of the best teams from across the United States and the Americas who traveled in December to Milwaukee, Wis., for the 2010 Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Championships. Other teams include Yale, Stanford and the University of Chicago.

This is the second year that Texas Tech has sent a Division I team to compete, and the Knight Raiders made it to the Final Four both times. The A team is now qualified for one of four slots to play in the President’s Cup. Grand Master (GM) Davorin Kuljasevic, GM Andre Diamant, GM Anatoly Bykhovsky and International Master Istvan Sipos will face the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Texas at Brownsville and the University of Maryland at Baltimore County.

Diamant also tied with GM Erenburg (UMBC) for best individual performance title on board 2. Bykhovsky received the best individual performance title on board 3.

The Knight Raiders B team tied for first place with Miami-Dade College in the Division II Championship. Its accomplishment is especially remarkable considering Chase Watters, Josh Osbourn, Brian Cassidy, Rebecca Lelko and John Flores entered the competition as a Division III team.

Maraani Kamphorst Diamant, Ananya Roy, Zach Haskin and Brett James also earned first place honors. Their C Team tied with Yale in the Division IV Championship.

In the past two years, Texas Tech has won nine national titles, two state titles and one regional title.

The President’s Cup is scheduled to take place April 2-3 in Washington, D.C.

Source: http://today.ttu.edu