2010-2011 National Champion Knight Raiders

2010-2011 National Champion Knight Raiders at Market Street

Special Final Four Interview

The golden coaches of the Knight Raiders about the Final Four success
Susan Polgar and Paul Truong in a large interview
Chessdom.com

The Knight Riders were successful at this year's Final Four. The team led by Susan Polgar and Paul Truong managed to win a title in what can be viewed as the Final Four with largest mass media coverage.

After the success, coaches Polgar and Truong gave an extensive interview to Dr. Hal Karlsson, Associate Professor of GeoSciences at Texas Tech University.

Dr. Hal Karlsson: Susan and Paul, first of all, congratulations! This Final Four victory is simply fantastic and quite unexpected. How did it happen?

Susan Polgar: Thank you. I think the team did great, and even though we were the lowest seed, as a team, we believed that we could win. I also think we were more unified and working together more as a team than our competitors. I’m very proud of our guys that they gave their all.

Paul Truong: It is a good feeling for the entire team because they’ve worked very, very hard to be able to accomplish this. As Susan said, they gave it their all and they deserve it.

SP: They were also fearless. They were not intimidated facing much stronger opponents, even ones they had bad records against in the past. In the first round, Grandmaster Timur Gareev of UTB, the highest rated player in Texas, offered our top board, Grandmaster Anatoly Bykhovsky, a draw in a very complicated position. Bykhovsky just lost to Gareev in an earlier encounter in Berkeley. Even with that in mind, Bykhovksy refused the draw offer against a much higher rated opponent and went all out for the win.

In the critical final round, a similar thing happened. Grandmaster Leonid Kritz of the defending champion UMBC, the highest rated player of the entire Final Four, offered our team captain Grandmaster Davorin Kuljasevic a draw with the white pieces. In the same matchup last year's Final Four, Kuljasevic lost to Kritz. Just as Bykhovsky, Kuljasevic refused the draw offer and went all out for the win. Both of them succeeded and they gave our team two vital points toward the national title. As their coach, I could not be more proud of this.

HK: Clearly all the teams must prepared very hard for the Final Four given what was at stake here. But what accounted for Texas Tech's success. What was the secret?

PT: I believe the secret is quite easy. We simply worked harder. We not only studied the games of our opponents just as everyone else, but we also study our opponents' demeanor, body language, movement, facial expression, pattern of thinking and decision making, etc. We dissected every inch of every possible aspect of the game. We put countless hours into the preparation. Even after our players were asleep, Susan spent hours double checking all the analysis to make sure there was no error. We were lucky to even get a few hours of sleep.

It does not mean that we will succeed every time. It just means that we will put our team in the best possible position to win. We had a similar approach when Susan and I ran the 2004 U.S. Women's Olympiad program which brought home the first four ever Chess Olympiad medals (2 gold and 2 silver) for the United States. If you want to win, you have to be willing to work harder than everyone else. No one will just hand the title to you. If you want it, you have to get it.

Another thing we did different than other teams is our approach before the start of the Final Four. The team arrived in Washington, D.C. very late Thursday night. We had Friday free until about 6 p.m. Other teams stayed in the hotel to do some last minute preparation. Being a world class competitor herself, Susan realized that the players were under tremendous pressure. So she decided to give them two choices:

1. To stay in the hotel like other teams to cramp in last minute preparation. 2. Go for a tour in Washington, D.C. to relax, stay fresh, and build further team chemistry.

The players voted to go to D.C. So we spent the day on the famous Double Decker bus tour to visit the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, the Capitol Building, and other landmarks. The players had plenty of good times and good laughs. It worked out great. But if it did not work as planned, I am sure others would be quick to criticize her decision. But as a coach, you need to make tough decisions.

HK: That is impressive. But Susan also accomplished something else in this Final Four.

PT: Yes. Last year, Susan became the first female head coach to take a men’s division I team to the Final Four. This year, she is the first female to take a men's division I team all the way. You cannot even imagine, let’s say, a female coaching a men’s basketball team or men’s football team to the national title, but in chess, she showed that it can happen.

And the success was not only in division I. In just in the past two years, the Knight Raiders also won the national division II, III, and IV titles, in additional to many other individual honors. This is simply another gender barrier that she was able to break. What is even more amazing is this is only our second year competing in division I.

UTD and UMBC have been ruling the collegiate chess world for the past decade. For us to catch up with them on this level, this fast, was pretty amazing. I am sure the competition will be a lot tougher next year as all the schools will try to improve their rosters.

Susan now has done it all. She won Olympiad gold, five of them. She won the Women's World Championship Triple-Crown (Rapid, Blitz, and Classical). Her students have won National Scholastic Championships and now Collegiate Championships. But don't worry, she'll find more barriers to break, I am sure.

HK: Was there any particular player who stood out for Texas Tech in this Final Four?

SP: No. It was total team work. They fought hard as a unit and a different player came through for us in each round. It was Bykhovsky in the first round, Sipos in the second, Kuljasevic in the final round. Diamant was solid all the way through. And Aleskerov, as a reserve player, was the biggest cheerleader for his teammates the whole time. Just like the famous song by Sister Sledge, "We Are Family", the Texas Tech Knight Raider family.

HK: I saw the Final Four chess boards the Knight Raiders were holding up. Those look unique. Did you make those and how can one get one of them?

SP: Those are very special Final Four commemorative boards. They are not for sale. Only twenty of them were done and they were made by our friends at GLOSgames.com. This is an American company out of Kansas City, Missouri. They have done a lot of good things to promote chess and bring kids into the game. When I told them about Final Four, they immediately designed and produced these twenty special boards to give out to each of the four teams and the sponsor, Booz Allen Hamilton. They also sponsored other scholastic events of mine in the past. It is a good company and good people and I am proud that they support chess and the Knight Raiders. You cannot buy these boards but you can design your own chess board with them or use one of their over 110,000 designs.

HK: That is pretty neat. So what is the next step? A long celebration or vacation? I understand the team is going to Vegas (not Disney World like football players). What was that all about?

SP: There is no time to rest. Winning it is hard. But defending it is even harder. We already started to prepare for next year with recruiting. We have a tradition of excellence at Texas Tech and we hope to win many more championship titles.

We are lucky to have strong support from Chancellor Hance, President Bailey, Provost Smith, our supervisor Vice President and Vice Provost Dr. Juan Munoz, our donors, and so many other people at Texas Tech and in Lubbock. To have people waiting to cheer the chess team on at the airport when they returned at midnight was pretty incredible. The media also prominently covered the team success. Everyone believes in us and we want to continue making all of them and this university proud. We will do everything in our power to help Texas Tech become a Tier One university. Through chess, we will attract some of the greatest minds to this university.

HK: What other goals does SPICE have in mind?

SP: As the chairwoman for the FIDE (World Chess Federation) Commission for Women's Chess, I am working with SPICE to promote women's chess and help raise the playing level of the next generation through various important initiatives. SPICE is also actively working to get chess in more schools. This is a very important part of our goal.

University Interscholastic League (UIL) of Texas, the largest inter-school organization of its kind in the world, has approved the proposal from SPICE to include chess puzzle solving as a statewide competition. This can potentially be the biggest scholastic chess initiatives in the United States as more than 2,000 schools in Texas are competing in a number of UIL competitions each year.

I am also hoping to work closer with FIDE to enhance various chess in the schools and chess in education projects in the United States. The future of chess is very bright.

HK: Thank you, Susan and Paul, for your time. Once again, congratulations and Go Tech! Check'em Knight Raiders!

SP and PT: Thank you, Hal.

Dr. Hal Karlsson is original from the chess loving country Iceland. He is an Associate Professor of GeoSciences at Texas Tech University. He is also the founder of SPICE as well as a student advisor for the Knight Raiders.

Letter from Chancellor Hance

Technology changes game of chess

Posted: Wednesday, February 9, 2011 9:04 pm

Technology changes game of chess
Rocio Rodriguez
Staff Writer Daily Toreador - Dept. of Student Media, Texas Tech University

Feb. 10 marks the 15th anniversary of the first time a computer defeated a human in the game of chess.

Though it may seem the average chess player could play and beat a home computer chess game, one particular game revolutionized the interaction of chess and technology — when Russian Garry Kasparov, who is considered by many the world’s best chess player, lost to his computer opponent, Deep Blue.

“Initially, (computer chess) was an entertainment, and then it became a competition pretty much from the mid-1980s to the mid-’90s,” said Susan Polgar, the first woman to earn the grandmaster title and director of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence at Texas Tech.

“For that decade it was a competition, and then when that famous match happened between Deep Blue and Garry Kasparov, that the computer won — the IBM computer won — that pretty much put an end to the competition, because once he lost, and a number of other grandmasters lost as well to different programs, humans pretty much gave in.”

According to the American Physical Society website, in the first match between Kasparov and Deep Blue, the computer won the first game, shocking Kasparov. Kasparov however, won three games total and played two to a draw. They played again in 1997, but Deep Blue had been improved, working on a faster processor and other resources allowing it to adapt to new strategies. This rematch ended in a win for the machine.

Paul Truong, SPICE director of marketing and public relations and assistant coach of Tech’s chess team, the Knight Raiders, said after Deep Blue’s success, players realized they needed to learn from computers, not battle against them.

“(The computers the team practices against) are loaded with computer softwares,” Truong said. “We can’t even do anything without it. Things we don’t see, computers can see. Things we can’t calculate fast enough, computers can do in a millisecond. It’s becoming a part of what we do in chess. It’s not a challenge anymore because you can’t compete against a computer. There’s no chance.”

According to the IBM website, Deep Blue’s software is used to solving problems outside of the world of chess.

“The underlying RS/6000 technology is being used to tackle complex ‘real-world’ problems like cleaning up toxic waste sites, forecasting the weather, modeling financial data, designing cars, developing innovative drug therapies,” the IBM website states.

The senior faculty adviser and founder of Knight Raiders, associate professor of geosciences Hal Karlsson, said software is becoming an assistant of sorts to professionals.

“Today, what a lot of the so-called professional higher-level chess players do, they use the program to calculate variations,” Karlsson said. “So, if they’re interested in some particular variation, they feed it into a computer, and it comes up with things we don’t think of.”

Truong also said competitors’ success is determined by how they use the computers to train.

“(The top four chess schools) will be using (software) to prepare to compete against each other,” Truong said. “Those who can interpret the data better, who can use it better, that’s the one that’s going to win. That’s the different skills now.”

Source: http://www.dailytoreador.com/

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

Excellence ON and OFF the board

Excellence ON and OFF the board

The accumulative grade of the Texas Tech Knight Raiders chess teams (A, B and Girl's team) this semester is approximately 3.30, with 4 players earning a perfect 4.0!

Here are some of their majors: Economics, Finance, Math, Electrical Engineering, Psychology, Law, Spanish, English, Political Science, Biotech, and Microbiology, etc.

In addition to getting good grades, they also worked hard to improve their chess skills. Through the special SPICE training program, 3 of our players earned the GM title in the past 6 months!

In addition, many members of the Knight Raiders also volunteered countless hours to teach and promote chess in the Lubbock community through schools, libraries, and senior centers, etc.

I am very proud of my players and we will work hard to continue the tradition of excellence on and off the board.

Chessdom SPICE Cup wrap up

SPICE Cup 2010

GM Alexander Onischuk takes the trophy in the main A-group

The 2010 SPICE Cup was held from October 28th to November 7th at the beautiful campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock. This was the highest rated international invitational tournament in U.S. history to date.

The format of the A group was a six-player double round robin (category 16) event. The average FIDE rating of the A group was 2631, which is equal with the 2009 SPICE Cup A. The B group was a 10-player (category 10) round robin event, and SPICE Cup FIDE Rated Open was played over 6-round Swiss on 5-7th November.

To make the tournament a lot more exciting, the SPICE Cup committee has unanimously voted to adapt the following new rules for the A group:- No draw offer allowed prior to move 30- A win = 3 points, a draw = 1 point, and loss = 0 point.

The main event saw an interesting chase between the former US Champion Alexander Onischuk and German talent Georg Meier. Meier enjoyed a one point advantage prior to the final act, but he couldn't make more than a draw in the last round, while a crucial victory against the future star Ray Robson propelled Onischuk to the clear first place in the 2010 SPICE Cup GMA.

Final standings:

1. Alexander Onischuk - 18 points
2. Georg Meier - 17
3-4. Wesley So and Zoltan Almasi - 14
5-6. Ray Robson and Eugene Perelshtein - 7

GM Anatoly Bykhovsky and IM Gergely Antal shared the first place in SPICE Cup GMB with 6.0 points each. This tournament was a 10-player round robin.

GM Georgi Kacheishvili (Georgia) won the 2010 SPICE Cup FIDE Open with the score of 5.5 / 6.

More information on the official website. Over 1.100 photos from the SPICE Cup 2010 are available from this list.

Susan Polgar kindly provided the event summary for Chessdom

I am very happy with the fighting spirit at this year's SPICE Cup. With the 3 point for a win scoring system and no draw offer allowed before move 30 in the A group, the intensity on all three boards was very high as anything could still happen in the final round. The outcome was only decided in the final game of the tournament. I am proud to be able to provide excellent playing opportunities for many players. The SPICE Cup will get stronger and better each year. The A group next year will be at least category 17.

Texas Tech University and the Susan Polgar Foundation are proud to support this important annual event. I believe that it is essential to build a solid chess culture in America. Since November 2007, the SPICE Cup has established itself as one of the most important and prestigious round robin annual events in U.S. history. I am confident that this will inspire more top level round robin events in the U.S. in the future.

The Texas Tech Knight Raiders also have the biggest success to date in the SPICE Cup, with GM Anatoly Bykhovsky (1st year student at Texas Tech) and GM-elect Gergely Antal (just graduated from Texas Tech) winning the B group. I am a strong advocate for chess and education. I realize that it is not easy for everyone to establish strong security as professional players. It is also not easy to receive proper chess training to maximize one’s chess ability and potential.

This is why I jumped at the opportunity of establishing SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) at a major university like Texas Tech in 2007. Because of SPICE, we are able to offer players a fantastic college education while getting the chance to improve their chess with serious coaching. Last year, members of the Texas Tech University Knight Raiders chess team gained on an average 90 rating points per player while maintaining a 3.28 / 4 grade point average.

Last but not least, I would like to thank all our sponsors and supporters for making the SPICE Cup a success.

Opportunity at Texas Tech

Would you like to study in the United States?

Here is your opportunity at a major university!

With over 30,000 students, Texas Tech University offers 150 undergraduate degree programs through 11 academic colleges, a graduate school and a school of law. We also offer more than 100 master’s degree programs and over 50 doctoral degree programs.

Texas Tech students come from all 50 states in the U.S. and more than 90 foreign countries. Scholarships at undergraduate and graduate levels to chess players are available!

SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) at Texas Tech University was founded by Grandmaster Susan Polgar in 2007. This is the first chess institute of its kind in the world. The goal of SPICE is to be the premier center for chess education, research, technology, and outreach; be a leader in promoting chess as a vehicle for enriching the education of children; to be a leader in promoting women’s chess; to support and promote competitive chess; as well as to support one of most elite chess programs.

SPICE website: http://www.spice.ttu.edu/ – email: spice@ttu.edu

Texas Tech University

Knight Raiders having a Labor Day Weekend blast

Some members of the Knight Raiders chess team having fun at Joyland Amusement Park in Lubbock, Texas.

Knight Raider chess team members thrive on and off the board

Knight Raider chess team members thrive on and off the board
Posted: September 4, 2010 - 11:01pm
Lubbock Avalanche Journal

The question of the week is how important is it for me to recruit excellent students for the Texas Tech Knight Raider chess teams?

The short answer is it is very important. Here are my criteria which I addressed in a previous column:

• Professionalism (Will the recruit take pride in what he/she does and give his/her all?)

• Work ethic (Will the recruit be willing to put in maximum effort academically and in chess training?)

• Coachability (Will the recruit be willing to be coached to improve his/her chess strength? There is no perfect chess player. Every player has room to grow.)

• Team player (Will the recruit put the team concept above personal accolades in team competition? Team unity and chemistry are extremely important for success.)

The accumulative grade of the Texas Tech Knight Raiders chess teams (A team, B team, and women’s team) last year was approximately 3.28, with 3 players earning a perfect 4.0. They also have a wide range of majors such as economics, finance, math, electrical engineering, psychology, law, Spanish, English, political science, biotech, and microbiology, etc.

In addition to getting good grades, they also worked hard to improve their chess skills. Through the special SPICE training program, the 13 active members of the A team, B team, and women’s team gained nearly 1,100 rating points in this short time. That is an average improvement of nearly 90 rating points per player! Their vast improvement resulted in winning five national, two state, and one regional chess championships in less than two years.

Besides a busy academic and chess schedule, many members of the Knight Raiders also volunteered countless hours teaching and promoting chess in the Lubbock community through schools, libraries, and senior centers, etc. I am very proud of my players and we will work hard to continue the tradition of excellence on and off the chess board.

BBC radio program

Last week I was on the hour long BBC radio program “World Have Your Say” with host Ros Atkins, former No. 1-ranked table tennis player in the UK Matthew Syed, former Utah Jazz NBA star John Amaechi, and others.

The very interesting topic was “Is there such a thing as natural talent?”

To listen to this entire show, visit www.ChessDailyNews.com and click on the “BBC Radio Special” icon.

Local chess activities

The new school year has started and chess is in full swing again. Below is the information for upcoming events:

• “Super Saturday” SPICE Fun Chess; Sept. 25 to Oct. 16.

Two levels: Novice and Intermediate.

Class dates: Sept. 25; Oct. 2, 9 and 16 (four sessions).

Hours: 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at Texas Tech’s administration building.

Instruction will be provided by members of the Texas Tech Knight Raider Chess Team, based on Grandmaster Susan Polgar’s chess curriculum and direct guidance.

Registration fee: $79 by Sept. 20, after add $20 late fee. Send registration form to: Texas Tech University, SPICE, Box 45080, Lubbock, TX 79409.

For information, go to: www.spice.ttu.edu or email spice@ttu.edu

• Sixth “Get Smart! Play Chess!” Open: Oct. 23.

A Four-Round Swiss System Tournament (Game/30).

Event Site: Science Spectrum 2579 S. Loop 289.

• Spice Cup Open Chess Championship; Oct. 30.

A Four-Round Swiss System Tournament (Game/45).

Event Site: TTU Student Union.

• Spice Cup 2010 Scholastic Chess Championship; Oct. 30.

A Four-Round Swiss System Tournament (Game/30).

Event Site: TTU Student Union

• SPICE Cup FIDE Rated Open; Nov. 5-7.

A Six-Round Swiss System (G/90 with 30 second increment).

Open to all FIDE rated players and USCF 1600 and higher.

Event Site: Tech student union.

Knight Raiders thrive on and off the board

Knight Raiders thrive on and off the board

The accumulative grade of the Texas Tech Knight Raiders chess teams (A team, B team, and women's team) last year was 3.28, with 3 players earning a perfect 4.0! Here are some of their majors: Economics, Finance, Math, Electrical Engineering, Psychology, Law, Spanish, English, Political Science, Biotech, and Microbiology, etc.

In addition to getting good grades, they also worked hard to improve their chess skills. Through the special SPICE training program, the 13 active members of the A team, B team, and women's team gained nearly 1,100 rating points in just this short time! That is an average improvement of nearly 90 rating points per player!

In addition, many members of the Knight Raiders also volunteered countless hours to teach and promote chess in the Lubbock community through schools, libraries, and senior centers, etc.

I am very proud of my players and we will work hard to continue the tradition of excellence on and off the board.

Thousands of students showed up for the Raider welcome night

Thousands of students showed up for the Raider welcome night

Raider Welcome - Night at the Student Union Building

Hospitality Services provided fantastic free food samples from all the great dining choices across campus while Student Union & Activities presents a student organization fair, live music, comedy show, a free movie, free t-shirts, and much more! Many members of the Knight Raiders Chess Team were at the chess booth to welcome the chess enthusiasts. Thousands of students showed up for this massive but fun event.

The school was established in 1923. Today, Texas Tech University has more than 39,000 students and 18,000 faculty / staff from over 100 countries. The main campus in Lubbock, Texas has 30,049 students.

Texas Tech University comprised a vast 1,850 acres, but elegant Spanish Renaissance-style buildings and attractively landscaped grounds give the campus an old-fashion collegial feel. Located in Lubbock, Texas Tech enjoys the area’s High Plains climate and four distinct seasons.

Texas Tech offers students a choice of more than 150 bachelor’s, 100 master’s, and 50 doctoral programs. Faculty members are nationally known for their work in a wide variety of fields. It is the ONLY institution in Texas with a graduate school, a law school, and a medical school in the same location as the main undergraduate campus. Overall, there are 14 colleges at Texas Tech University with 62 academics departments and 198 degree programs.

More than 450 clubs and organizations provide enrichment outside of the classroom!

Texas Tech also many other locations such as San Angelo, El Paso, Spain, and Germany, etc. It is expected to be designated as a tier one university soon.

Why should a student / chess player come to Texas Tech?

Here are just a few of the many benefits:

1. To receive top notch education.
2. To receive world class intense chess training.
3. To have the opportunity to compete in multiple major SPICE chess tournaments (SPICE Cup, SPICE Spring Invitational, Get Smart! Play Chess!, Lubbock Open, and many more) every year.

A fond farewell to the graduating Texas Tech Knight Raiders

A fond farewell to the graduating Texas Tech Knight Raiders
August 21, 2010 - 11:03pm

On behalf of Texas Tech and SPICE, I would like to congratulate International Master Gergely Antal (economics undergrad — A team), International Master Gabor Papp (finance undergrad — A team), Stephanie Ballom (psychology graduate — women’s team and former president of the Knight Raiders Chess Club), and Konstantin Parkhomenko (law — B team and former president of the Knight Raiders Chess Club) for completing their studies at Texas Tech.

They are all excellent students and they have contributed greatly to the development of chess at Texas Tech and the Lubbock community. I wish all of them the best in their future endeavors.

Texas Tech will once again have one of the top chess teams in the country this year with 17 students. In just our second full recruiting season, the Knight Raiders will have three grandmasters and one international master to anchor the A team, as well as many other excellent players. Most importantly, they are good students who will make tremendous positive impact for Tech and Lubbock.

I expect the Knight Raiders to make the Final Four for the second consecutive year. I believe we will have a fair chance to challenge other chess programs from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, UT Dallas, UT Brownsville, UT Austin, NY University, Stanford, Miami Dade, Princeton, Yale, University of Toronto, etc., for the national title in the upcoming season.

Here is the full article.

SPICE/Knight Raiders chess teams see many accomplishments

SPICE/Knight Raiders chess teams see many accomplishments
Posted: August 15, 2010 - 12:13am

• August 2010
Knight Raiders A team member Gergely Antal (senior economics major) finished second at the College Tournament of Champions, the most prestigious national collegiate individual chess championship in the U.S. He won the same event in 2009.

•July 2010
Knight Raiders women’s team member Rebecca Lelko (freshman math major) won the seventh annual Susan Polgar Girl’s Invitational Rapid Championship, the most prestigious all-girls national event.

•July 2010
SPICE and Texas Tech hosted the annual Susan Polgar Girls Invitational for the third straight year. This is the most prestigious all-girls national chess event.

•July 2010
Susan Polgar was named the Ambassador for Norway’s bid for the 41st Chess Olympiad to be held in 2014.

•June 2010
Knight Raiders A team member Davorin Kuljasevic (graduate finance student) became the first Knight Raider in school history to earn the Grandmaster title, the highest title in chess. There are only about 1,000 Grandmasters worldwide.

•June 2010
Knight Raiders A team member Gabor Papp (senior finance major) earned his second Grandmaster norm. He needs one more norm to earn the Grandmaster title, the highest title in chess.

•May 2010
Knight Raiders A team member Davorin Kuljasevic (graduate finance student) won the Croatia Cup as part of the Mladost Zagreb team. This is the most prestigious team championship in Croatia.

•April 2010
The 13 active members of the A team, B team and women’s team gained nearly 1,100 rating points in just this short time! That is an average improvement of nearly 90 rating points per player. This success is a direct result of the world-class chess training program of SPICE at Texas Tech.

•April 2010
The Knight Raiders A team qualified for the Final Four in its first year. In spite of being the lowest seed by quite a big margin, the team finished third in the country. No school has ever made the Final Four in its first attempt before. Susan Polgar became the first-ever female head coach in collegiate chess to lead a men’s team to the Final Four.

•March 2010
SPICE and Texas Tech hosted the second annual SPICE Spring Invitational, the second-highest rated International Invitational Chess Tournament in the U.S., in 2010, only behind the SPICE Cup. Knight Raider Gergely Antal finished in a tie for second. Thirteen-year-old Darwin Yang from Plano earned his first International Master norm in this event. This event was covered by many local TV stations and newspapers, and the news reached out to more than 160 countries worldwide.

•March 2010
Members of the Knight Raiders chess teams captured the top five places at the annual Lubbock Open Championship, the most important annual local chess tournament in Lubbock. Gergely Antal finished first, Chase Watters and Rebecca Lelko tied for second and third, while Joshua Osbourn and Brian Cassidy tied for fourth.

•February 2010
SPICE was featured as a part of the Texas Tech 2010–20 Strategic Plan.

•January 2010
Knight Raider Brian Cassidy tied for first at the fourth “Get Smart! Play Chess!” Winter Chess Championship in Lubbock.

•December 2009
The Knight Raiders A team tied for second place in Division I competition at the 2009 Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship held Dec. 27-30 on South Padre Island, and therefore qualified for the College Final Four. This is the most prestigious national collegiate team chess event in the U.S. It is the first time that Texas Tech has sent an A team.

Davorin Kuljasevic and Gergely Antal won the national individual honors as top performers on board 1 and 3, respectively. Gabor Papp finished second for top performers on board 2.

The Knight Raiders B team won first place in Division IV competition at the same Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship.

•November 2009
The Knight Raiders A Team (Gergely Antal, Davorin Kuljasevic, Gabor Papp and Chase Watters) captured the Texas State Collegiate Chess Championship team title in Houston. This is the first time Texas Tech has sent an A team to the state championship.

The Knight Raiders A Team members Gergely Antal and Davorin Kuljasevic captured first and second place, respectively, at the Texas Tech State Collegiate Chess Championship individual competition in Houston.

The Knight Raiders B Team (Zach Haskin, Josh Osbourn, Rebecca Lelko, Brett James, and Ananya Roy) captured third place at the same Texas State Collegiate Chess Championship.

•October 2009
SPICE and Texas Tech hosted the prestigious 3rd annual SPICE Cup, the highest-rated international invitational tournament in U.S. history. The event was held at the Student Union Building. The news of the event reached more than 160 countries worldwide.

The Knight Raiders and SPICE broke a world record for an officially rated chess tournament at the lowest point on earth, at the bottom of Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Knight Raiders A Team members Gergely Antal and Gabor Papp tied for first and second place.

•September 2009
Knight Raiders A Team member Gergely Antal captured the prestigious 75th Annual Southwest Open title in Fort Worth with 245 players. Teammate Davorin Kuljasevic finished second in the same event.

•August 2009
Knight Raiders A Team member Gergely Antal captured the 2009 College Tournament of Champions in Indianapolis, the most prestigious national collegiate individual chess championship in the U.S.

Source: http://lubbockonline.com

Bringing more girls to chess

Texas Tech chess institute head Susan Polgar stresses game's importance during match with reporter

Posted: May 21, 2010 - 12:31am
By Matthew McGowan

Nobody expected it to be pretty.

She's a grandmaster, the highest honor a chess player can earn.

I occasionally challenge, and frequently lose to, strangers online.

She has won international acclaim and holds myriad world records.

I take pointers from 13-year-old amateurs in Sweden.

So who knows what I was thinking, challenging Susan Polgar to a game a chess.

Mental illness, perhaps. Or maybe hubris.

I like to think it was just another gauche act of daily journalism - you know, a work hazard.

But whatever the reason, I found myself sitting across a chess board from Susan Polgar on Wednesday morning.

Yeah. Call your bookies and place your bets, folks.

No surprises here. She won - twice.

Of course, I had no delusions of victory going into this thing, but I did have the faintest hope that maybe, just maybe, she would have to pause and think just once before moving a piece.

She didn't, as far as I could tell.

Polgar, one of the best players in the game's history, took no mercy. I watched helplessly as my pieces - my doomed minions - disappeared from the board.

The first game lasted only a few minutes, and even most of that passed during the question-and-answer pauses between moves.

Pretty soon my king was cowering in the back-left corner of the board, his entire posse helpless on the sidelines.

"Checkmate," Polgar smiled.

Ouch.

"Play again?" I asked.

My opponent nodded and we were off.

I put the notebook down and vowed to concentrate this time.

She immediately took me off guard and had her queen on the offensive.

The queen, as I understand it, is a piece used best in the middle- and end-phases of the game.

But Polgar undoubtedly knows all the strategic norms ... which means she's allowed to break them.

Her white queen shirked my pawns and landed deep behind my lines, where she took my rook - so much for my counterattack! - in seconds.

Within minutes, my king was again cornered. Then came the second checkmate.

You may not know it just by looking at Polgar - soft-spoken and patient with constantly calculating eyes - but she's one of the most skilled chess players in the world.

She made history in Pamplona, Spain, on Jan. 1, 1991, when she became the first woman to earn a grandmaster title on men's terms. Her title, she said, gave women access to what had historically been a boys club.

Natural, raw talent? I wondered.

No, she said. A lot of hard work.

"One of the main ingredients of success is to be motivated and driven, in addition to knowledge," she continued.

Polgar came across a chess set as a bored 4-year-old in search of "a new toy." She vaguely remembers that day, she now says, but she brought it to her mother - a school teacher in their home town of Budapest, Hungary - and asked if she could show her how to play.

Her mother had never played, so the young Polgar waited for her father, now a retired psychologist, to come home and teach her.

He was delighted, she said, that his daughter had taken an interest.

It took her less than a year to become Budapest's youth champion. She won her first world title at the age of 12. By 15, she ranked as the No. 1 female player in the world.

And that, she said, is the beauty of chess. No matter their color, gender, socio-economic status or age, anybody can play.

"That's one of the best things about chess," she said. "It's an equalizer between all those things. I enjoyed the feeling that I could play with grown men and I could have a fair game."

My own introduction to chess also came at a young age. I was no older than 5 years old when my father called me into his study, where he was puffing on his pipe and staring down at a peculiar array of little wooden figurines.

It didn't take me long to appreciate the dazzling choreography of the game. The knights and their L-shaped tracks. The bishops and long-range diagonal threat. The helpless king. The henchmen-like rooks on the flanks. The eight pawns - they're the grunts.

And then there's the queen, the doomsday weapon with unrestricted motion.

Mastering all the dynamics takes time, study and plenty of practice.

I played a few tournaments back in grade school, but not much since, I told my opponent, except for a few quick games online or chance game against an acquaintance.

"It's never too late to start again," Polgar, always the educator and advocate, reminded me without pause.

I surveyed the board and nodded, "You're absolutely right."

Chess is, after all, hard not to love. To me, it's the perfect game - a potent combustion of space, motion and wit.

According to the U.S. Chess Federation, the game's roots stretch back some 1,400 years to ancient India. Persian merchants brought it to Europe in the 11th century, where some of the eastern pieces were renamed to fit western norms - bishop, queen, etc. - but their range of motion was still restricted, thus slowing the game and blunting its intensity.

Then, in Europe in the 15th century, the game Polgar and I played this week was born when the rules were changed to allow longer movement ranges. This, in turn, unbridled a faster pace of play and yielded more excitement.

Nobody knows exactly who, or which group, was responsible for the major changes all those centuries ago, but they clearly hit the mark.

Today, the game is played by millions, but it's still mostly a men's game.

Women comprise between 3 and 5 percent of U.S. Chess Federation members, according to the group's numbers.

That's one of Polgar's priorities today.

She moved to New York City from Budapest in 1994 and began touring the country on exhibition tours and lecture circuits. She even came through Lubbock in 2005, where the seeds of Texas Tech's Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) were planted.

She returned as a commencement speaker in May 2007, when the university announced it would create the institute.

Polgar knew Tech was offering a "one-of-a-kind" opportunity through SPICE, so she moved to the Hub City with her two sons, now ages 9 and 11 (and, yes, they both play chess).

She has also written several books on the game and coaches Tech's team, which has won many national and even international titles under her guidance.

But there's more work to do, she said. The game has yet to find a broader pop-culture foothold.

If poker can land a television slot, she said, why not chess?

"Certainly, chess has the merits and worthiness to make it popular," she said. "Unfortunately, we haven't it made it there yet, but I believe it's only a matter of time."

Source: Avalanche Journal

Spectacular Chess Improvement

Since the SPICE program started a few years ago, it has been growing and expanding at warp speed.

Through the special training program for the Texas Tech Knight Raiders chess teams, the 13 active members of the A team, B team, and women's team gained nearly 1,100 rating points in just this short time! That is an average improvement of nearly 90 rating points per player!

This is the reason why I keep on pushing the idea of proper training for young people! If they are taught the right way, they will improve in chess.

2010 SPICE Spring Invitational

The 2010 SPICE Spring Invitational will take place in March (13-19) at the beautiful campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX. Robert Hess got his 2nd GM norm last year in this event and he went on to become a GM shortly after that, along with a break through year. Who will get the GM norm(s) or IM norm(s) this year?

Confirmed players so far include:

- IM Davorin Kuljasevic (CRO) 2585 USCF - 2552 FIDE (2 GM norms) - Texas Tech Student
- IM Gabor Papp (HUN) 2578 USCF - 2542 FIDE (GM norm) - Texas Tech Student
- GM Julio Becerra (USA) 2610 USCF - 2538 FIDE (2-time participant of the SPICE Cup)
- GM Ben Finegold (USA) 2616 USCF - 2533 FIDE (earned GM title at 2009 SPICE Cup B group)
- IM Gergely Antal (HUN) 2557 USCF - 2511 FIDE (2 GM norms) - Texas Tech Student
- GM Jesse Kraai (USA) 2550 USCF - 2508 FIDE
- IM Dean Ippolito (USA) 2534 USCF - 2465 FIDE (Previous participant of the SPICE Cup)
- IM Irina Krush (USA) 2492 USCF - 2460 FIDE (GM norm - previous participant of the SPICE Cup)
- FM Eric Hansen (CAN) 2426 USCF - 2406 FIDE
- FM Darwin Yang (USA) 2398 USCF - 2369 FIDE (Youngest ever participant of a SPICE Invitational)

GM norm is expected to be 6 points (out of 9 games) and IM norm is expected to be 4 points (out of 9 games).

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/10/major-growth.html

www.SPICE.ttu.edu

"Super Saturday" SPICE Fun Chess

April 3 – May 1, 2010

Two levels: Novice and Intermediate

Class dates: April 3, 10, 17, 24 and May 1 (5 sessions)

Hours: 11:00am to 1:00pm on Saturdays at TTU’s Administration building.

Instruction will be provided by members of the nationally ranked Texas Tech Knight Raider Chess Team, based on my popular and highly effective chess curriculum and direct guidance.

Registration fee: $99 by March 27, after add $20 late fee.

Please send registration form to: Texas Tech University, SPICE, Box 45080, Lubbock, TX 79409.

For information, please go to: www.spice.ttu.edu or email spice@ttu.edu

2 state titles for TTU Knight Raiders Chess Team

The Texas Tech University Knight Raiders A team just captured two Texas State Collegiate Championships. International Masters Gergely Antal and Davorin Kuljasevic captured 1st and 2nd in the individual competition.

Together with International Master Gabor Papp and Chase Watters, the Knight Raiders A team captured the state team title on tiebreaks over the powerful UT Brownsville team, led by the top seed GM Mauricio Flores. UT Dallas finished in a distant third and the Knight Raiders B team finished 4th.

This is the first time Texas Tech sends an A team to the state championship and this is also the first state title for the Knight Raiders. Congratulations to all the team members!

Top 10 individual standings:

#	Name	Rtng	Team	Total	TBrk[M]	TBrk[B]	TBrk[S]
1	IM Gergely Antal	2543	TTECHA	4.5	14	10	14.5
2	IM Davorin Kuljasevic	2581	TTECHA	4.0	14.5	10	16.5
3	GM Mauricio Flores	2663	BUTB	4.0	13	8.5	15
4	FM Max Cornejo	2405	BUTB	4.0	12.5	8.5	13.5
5	Arturo Gracia Jr	2094	BUTB	4.0	9.5	6	10.5
6	IM Gabor Papp	2597	TTECHA	3.5	14	10	16
7	NM Nelson Lopez II	2197	UTD	3.0	13	8.5	14.5
8	NM Yashodhan Gogte	2186	UTD	3.0	13	8.5	14
9	NM Bradley J Sawyer	2224	BUTB	3.0	10.5	6.5	11.5
10	Chase Miles Watters	2018	TTECHA	3.0	10	6	11.5
11	John K Hendrick	2185	HUSTTH	3.0	8.5	5.5	10

Top 3 teams:

	Code	Name	Score	TBrk[B]	TBrk[S]	TBrk[R]	TBrk[C]
1	TTECHA	Texas Tech University 'A' Team - Cnt: 4	12.0	30	47	35.25	39
		IM Gergely Antal 4.5
		IM Davorin Kuljasevic 4.0
		IM Gabor Papp 3.5
		Chase Miles Watters 3.0
2	BUTB	University of Texas at Brownsville - Cnt: 4	12.0	23	39	27.75	35
		GM Mauricio Flores 4.0
		FM Max Cornejo 4.0
		Arturo Gracia Jr 4.0
		NM Bradley J Sawyer 3.0
3	UTD	U of Texas at Dallas - Cnt: 5	8.0	27	44.5	18.5	28
		NM Nelson Lopez II 3.0
		NM Yashodhan Gogte 3.0
		NM Chaitanya Vaidya 2.0
		NM Francisco Guadalupe II 2.0
		Medina Parrilla 2.0

Chess journey to the center of the Earth in New Mexico

Chess journey to the center of the Earth in New Mexico
http://reports.chessdom.com/news-2009/chess-carlsbad

On Sunday October 18, 2009, members of SPICE and the Texas Tech Knight Raiders Chess Team took part in an officially rated chess tournament nearly 800 feet below ground at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.

After extensive research by numerous people in the past month, I am told that this is a world record for a chess tournament.

The event was officially approved by the National Park Service. NPS also provided all members of SPICE and the Knight Raiders complimentary entrance to the Caverns.

We departed from the Texas Tech Student Union Building at 9 a.m. and arrived at Carlsbad Caverns a little more than three hours later. Once we arrived, members of SPICE and the Knight Raiders descended nearly 800 feet below ground and it took about an hour to get to the playing location. However, everyone enjoyed the breath-taking sight of spectacular stalactites and stalagmites along the way.

The weather in the cave is a mild and comfortable 56 degrees year-round. The tournament started at 2 p.m.

After five hard-fought rounds, International Master Gergely Antal and International Master Gabor Papp, two of the Knight Raiders A team members, tied for first with the score of 4.5 points. The only half point they each yielded came from the draw against each other in a bitterly hard-fought game.

Murfee Elementary fifth-grader Tommy Polgar and Tech freshman Rebecca Lelko tied for third and fourth with three points. The Knight Raiders student adviser Hal Karlsson and another Tech freshman Brett James tied for fifth and sixth with two points. Eight players took part in this rated chess event.

After the tournament, everyone continued to explore the incredible "Big Room." Facts from the NPS: "The Atlas of Great Caves of the World" by Courbon, Chabert, Bosted & Lindsley published in 1989 states that the floor area of the Big Room in Carlsbad Cavern is 33,210 square meters, which equals approximately 357,480 square feet. A football field is 360 feet long (including the end zones) by 160 feet wide or equal to 57,600 square feet. By dividing 57,600 quare feet into 357,480 square feet, you roughly get that 6.2 football fields would fit into the Big Room. In acres, one acre is equal to 4,840 square yards or 43,560 square feet. Divide 43,560 square feet into 357,480 square feet and we find that the Big Room is 8.2 acres in size (more or less)."

In addition, according to the official Web site, "Carlsbad Caverns is one of over 300 limestone caves in a fossil reef laid down by an inland sea 250 to 280 million years ago. Twelve to 14 thousand years ago, American Indians lived in the Guadalupe Mountains; some of their cooking ring sites and pictographs have been found within the present day boundaries of the park."

After the tour of the Big Room, our group got back to ground level, just in time to witness the fascinating bat flight. Approximately 500,000 Brazilian (commonly called Mexican) free-tail bats call Carlsbad Caverns home during the summer. At 5:25 p.m, the bats came out of the caverns in circular formation then headed off to find food. The bats eat several tons of insects each night. We were told by the park rangers that this may be the last or one of the last bat flights of the season as they migrate to Mexico for the winter.

It was a fantastic chess experience for everyone involved. We are now searching for the next exciting chess place to explore. If you know of one, please feel free to e-mail me your suggestion.

Resources

Photo gallery

Videos

Big thanks to the U.S. National Park Service for making this possible and for their wonderful hospitality, Texas Tech University, and Peggy Flores for making all the arrangements for SPICE and the Knight Raiders. More information about SPICE and future events can be found at www.SPICE.ttu.edu