The University of Texas at Dallas, which has the top-ranked collegiate chess team in the United States and awards some scholarships each year that take chess performance into consideration, has been named “Chess College of the Year” by the U.S. Chess Federation.
The federation is the 90,000-member governing body of chess in the United States. Representatives of UTD will be presented the award at a chess federation luncheon in Framingham, Massachusetts, on Aug. 11.
UTD succeeds its chess archrival, The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), as the “Chess College of the Year.” The UTD team edged UMBC, 12 points to 11½ , in the “Final Four” of Chess in Dallas last April and tied UMBC for first place at the Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Championships in Milwaukee last December.
The federation’s College Chess Committee recommended unanimously to the federation board that UTD receive this year’s award. Alan Sherman, coach of the UMBC team, is chairperson of the committee.
“UTD is very honored to win this award,” said Dr. Tim Redman, coach of the UTD chess team and a professor of literary studies in the School of Arts and Humanities. “I hope we wear the mantle as well as UMBC has done.”
Redman said UTD, which has no football team, views chess as a metaphor for the high standards and academic excellence for which the university has become known.
The UTD team is composed of Yuri Shulman, Balazs Szuk, Andrei Zaremba, Andrew Whatley, David John, Dennis Rylander, and, as alternates, Andrei Dokuchayev and Jeff Ashton. The UTD Trainer is International Master Rade Milovanovic.
About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls approximately 6,500 undergraduate and 4,500 graduate students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s web site at www.utdallas.edu.