Texas Tech claims 3rd Kasparov Chess Foundation University Cup

The Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF) organized the third annual KCF University Cup. This event was played on Lichess and hosted on Chessstream on the weekend of February 4 and 5, 2023. The tournament attracted well over 500 university students from every continent and from nearly 30 countries. The event was a resounding success.

The KCF University Cup is an annual international online team event which is open to teams from a post-secondary school (university, college, community college, etc.) enrolled in at least one class in the January 2023 semester. The time control was a quick ten minutes with a five second increment, perfect for a collegiate setting. A team consisted of four players plus two alternates. After last year’s competitive event, the 2400 average team rating cap was maintained. The competition was a nine round Swiss tournament. Players were asked to join a zoom call for anti-cheating measures.

Expert commentary was provided by Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky, alumni of KCF’s Young Stars program, and International Master Kostya Kavutskiy for the entire event. An enthusiastic Garry Kasparov greeted the participants before the start of day two.

You can replay the commentary of the competition on ChessDojo’s channel. Top seed of the event was two-time defending cup champion, University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley.

With six teams over 2340, it was difficult to predict who would raise the trophy at the end

After the first day there was a big tie t the top and the tournament was far from clear who would prevail.

It was only at the start of the second day that Texas Tech University distanced themselves from their rivals. Two key wins back-to-back happened in round six and seven. First, Texas Tech University defeated the University of Missouri 2½–1½, and then defeated Saint Louis University by the same score in the following round.

With these results Texas Tech gained some separation from second place. A draw against Bucharest and a final win against their longtime rivals from their home state, University of Texas at Dallas, was sufficient for the Red Raiders (Texas Tech’s mascot) to clinch the tournament.

IM Semen Khanin was one of the two heavy hitters of Texas Tech with 7/9 on board two. His teammate, IM Viktor Matviishen, scored an impressive 7½/9 on board three. It is also worth noting that WGM Thalia Cervantes from Saint Louis University and Marcin Pilzak from the University of Naples each won all nine of their games.

Khanin can be seen here representing Texas Tech University in their latest over the board event: the Pan-American Intercollegiate. (Photo courtesy of Jason Yu/The Corporate Esports Association)

The podium was dominated by the American continent. All three of Texas Tech University, University of Missouri and Saint Louis University boast of powerful full-scholarship teams and measure against each other regularly in the American Collegiate championships. Of special mention is the University of Brawijaya A-team which, despite being an u2200 squad, managed to score 7/9, a tie for third place which they were edged out of on tiebreaks.

On top of the glory of winning the tournament, the Texas Tech squad won a private training session with the 13th World Chess Champion, Garry Kasparov himself.

The winning team:

GM Alexey Sorokin
IM Semen Khanin
IM Viktor Matviishen
Francesco Bortolussi
Coach GM Alexander Onischuk

Top Continental Teams:

Texas Tech University: Top American Team
Universitas Brawijaya (A): Top Asian Team
National Technical University of Athens: Top European Team
University of Stellenbosch: Top African Team

Category Prizes:

Universitas Brawijaya (B): Top Unrated Team
University of Ibadan: Top U1800
University of Texas at Dallas (C): Top 1800-1999
Universitas Brawijaya (A): Top 2000-2199

Universitas Brawijaya (A), Indonesia also won a training session with Kasparov as the top u2200 team. The top mixed doubles (two males, two females) prize went to University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley (B).

You can find all the information of the tournament here.

Kudos to KCF’s multinational team of officials and organizers that ensured fair and friendly competition. Thanks to them, this event ran very smoothly. Officials include:

Michael Khodarkovsky, Kasparov Chess Foundation President
Grandmaster Alex Onischuk, US Chess College Committee Chair
FIDE Arbiter Enrique Huerta, Chief Arbiter
International Arbiter Ignatius Leong, Kasparov Chess Foundation Asia-Pacific Director
Hiquingari Carranza, KCF Ibero-America Director
Graham Jurgensen, KCF Africa Director
Grandmaster Zlatko Klaric, KCF Adriatic Director
Grandmaster Darcy Lima, KCF Lusophone Director

About Kasparov Chess Foundation

Founded by World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, KCF’s mission is to bring the many educational benefits of chess to children worldwide by providing a complete chess curriculum and enrichment programs. The Foundation promotes the study of chess as a cognitive learning tool in curricular classes and after-school programs for elementary, middle and high schools, both in the public and private school sectors. The not-for-profit educational organization also organizes tournaments and competitions on a local and national basis. For more information, please visit http://www.kasparovchessfoundation.org.

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