{"id":1364,"date":"2023-02-09T04:11:56","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T04:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/?p=1364"},"modified":"2023-02-09T23:21:39","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T23:21:39","slug":"texas-tech-claims-3rd-kasparov-online-chess-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/?p=1364","title":{"rendered":"Texas Tech claims 3rd Kasparov Chess Foundation University Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1338\" src=\"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/KCFUniversityCup2023_1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"238\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/KCFUniversityCup2023_1.png 2235w, https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/KCFUniversityCup2023_1-300x119.png 300w, https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/KCFUniversityCup2023_1-768x304.png 768w, https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/KCFUniversityCup2023_1-1024x406.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Kasparov Chess Foundation organized the third annual KCF University Cup. This event was played on lichess.org and hosted on chessstream.com on the weekend of February 4 and 5, 2023. The tournament attracted well over 500 university students from every continent and from nearly thirty countries. The event was a resounding success.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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 10 minutes with a 5 second increment, perfect for a collegiate setting. A team consisted of four players plus two alternates.\u00a0 After last year&#8217;s competitive event, the 2400 average team rating cap was maintained.\u00a0The competition was a nine round Swiss tournament. Players were asked to join a zoom call for anti-cheating measures.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1368\" src=\"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/KasparovCommentary.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/KasparovCommentary.jpg 1915w, https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/KasparovCommentary-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/KasparovCommentary-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/KasparovCommentary-1024x577.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Expert commentary was provided by Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky, alumni of KCF&#8217;s Young Stars program, and International Master Kostya Kavustkiy for the entire event. An enthusiastic Garry Kasparov greeted the participants before the start of day two and he joined the commentary for the sixth round games.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>You can replay the commentary of the competition on ChessDojo&#8217;s channel here:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitch.tv\/chessdojolive\/videos\">ChessDojo Videos<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Top seed of the event was two time defending cup champion, University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1369\" src=\"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/teamlist.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"622\" height=\"257\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/teamlist.jpg 622w, https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/teamlist-300x124.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 622px) 100vw, 622px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>With six teams over 2340, it was difficult to predict who would raise the trophy at the end.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>After the first day there was a big tie on the top and the tournament was far from clear who would prevail.<\/p>\n<p>It was only at thet 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:<\/p>\n<p>Texas Tech University 2.5 &#8211; 1.5 University of Missouri<\/p>\n<p>Saint Louis University 1.5-2.5 Texas Tech University<\/p>\n<p>With these results Texas Tech gained some separation from second place. A draw against Bucharest and a final win against their long time rivals from their home state, University of Texas at Dallas, was sufficient for the Red Raiders (Texas Tech&#8217;s mascot) to clinch the tournament half a point clear.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1370\" src=\"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Khanin4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Khanin4.jpg 3839w, https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Khanin4-300x208.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Khanin4-768x533.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Khanin4-1024x710.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>International Master Semen Khanin (above) was one of the two heavy hitters of Texas Tech with 7.0\/9 on board 2. His teammate, IM Viktor Matviishen, scored an impressive 7.5\/9 on board 3.\u00a0It is worth it to note Thalia Cervantes from Saint Louis University and Marcin Pilzak from the University of Naples who won all nine games they played in the tournament. Khanin can be seen here representing Texas Tech University in their latest over the board event: the Pan-American Intercollegiate.<em> Photo by Jason Yu Courtesy of the Corporate Esports Association.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Top-10 Final Standings:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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 they managed to score 7.0\/9, a tie for third place which they were edged out of on tiebreaks.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1366\" src=\"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/FinalStandings.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1002\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/FinalStandings.jpg 1002w, https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/FinalStandings-300x101.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/FinalStandings-768x258.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1002px) 100vw, 1002px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>The winning team:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">GM Alexey Sorokin<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IM Semen Khanin<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IM Viktor Matviishen<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Francesco Bortolussi<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Texas Tech University is coached by GM Alexander Onischuk.<\/p>\n<p>Universitas Brawijaya (A), Indonesia also won a training session with Kasparov as the top u2200 team.<\/p>\n<p>Top Continental Teams:<\/p>\n<p>Texas Tech University: Top American Team<br \/>\nUniversitas Brawijaya (A): Top Asian Team<br \/>\nNational Technical University of Athens: Top European Team<br \/>\nUniversity of Stellenbosch: Top African Team<\/p>\n<p>Category Prizes:<\/p>\n<p>Universitas Brawijaya (B): Top Unrated Team<br \/>\nUniversity of Ibadan: Top U1800<br \/>\nUniversity of Texas at Dallas (C): Top 1800-1999<br \/>\nUniversitas Brawijaya (A): Top 2000-2199<\/p>\n<p>Top mixed doubles (two males, two females) went to University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley&#8217;s B-team<\/p>\n<p>You can find all the information of the tournament:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/chess.stream\/kcf_university_cup\/default\">Official KCF University Cup website<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kudos to KCF&#8217;s multinational team of officials and organizers that ensured fair and friendly competition. Thanks to them, this event ran very smoothly. Officials include:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Michael Khodarkovsky, Kasparov Chess Foundation President<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grandmaster Alex Onischuk, US Chess College Committee Chair\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIDE Arbiter Enrique Huerta, Chief Arbiter\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">International Arbiter Ignatius Leong, Kasparov Chess Foundation Asia-Pacific Director<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hiquingari Carranza, KCF Ibero-America Director<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Graham Jurgensen, KCF Africa Director\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grandmaster Zlatko Klaric, KCF Adriatic Director<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grandmaster Darcy Lima, KCF Lusophone Director<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>About Kasparov Chess Foundation\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Founded by World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, KCF\u2019s 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 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Kasparov Chess Foundation organized the third annual KCF University Cup. This event was played on lichess.org and hosted on chessstream.com on the weekend of February 4 and 5, 2023. The tournament attracted well over 500 university students from every continent and from nearly thirty countries. The event was a resounding success. The KCF University [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1364"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1375,"href":"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364\/revisions\/1375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kasparovchessfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}