With competition coming to a close on Sunday, the Texas Tech University chess team finished in third place at The President’s Cup, the Final 4 of College Chess, at the Marshall Chess Club in New York.
Webster University defended its title earning its fourth straight championship with 8.5 team points while edging The University of Rio Grande Valley who finished with 7.5 points. The Knight Raiders posted 5.5 points and Columbia University finished fourth with 2.5 team points.
“Our team fought well,” said Alex Onischuk, head coach of the Texas Tech Knight Raiders. “Today we came very close to defeating the champions. We missed a lot of chances in this tournament, but the team spirit was high. I am proud of the overall team effort.”
The Knight Raiders had four team members collect points in the competition.
International Grandmaster Andrey Gorovets and Grandmaster Andrii Baryshpolets finished with two points each. Grandmaster Elshan Moradiabadi collected one point and Grandmaster Yaroslav Zherebukh tallied half a point.
“I would like to thank Dr. Paul Frazier, who was with us in New York, for his great support,” said Onischuk. “I’d also like to thank all of our supporters back in Lubbock.”
The Knight Raiders, housed under the Division of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement, qualified for their third straight trip to the Final 4 of College Chess by claiming the program’s first-ever Pan-American International Chess Championship last December in Cleveland, Ohio.
For more information on the Final 4 of College Chess, go to its website. To keep up with the Knight Raiders, follow them on Facebook.
(News release from Texas Tech University/Texas Tech Today)
