Jorge Infante 
EDINBURG – Earlier this month, 85 teams representing 44 colleges competed at the Pan American Team Chess Championship. Where only the top four qualified for the president’s cup.
The UTRGV chess team took two spots in the event’s top four. Now they aim for their fourth national win.
“This year, we did extremely well during the Pan American Championship because our team A placed third in the final four, and our team B finished fourth. Just in case team A did not qualify”, said Chess Team Coach Bartek Macieja.
Because only one team can qualify for the event’s top four only team A will advance to the President’s Cup.
Having the team together was one thing the chess team did not have last year when they narrowingly missed qualifying for the President’s Cup.
“We had huge problems with Covid and some of our students could not participate. We had students who were allowed to travel only during the tournament,” said Macieja.
In the future, Macieja hopes to have the University’s full support.
“It is very important for the chess team that the students, faculty, and staff support us and sincerely cheer for us, so we feel more motivated. we want to perform even better and share our success with the rest of the UTRGV community,” said Macieja.
David Ortiz, former chess club president hoped that with the wins, comes more recognition for South Texas.
“I feel like sometimes we get looked down on because we are from south Texas and nobody knows where UTRGV is but for them to be competing at that high of a level in the world is really amazing and it is something to be proud of,” Ortiz said.
Utrgv’s chess team will compete in the President’s cup later this April. You can also be part of the chess club by submitting a request on v-link.
