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Back in January, 57 teams representing colleges from all around the United States participated in the Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Championship. The four top finishers qualified to the President’s Cup, a two-day single round robin event in which board points, and not match points (as in the Olympiad), were the deciding factor.
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At the Intercollegiate Championship, Saint Louis University got clear first place as the only team that scored six match wins in as many rounds. The team is coached by GM Alejandro Ramirez and has no fewer than 14 members, including four 2600+ rated grandmasters: Dariusz Swiercz, Benjamin Bok, Nikolas Theodorou and Cemil Can Ali Marandi.
Two squads hailing from Texas finished in second and third places. The University of Texas at Dallas, captained by GM Julio Sadorra, and the Texas Tech University, captained by former US champion Alexander Onischuk.
Fourth place went to Webster University, the strongest team rating-wise, which was surprisingly defeated by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in round 4. Vietnamese star Le Quang Liem is the captain at Webster, while no fewer than six 2600+ rated players are included in its roster: Benjamin Gledura, Lazaro Bruzon, Aram Hakobyan, John Burke, Yuniesky Quesada and Jose Martinez.
The Webster University squad, with captain Le Quang Liem (second from the left) | Photo: Texas Tech Chess
Saint Louis University also won the President’s Cup, albeit by the smallest of margins. The team, which is supported by SLU alumnus Rex Sinquefield, finished the event with 7½/12 board points to outscore Webster University by a mere half point. Texas Tech University got third place, while the University of Texas at Dallas finished last.
The two rating favourites were paired up against each other in the third and final round. Aram Hakobyan (Webster) got the better of Akshat Chandra (SLU), while Nikolas Theodorou (SLU) scored the crucial win, over Benjamin Gledura (Webster), that gave his team overall victory.
Theodorou had the white pieces and scored a convincing attacking victory over Gledura. The latter had obtained back-to-back wins in the first two rounds. On move 22, Theodorou gave up a rook before launching a winning attack.
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| Nikolas Theodorou SLU | 1–0 | Benjamin Gledura WEB | |||||||||||||||||||||
 | GM | President's Cup 2022 http://www.chessbomb.com03.04.2022[CC] | | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nikolas Theodorou facing Benjamin Gledura | Photo: Texas Tech Chess
The Texas Tech University chess team, captained by Alexander Onischuk, hosted the event | Photo: Texas Tech Chess
1. Saint Louis University (RtgAvg:2663, TB1: 7,5 / TB2: 4)
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | 1 | 2 | 3 | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | |
| 1 | GM | Swiercz Dariusz | 2739 | USA | 1 | ½ | ½ | 2,0 | 3 | 2637 |
| 2 | GM | Theodorou Nikolas | 2639 | GRE | ½ | 1 | 1,5 | 2 | 2654 | |
| 3 | GM | Bok Benjamin | 2675 | NED | ½ | 0 | 0,5 | 2 | 2592 | |
| 4 | GM | Chandra Akshat | 2571 | USA | 0 | 0,0 | 1 | 2676 | ||
| 5 | GM | Ali Marandi Cemil Can | 2600 | TUR | 1 | 1 | ½ | 2,5 | 3 | 2573 |
| 6 | GM | Kevlishvili Robby | 2561 | NED | 1 | 1,0 | 1 | 2589 |
2. Webster University (RtgAvg:2692, TB1: 7 / TB2: 4)
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | 1 | 2 | 3 | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | |
| 1 | GM | Bruzon Batista Lazaro | 2686 | USA | 1 | ½ | 1,5 | 2 | 2672 | |
| 2 | GM | Gledura Benjamin | 2728 | HUN | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2,0 | 3 | 2618 |
| 3 | GM | Martinez Jose | 2656 | PER | 0 | 0,0 | 1 | 2589 | ||
| 4 | GM | Hakobyan Aram | 2676 | ARM | 0 | 1 | 1,0 | 2 | 2575 | |
| 5 | GM | Quesada Yuniesky | 2665 | USA | 0 | 0,0 | 1 | 2579 | ||
| 6 | GM | Burke John M | 2676 | USA | 1 | 1 | ½ | 2,5 | 3 | 2562 |
3. Texas Tech University (RtgAvg:2576, TB1: 5,5 / TB2: 2)
| 1 | GM | Sorokin Aleksey | 2643 | RUS | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1,0 | 3 | 2691 |
| 2 | IM | Khanin Semen | 2579 | RUS | 1 | ½ | ½ | 2,0 | 3 | 2629 |
| 3 | IM | Matviishen Viktor | 2579 | UKR | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2,0 | 3 | 2643 |
| 4 | IM | Schmakel Sam | 2503 | USA | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0,5 | 3 | 2619 |
4. University of Texas at Dallas (RtgAvg:2590, TB1: 4 / TB2: 2)
| 1 | IM | Grinberg Eyal | 2583 | ISR | 0 | 0,0 | 1 | 2739 | ||
| 2 | IM | Vazquez Guillermo | 2605 | PAR | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1,0 | 3 | 2668 |
| 3 | GM | Preotu Razvan | 2541 | CAN | 0 | 0,0 | 1 | 2600 | ||
| 4 | IM | Schitco Ivan | 2572 | MDA | 0 | ½ | 0,5 | 2 | 2654 | |
| 5 | IM | Brodsky David | 2589 | USA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2,0 | 3 | 2599 |
| 6 | IM | Escalante Ramirez Brian | 2582 | PER | 0 | ½ | 0,5 | 2 | 2590 |
