Wichita, KA – The fierce rivalry between the chess teams of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and the University of Texas, Dallas (UTD) lost none of its intensity this week when 23 teams competed in the Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Championships, the Super Bowl of college chess.

At the 2003 Pan Am, UMBC was knocked off its throne by UTD. This year, the only round UMBC's first team lost was the fourth to UTD – the loss that ultimately meant the championship because UTD lost none, but tied in the fifth round.

"Oddly, the first time we lost to UTD – last year – we also lost 5 to 5.5 points," said Alan Sherman, director of the UMBC chess program and associate professor of computer science. "We have a strong team, so the loss is disappointing, but we're one of the top four U.S. teams that will compete in the President's Cup this spring." The other teams will be from UTD, Miami Dade Community College and Stanford University. The meet will be in Wichita, presumably in April.

The top ten teams were, in rank order: UTD, first team; UMBC, first team; UTD, second team; University of Waterloo; University of Toronto; Miami Dade; Catholic University of Peru; Stanford; UMBC, second team; Yale University.

While the Retrievers were in Kansas, Dr. Sherman learned that UMBC will host the 2006 Pan American Chess Championships, to be held December 27-30 at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, DC.