"How many universities show more interest in their nationally rated chess club than the football team? That's the way it is these days at the University of Maryland Baltimore County." |
So opened an editorial in the September 14, 1996,
issue of the Baltimore Sun noting the 30th anniversary of the
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), winners of the
1996 Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship (Pan-Am).
Mirroring the rapid rise of this mid-sized public research university,
the UMBC Chess Club has gained national and international attention
for its strong teams, innovative use of chess scholarships, and
pioneering application of technology to support spectator chess.
Chess has become synonymous with UMBC, and UMBC is attracting
some of the world's best chess-player scholars. In this article
I would like to describe the chess program at UMBC, chronicle
how it developed, explain why chess is helpful to UMBC, and share
some of my visions for the future.
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Chess Activities
Club activities include weekly meetings, coaching sessions, chess
courses, tournaments, team competitions, simultaneous exhibitions,
lectures, exhibition matches, an annual student vs. faculty match,
special events, community outreach, and a summer chess camp for
students entering grades 5-12. Behind the scenes, significant
effort goes into event planning, fund-raising, recruiting, communications,
public relations, technology, and coordination with local, state,
and national chess organizations.
The Club meets 4-6pm every Friday in the University Center. In
the spring, these meetings often take place outside in the adjacent
plaza. Although blitz (G/5 mins.) is very popular, we also provide
instruction to novice players, analyze member games, study grandmaster
games, and play both sides of practice positions recommended by
our coach in G/15 mins. The main purpose of these informal meetings
is to have fun and welcome new members. It helps to have a consistent
time and location.
9:30am-12:30pm every Saturday morning our coach, Master Igor Epshteyn,
holds training sessions for team members. These sessions are also
open to anyone in the UMBC community. Typically, each session
focuses on some strategic concept of the middlegame and its relationship
to pawn structure and typical endings. The lesson features thorough
analysis of a complete game and practice from carefully selected
middlegame positions. Epshteyn, a former coach of the Olympic
Reserve Team in Minsk, also meets individually with team members.
Our Master Preparation chess course meets once a week in the evening.
Targeted at players rated 1800-2200, this course develops the
psychological, strategic, and tactical understanding needed to
become a chess master. Each lecture is videotaped in front of
a live audience and later broadcast over the internet on an Mbone
multicast and on UMBC's cable TV network; tapes are also available
for sale. The course was first taught by GM Ilya Smirin and Epshteyn
in 95-96, when we also held weekly "intern et office hours"
every Friday afternoon on the Internet Chess Club (ICC). The fall
97 lectures are presented by GM Alexander Shabalov Tuesdays 8:15-9:30pm.
Course materials are available over the World Wide Web (navigate
from http://www.umbc.edu/chess). Students may follow announcements
and participate in discussions over the email list MasterPrep@lists.umbc.edu;
they may also communicate privately with the instructor by sending
email to chess@umbc.edu.
Each year the club holds two major 5-SS tournaments (25/1hr.,
SD/1hr): The UMBC Championship (for UMBC students only) and the
UMBC Open. Held the second weekend in September, the Championship
serves two purposes. First, the winner earns the title of UMBC
Chess Champion and is given a large perpetual trophy to keep for
one year. Second, the Championship establishes a ranking of team-eligible
players used throughout the academic year to select chess teams
as needed. To qualify for any UMBC Chess Team, students must play
in the Championship. Teams are selected by final ranking in the
Championship, not by rating. One week after the Championship,
the top four finishers are invited to play in the UMBC Action
Chess Championship (G/30mins). This single-elimination spectator
event features computer projection of games from an autosensory
chessboard and live move-by-move sports commentary broadcast over
93.9 MHz FM.
In early March, the UMBC Open grand prix tournament is held concurrently
with the "Sweet 16" playoffs of the Maryland Scholastic
Championship. Each year, the scholastic champion wins a full four-year
instate tuition scholarship to UMBC. In 1995--the founding year
of this award--the scholarship went to then 7th-grader Edic Tsibulevsky;
his one year older brother Misha won the scholarship the next
year. The scholarships will be waiting for them when they finish
high school.
The major team event of the year is the Pan-Am, usually held December
27-30. Recently we have been sending three teams. In preparation,
in October, we play a six-board intercollegiate match. For example,
on October 18, 1997, we defeated the University of Pennsylvania
4.5-1.5 (see side bar). For additional training, team members
play a timed simultaneous exhibition against a strong GM--most
recently Ilya Smirin, Lubomir Kavalek, and Alexander Shabalov.
After winning the 96 Pan-Am (Chess Life, May 97), UMBC went 0.5-3.5
in a timed simul against World Champion Garry Kasparov as part
of Chess Jam 97 (CL, July 97). A UMBC chess team also plays in
the Internet College Chess League (ICCL), and we like to have
a second intercollegiate match in the spring.
To begin each semester we participate in a university-wide Activities
Fair, where we try to recruit new members. In February, our first
major event is a simultaneous exhibition open to the public. As
part of the popular Quadmania spring festival, we hold the annual
student vs. faculty match outdoors amid errant frisbees not far
from a blaring rock band. Other regular fun events include a fall
pizza party and blitz tournament, and the summer Friends of Chess
Picnic.
In cooperation with the Departments of Mathematics and Computer
Science, the Chess Club has hosted several interesting research
lectures, including a talk by Dr. Bradley Kuzmaul on *Socrates,
a talk by Dr. Mark Glickman on chess rating systems, and a talk
by Dr. Robert Hyatt on Crafty. In addition, in fall 95, Dr. James
Mayfield and I taught a graduate seminar on computer chess.
Each year we try to organize at least one major special event.
For example, in 1995, we hosted the Maryland Scholastic Championships,
and a Man vs. Machine Match. In this match, *Socrates (running
on an 1800-node Intel Paragon supercomputer) defeated GM Gennady
Sagalchik in 56 moves, as hundreds of people throughout the world
watched each move live over the ICC. In 1996, we hosted an exhibition
match between GM Ilya Smirin and 1995 Maryland Champion William
"The Exterminator" Morrison (complete with sports commentary
and video closeups of the players); we also hosted the Pan-Am
(CL, Nov. 96).
An important component of our program is community outreach. In
addition to running campus-based events (such as a fall scholastic
chess festival and a summer camp), some of our members assist
chess clubs in Baltimore-area schools.
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Building a Program
The growth of chess at UMBC is a story of serendipity, determination,
organization, recruiting, coaching, coordination, vision, perseverance,
teamwork, and good fortune. Shortly after completing my PhD in
Computer Science from MIT, in fall 89, I joined the UMBC faculty
as an Assistant Professor of Computer Science. At that time, I
was no longer very active in chess, either as player or organizer.
Over the next few years all that would change. Initially, however,
I had no grand plan for chess at UMBC; instead, a sequence of
events simply happened. Along the way, I began setting goals.
With the successful achievement of each goal, I gradually raised
my sights.
Eventually, I realized that I was the right person, at the right
place, at the right time, to make some significant contributions
to college chess, while helping students, the community, and UMBC
along the way. With this insight, I took on the following challenges:
to recruit outstanding chess-player scholars to UMBC, to establish
a summer chess camp for Baltimore youth, to organize a Man vs.
Machine chess match, to recruit a Grandmaster to UMBC, to beat
MIT and Harvard at chess, and to win the Pan-Am Intercollegiate.
I also set a personal goal of winning the top faculty prize at
the Pan-Am Open.
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91-93: Becoming Faculty Advisor
In 1989, these goals would have seemed absurd. To the best of
my knowledge, UMBC had never entered the Pan-Am, and the one and
only strong chess player on campus--Kimani A. Stancil--was an
expert. At that time, rated only 1615, I considered experts to
be very strong (less that 4% of tournament players in the USA
are experts or higher). When UMBC first entered the Pan-Am in
1990, the team lacked adequate financial support, so Kimani's
father drove the team members to Cambridge, MA. They placed 26
out of the 27 teams that entered. Who then could have predicted
that, in only six years, the winner of the Pan-Am would be determined
by a final-round showdown between UMBC's A and B teams? Who then
could have predicted that being a senior master would not guarantee
qualifying for the A Team? Who then could have predicted that
UMBC would be flying three teams to the 97 Pan-Am at University
expense? Yet, each of these three events happened, and by the
end of 1996, I had accomplished all of my aforementioned goals.
Despite placing next to last in the 90 Pan-Am, participation was
progress.
Two events rekindled my chess activities. First, in 1991, local
chess enthusiast Sid Robertson opened Chess by the Creek, a chess
club situated near my home in historic Ellicott City. I would
often spend time during the weekends playing chess there, including
in rated tournaments. Like his chess play, however, Robertson's
business sense had vision without sound tactics: within about
one year, Chess by the Creek closed in bankruptcy. Meanwhile,
I began playing blitz at the Friday afternoon UMBC Chess Club
meetings, and with some students and faculty in the Computer Science
Department. Second, UMBC English major Jeff Greenbaum challenged
me "to defend the honor of the Faculty" in a Student
vs. Faculty chess match held during the 1991 Quadmania spring
festival. That was a challenge I could not refuse. Although I
won my game against Jeff, and despite valiant efforts by former
master Dr. Slo Petrovitch and Dr. Jim Mayfield (who had never
before played in any tournament), the faculty lost 2-1 that memorable
afternoon. I was hooked. When Kimani asked me to become Faculty
Advisor that spring, I gladly accepted.
I know little about chess activities at UMBC prior to 1989, except
that former master John Bell (Professor of History) had advised
the club. During my first few years at UMBC, Meyerhoff Scholar
Kimani Stancil (now a PhD student in theoretical physics at MIT)
played a significant role. In particular, Kimani was very successful
in attracting beginners to the club and in teaching them the basics
of chess. Serious team competitions, however, did not materialize
until after I became Faculty Advisor in 1991 and began recruiting
strong players.
At first, my recruiting was extremely low-key. As a member of
the graduate admissions committee in computer science, I noticed
whenever an applicant mentioned chess as a hobby. I took the effort
to write a personal note to such applicants, encouraging them
to come to UMBC. My personal touch made a difference and resulted
in the recruitment of former Sri Lankan chess champion Ishan Weerakoon.
Based on his strong academic background, Ishan received a graduate
teaching assistantship from what was then the Computer Science
Department. This experience convinced me that recruiting was possible
and could make a huge difference.
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93-94: UMBC Turns Competitive
Recruiting gained momentum when I met Senior Master Craig Jones--across
the board in Round 1 of the 1993 Maryland Action Chess Championship.
After quickly losing to Craig without offering any meaningful
resistance, we went out to lunch where I was immediately impressed
with his energy, intellect, and interest in computer chess. I
encouraged him to study computer science at UMBC. Craig matriculated
in spring 94, and thus qualified for the 93 Pan-Am; to be eligible
to enter the 93 Pan-Am, each player must be a degree- seeking
student in the fall 93 or spring 94 term. Craig, however, did
not win the 93 Action Championship. That honor went to a street
player from New York, nicknamed "The Exterminator" for
what he does to his opponents over the chessboard. Although I
did not meet this intriguing character that day, our paths would
later cross in significant ways.
In fall 93, we formalized the UMBC Championship as a qualifying
tournament to select the UMBC Chess Teams and to determine the
UMBC Chess Champion for the academic year. Ishan won the Championship,
after Craig was upset by computer science major Milton ("Mack")
Smith. That semester we decided to try to enter the Pan-Am in
DeLand, Florida. Lacking adequate funds for travel, I appealed
in writing to UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III for support,
citing our strong team of Craig, Ishan, Kimani, and Manish Singh,
with Mack as first alternate. With strong encouragement and financial
support from President Hrabowski, we entered two teams in the
93 Pan-Am.
The 93 Pan-Am was a significant experience for me. I saw first
hand how the Pan-Am worked. I made several important personal
contacts, including GM Gennady Sagalchik and Dean Howard Prince
of the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC). Although
I had played in the 1976 Pan-Am as a member of a team from Brown
University, that was a long time ago and I saw events differently
as Faculty Advisor. Despite my initial optimism of having a senior
master on Board 1, it became clear that winning the Pan-Am would
require stronger players on all four boards. Despite drawing the
winning BMCC team 2-2, UMBC ended up in a tie for third place.
I placed second in the Pan-Am Open, taking the top faculty prize
with a last-round win over Robert Haskins (2084).
The most exciting moment of the 93 Pan-Am was our match against
Harvard in the penultimate round. With draws on Boards 1 and 3,
and with Mack (who had replaced Manish) in trouble on Board 4,
the outcome of the match depended on Ishan's game. Rising to the
occasion, the usually conservative former Sri Lankan Champion
began attacking like wildfire. Although Harvard triumphed, Ishan's
all-out effort gained the admiration of his teammates. That day
I vowed to beat Harvard in a rematch.
Recruiting in spring 94 met with two successes. First, through
personal encouragement, I helped convince Bella Belegradek from
Moscow to enter the PhD program in computer science. Her outstanding
academic background earned her a teaching assistantship. Second,
through the personal connections of our new Department Chair Tim
Finin, I was able to make contact with Steve Shutt, who is a gifted
chess coach at Masterman High School in Philadelphia. This contact
led to the recruitment of our first chess-player scholar--Alexander
Shinn--who received an academic scholarship in which chess played
a role. Making contact with Shutt, however, proved to be more
important, since he would supply UMBC with a steady stream of
chess-player scholars.
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94-95: Coach Igor Epshteyn Joins UMBC
Another significant event happened in spring 94: At the UMBC Open,
I met Master Igor Epshteyn, former coach of the Olympic Reserve
Team and the Junior Belorussian Team in Minsk. A physicist by
training, Epshteyn had immigrated to the U.S. in 1990, and had
accepted a programming job in New Carrollton. It was obvious,
however, that his first love was chess. When I asked him if he
would like to coach the UMBC Chess Team, his face immediately
lit up and he enthusiastically responded "yes!" I later
learned that former students of the Belorussian Olympic Reserve
Schools during Epshteyn's tenure there include GMs Boris Gelfand,
Ilya Smirin, and Gennady Sagalchik, and IM Valery Atlas and his
twin brother Dmitry. Smirin was from Vitebsk, the others from
Minsk. Soon I began wondering if it would be possible to reconstitute
the former Junior Belorussian Team at UMBC.
In fall 94, Master Epshteyn began coaching team members. Every
Saturday morning he met with enthusiastic players. He focused
his sessions around middlegame strategies, organized by typical
pawn structures, and illustrated with carefully-chosen complete
grandmaster games. Through his scientific approach he showed us
that chess is much more than openings and tactics. I enjoyed his
colorful use of Russian metaphors, such as "bishops lying
in ambush." Through these sessions our understanding and
appreciation of chess grew.
For several years there had been a friendly chess rivalry between
UMBC and the nearby Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore.
Typically we had a six-board rated match in late October, alternating
sites each year. Despite our strong showing in the 93 Pan-Am,
we often had trouble against JHU. So was the case in fall 94 when
we lost due to a string of misfortunes, including Alex Shinn missing
his ride because he forgot to reset his alarm clock to Eastern
Standard Time the night before. Indeed JHU had a formidable team,
but through these matches I learned the importance of logistical
coordination and the danger of underestimating your opponents.
At the 94 Pan-Am in Providence, RI, UMBC tied for fifth place.
Weerakoon returned to Sri Lanka to get married, so Belegradek
played first board. Once again, BMCC placed first, and I finished
first among the faculty players in the Pan-Am Open. Having twice
placed among the top five schools, I began seriously to believe
it should be possible to place first. At the same time, I realized
that to accomplish this goal would require a stronger team, including
a grandmaster.
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Spring 95: Recruiting Gains Momentum
Although winning is not everything (having an active club with
strong team that helps the community is more important), I understood
that winning the Pan-Am would greatly help our club achieve its
long-term goals of attracting and nurturing chess-player scholars
and helping Baltimore-area youth through chess. In particular,
winning the Pan-Am would gain credibility, attract publicity,
and help raise money both within and from outside the university.
With these goals in mind, I began to recruit more aggressively
in spring 95.
My recruiting strategy involved six elements. First, I took out
a classified ad in Chess Life seeking chess-player scholars graduating
in the top 10% of their high school class with USCF rating over
2000 and SAT over 1400 for possible college scholarships to UMBC.
Advertising these high expectations drew attention to the quality
of the academic programs at UMBC. Second, I sent direct mail to
the top 100 finishers in the National Scholastic Championship
and to all U.S. chess players under nineteen years old with USCF
rating over 2000. Third, I made connections with well-known high
school chess coaches to encourage their students to consider UMBC.
Fourth, I convinced the UMBC administration to offer a full four-year
instate tuition scholarship to the winner of the Maryland Scholastic
Championship, which we would host at UMBC that spring. Fifth,
we increased our presence on the internet, through www pages,
postings on news groups, and making interesting events available
through the Internet Chess Club (ICC). Sixth, I began seriously
to try to recruit a grandmaster.
My first attempt to recruit a grandmaster focused on Gennady Sagalchik
of BMCC. He wanted to continue his studies at a four-year college,
and I had met him at the 93 and 94 Pan-Ams. I invited him to visit
UMBC to give a simultaneous exhibition, to play in our Man vs.
Machine Match (which we carried live on the ICC), and to play
in the UMBC Open. I wrote a letter to President Hrabowski seeking
his support. Alas, Sagalchik was deeply rooted in New York City
and elected to attend Brooklyn College. Nevertheless, Sagalchik
helped our program by his interactions with us, and I learned
about the culture of the grandmaster world.
The Man vs. Machine Match was a huge success.
Approximately 100 spectators watched the match in person; over
500 people followed on the internet; the Intel Corporation contributed
$1,000; and the spectacle received significant media coverage,
highlighting UMBC's combined strength in chess and technology.
How I obtained sponsorship from Intel is an amusing story of "just
in time" funding. Since the *Socrates program was running
on an Intel 1800-node Paragon supercomputer at Sandia National
Laboratories, I reasoned that Intel might be interested in sponsoring
the event to promote their machine. Unfortunately, I thought of
this plan only the day before the event. That afternoon I persistently
called many different Intel officials, each referring me to someone
else. Finally, my assiduity paid off. I reached someone in the
internet marketing division who seemed interested, albeit not
because of the Paragon. He told me he would have an answer in
about two hours. After buying a pair of table flags for the event,
I telephoned him again from a pay phone outside the flag store
alongside busy Rt. 40 in Ellicott City. He offered to provide
$1,000 for expenses in return for our putting the Intel logo on
our www page covering the event. Given the traffic noises in the
background, I think he must have had serious questions about my
legitimacy. Later that evening I added the logo, which I obtained
from Intel's home page.
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The 95 UMBC Open and William "The Exterminator"
Morrison
Hosting the Maryland Scholastic Championship at UMBC in spring
95 was an important event. Through this event we strengthened
our ties to the Maryland Chess Association, we advertised our
scholarship programs, and we brought over 250 students (grades
1-12) onto campus. We also gained some valuable experience in
running large tournaments. With the success of this event, I established
another goal: to host the Pan-Am in Baltimore.
In spring 95, we established a new tradition: to host the "Sweet
16" playoffs of the Maryland Scholastic Championship at UMBC
concurrently with the UMBC Open. As had been the tradition in
Maryland, the top sixteen finishers from the Championship were
invited to a four-round Swiss system playoff to determine the
Maryland Scholastic Champion. Since UMBC was offering a tuition
scholarship to the winner, it was natural for UMBC to be the site
of the playoffs.
The UMBC Open in spring 95 was a remarkable event. The scholarship
prize and the entry of GM Sagalchik added excitement. We broadcast
Sagalchik's last-round game over the ICC. More importantly, however,
was the entry of William "The Exterminator" Morrison,
the mysterious player whom I had first heard of from the 93 Maryland
Action Championship. Although Morrison held Sagalchik to a draw,
Sagalchik went on to win the tournament.
William Morrison grew up in New York City, where he frequently
played chess in Washington Square Park. There he earned cash from
anyone foolish enough to play him for money. The park chess player
in the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer is based in part on Morrison
and others like him. His reputation spread throughout the mid-Atlantic
region, and in 1995, he won the championships of Maryland, Virginia,
and the District of Columbia. In between rounds, I met the intelligent
and charismatic Morrison. When I learned that he had never finished
his college degree at Morgan State, I asked him if he would like
to come to UMBC if I could arrange a scholarship. He agreed on
the spot.
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April-September 95: International Grandmaster Ilya J.
Smirin
The next recruiting break came with an unsolicited long-distance
telephone call from Israel--from GM Ilya J. Smirin, then ranked
28th in the world with an FIDE rating of 2630, and the 1992 Chess
Champion of Israel. Smirin had heard from his friend Sagalchik
that I might be able to help him come to the USA to study computer
science. Smirin wanted to experience America and to earn a computer
science degree in case his earnings as a professional chess player
declined. He requested two conditions: a full-tuition scholarship,
and help in becoming a permanent resident. Both conditions seemed
difficult, if not impossible, to satisfy. All UMBC chess scholarships
are restricted to USA citizens or permanent residents. As I knew
from personal experience through my Japanese wife, dealing with
the Immigration and Naturalization Service is no easy task.
In order to secure a tuition scholarship, I needed to raise at
least $20,000 in external support; no state money could be used.
First, working through the UMBC Administration, we approached
several local businessmen for a donation. When that strategy failed,
I wrote a proposal to the Abell Foundation, arguing that bringing
a grandmaster to Baltimore would help inspire Baltimore youth
to value activities of the mind. In return for Smirin's tuition,
UMBC would run a summer chess camp for Baltimore-area youth at
which Smirin would be the Grandmaster in Residence. The UMBC Chess
Club would also host community service activities, such as a Scholastic
Chess Festival. It worked!
The next step was more difficult--helping Smirin gain permanent
residency. Despite overwhelming odds against success, I was determined
to succeed. I spoke with UMBC officials knowledgeable about immigration
matters; I attended an immigration workshop; and I studied immigration
policy. I then wrote a lengthy, well-documented I-140 petition
arguing that Smirin should be granted immediate permanent residency
on the basis of his extraordinary ability at chess. It worked!
Smirin was coming!
With a strong grandmaster coming to campus, I conceived of the
idea of our non-credit Master Preparation Chess Course. Working
through the Office of Continuing Education, I organized this course
in part as an experiment in distance education. The course also
provided a way for Smirin to help local chess players and for
Smirin and the Chess Club to earn some money. Twenty-two students
attended the course at UMBC, and another fifty followed via the
internet. Videotapes of the lectures, which are available for
purchase through UMBC Continuing Education (tele: 410 455-2336),
remain a popular item.
In lieu of playing in the UMBC Chess Championship, Smirin qualified
for the team by playing a timed simultaneous exhibition against
the top six finishers from the Championship. I also played. Smirin
easily won all games, never using more than twenty minutes on
any clock, and spending much of his time reading a book about
his idol Al Pacino.
Another memorable moment was Smirin's participation in the fall
95 Activities Fair. There he played a sequence of simultaneous
blitz games, three at a time, giving each of his opponents five
minutes to his two. He never lost a game.
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Fall 95: UMBC Becomes a Major Player
On November 11, we flew to Cambridge, MA, to play MIT in a six-board
intercollegiate match, which was carried live on the ICC. UMBC
won the match 5-1, including a win by UMBC's Derrick Longo (who
had turned down MIT to attend UMBC) over MIT's Kimani Stancil
(former UMBC Chess Club President). I was proud to have beaten
my graduate alma mater.
With high hopes, we entered two teams in the 95 Pan-Am in New
York City. The field was very strong and included five grandmasters.
Throughout the first five rounds, UMBC led the field. For the
sixth and final round, Chief Arbiter Alan Benjamin had a difficult
choice: the top score group had three schools--New York University
(NYU), Brooklyn College, and UMBC--each with 4.5 points. In a
controversial pairing, top-ranked NYU played UMBC, and Brooklyn
College played down in a relatively easy match. We tried our best
but were simply outplayed. After Brooklyn College easily won its
last-round match, NYU and Brooklyn College tied for first place,
and BMCC placed third. Reflecting an idiosyncrasy of the Swiss
system, UMBC ended up in fourth place, even though we had tied
Brooklyn College 2-2 and shut out BMCC 4-0. Smirin, however, won
the prize for best player on Board 1, beating Sagalchik (Brooklyn
College) and drawing Ilya Gurevich (NYU).
At the time, we were initially upset at the last-round pairing.
Later, however, we felt glad that we had been given the opportunity
to play the strongest team. Tying for first place without beating
NYU would have been an empty victory. Only by playing strong competition
can one improve.
The 95 Pan-Am taught me two lessons. First, all boards are equally
important. Having a strong grandmaster on Board 1 (though helpful)
is not sufficient to win; strength on all four boards is more
important. Second, to win, a little luck (e.g. in the pairings)
helps. With the first insight in mind, I set out to return in
96 with at least a senior master on each board.
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95-96 An Eventful Year
1995 was an eventful year for UMBC Chess and for me. We had established
a thriving chess environment, which was still gaining momentum.
On the competitive side, I felt it would only be a matter of time
before we could challenge the strong New York teams successfully.
On the organizational front, we began planning for three major
events: an exhibition match between Smirin and Morrison, the First
Annual Summer Chess Camp at UMBC, and the 96 Pan- Am. My bid to
host the 96 Pan-Am in Baltimore had been approved, which I saw
as an opportunity to cement UMBC's leadership role in college
chess. The 96 Pan-Am was also an opportunity to help scholastic
chess--UMBC agreed to offer $60,000 in scholarship prizes to the
top scholastic team in the Pan-Am Scholastic Team Championship
(CL, November 96).
In 1995, I also accomplished two out of three long-standing personal
goals: I was awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor,
and I earned the rank of Shodan (first-degree black belt) in the
Japanese martial art of Tomiki Aikido. In chess, however, my rating
had risen only to 1875, still below my goal of expert. Although
I had defeated GM Arthur Bisguier (77) and then IM Norman Weinstein
(76), and drawn GM Sagalchik (95) in simultaneous exhibitions,
I remained much more successful as a chess organizer than as a
chess player. More significantly, my wife and I decided to have
a child; on June 12, 1996, my son William was born.
As word spread about UMBC's unique chess program, people throughout
the world began contacting me. In response to our chess scholarships,
I received letters, telephone calls, and email messages from England,
Israel, Bahrain, Nigeria, South Africa, Russia, the Phillipines,
and from throughout the USA. For example, by email, I learned
of Oxana Tarassova, a talented chess-player scholar from Tatarstan,
Russia, who had just won permanent residency in the U.S. through
an immigration lottery. I invited her to visit our campus, which
led to her matriculation at UMBC in fall 96 under a chess scholarship.
In the summer of 95, Gusty Taylor--widow of the late Marvin B.
Cooper-- contacted me to donate over one hundred chess books and
journals to the UMBC Albin O. Kuhn Library (CL, March 96, p. 222).
A life-long chess enthusiast, attorney, and chess teacher, Cooper
was tragically murdered during a robbery on May 28, 1994. Thus
was established the Marvin B. Cooper Chess Collection at UMBC,
which is a permanent resource available to all chess players.
Through additional donations from several sources, the collection
now includes over six hundred items.
It was my visit to the 1995 Intel PCA Grand Prix in New York City
that both convinced me that chess is an exciting spectator sport
and inspired me to hold an exhibition match at UMBC. Backed with
multi-million dollar support from the Intel Corporation, the PCA
demonstrated how to apply computer, video, and audio technology
to make chess fun and accessible, even to spectators who know
little about chess. I began to think about how to run similar
spectator events inexpensively at UMBC. Initially, I tried to
seek financial support from TV producers, including ESPN and Maryland
Public Television. My hope was to have a match between Judit Polgar,
Smirin, Deep Blue, and Morrison. When no money was forthcoming,
I focused my energy on how to pull off a match for less than $1,000.
This inspiration and thought resulted in our Smirin vs. Morrison
Exhibition Match held June 21-22, 1996.
The match was a huge success. Using a $300 Saitek Kasparov autosensory
board connected to an IBM PC running the Genius 4 chess program,
we displayed the game live through one of UMBC's high-quality
data projectors in the Chemistry/Physics Lecture Hall. With two
video cameras and two portable video projectors, we also displayed
live closeups of the players' faces. For added excitement, and
to make the event accessible to novice players, Senior Master
Craig Jones and Master Igor Epshteyn broadcast live move-by- move
sports commentary on FM 93.9 MHz using a $20 12-watt Radio Shack
FM transmitter. Although the transmitter worked fine, it looked
as if it would blow any minute, so we bought a second one for
back-up. Instead of renting professional infrared or special FM
frequency receivers for thousands of dollars, we asked each spectator
to bring a standard Walkman-style digital FM receiver, available
at many stores for approximately $35. A videotape of the match
is available for sale from UMBC Continuing Education.
Smirin easily won the match 3.5-0.5, but Morrison put up a good
fight and managed to draw one game. During the post-match ceremony,
I asked Smirin how he could beat Morrison so easily, when in 95,
Morrison was arguably the best player in the mid-Atlantic region.
With delightful wit, Smirin brought down the audience with the
quick response, "I'm not from the mid-Atlantic."
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Spring 96: Institutionalizing Chess and the Intellectual
Sports Council
In spring 96, I began thinking about how to ensure a lasting commitment
to chess at UMBC. I was concerned that there was no formal institutionalized
support for chess--except through the Student Government Association
(SGA)--and that the success of the program depended too critically
on a few key people, including myself and President Hrabowski.
What would happen if Hrabowski moved on, or if I died driving
to work? To this end, I began seeking a warm home for the Chess
Club with greater and more permanent financial support.
One of my first ideas was to explore the possibility of becoming
affiliated with the Athletic Department as a "club sport."
To me, the main advantage of such a relationship would be the
possibility of offering chess courses for athletic credit. The
Athletic Department offered such courses in bowling and pocket
billiards, so why not chess? In the former Soviet Union and in
many eastern European countries, chess is a central part of university
athletic departments. During a meeting with Athletic Director
Dr. Charlie Brown, it immediately became clear that this idea
would not happen at UMBC, and that if it did, it would not be
in the Chess Club's interest because chess would have the lowest
priority.
Dr. Brown's main objection was that he did not consider chess
a sport. >From his reaction, it was clear that he felt uncomfortable
with my description of the Chess Team as UMBC's most successful
sports team. I invited him to come to our Smirin vs. Morrison
match to witness chess first hand as an exciting spectator sport.
Unfortunately, he never showed up. That meeting motivated me to
write an op-ed essay on "Chess as sport," which was
published in the Baltimore Sun (June 16, 1996).
Having been shunned by the Athletic Department, we conceived the
idea of creating an "Intellectual Sports Council (ISC)"
within the Student Activities Office. This council, which would
initially include the Debate Society, Chess Club, Maryland Student
Legislature, Model UN, and Quiz Bowl, could become a significant
political force on campus with an office, coaches, and supplemental
financial support. Instead of joining forces with the Athletic
Department, we would align our organizations with the Honors College,
which would gladly provide a warm home. Indeed, many members of
the aforementioned clubs were members of the Honors College. To
offer courses, we turned to the Office of Continuing Education,
which had already provided support for our non-credit Master Preparation
class and the summer chess camp. The Honors College could also
provide an administrative structure through which we could offer
credit courses. By spring 97, the ISC became a reality. It was
my hope that the ISC would eventually expand to include additional
clubs such as the Math Team, Computer Programming Team, and Bridge
Club.
To strengthen our scholarship program, I negotiated with the scholarship
office to formalize UMBC's chess scholarships as named scholarships.
Previously, the chess scholarships were handled through various
existing scholarship programs. The result was the creation of
three types of named Chess Scholarships to UMBC: chess-player
scholars, special merit awards for chess, and tournament- based
chess scholarships.
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Scholarships:
1. chess-player scholars could receive up to
four-year full-tuition, room and board, depending on qualifications.
These scholars would have to come directly from high school, and
they are expected to graduate in the top 10% of their high school
class, have USCF rating over 2000, and combined SAT scores over
1400.
2. By contrast, the special merit awards for
chess expect strong academic backgrounds and a USCF rating over
2300. These four-year awards were monetary awards ranging from
$1,000 to $10,000 per year, depending on qualifications. Transfer
students are eligible for special merit awards.
3. Finally, tournament-based scholarships are
special scholarships awarded solely on the basis of winning certain
tournaments. For example, each year, the Maryland Scholastic Champion
receives a four-year instate tuition scholarship. Also, the top
board of the winning team in the 96 Pan-Am Scholastic Team Championship
would receive a four-year full-tuition scholarship.
All scholarships are restricted to U.S. citizens or permanent
residents who are accepted to and matriculate at UMBC as undergraduates.
To maintain a scholarship, the recipient must be a full-time student
and maintain a specified grade point average (GPA) which varies
with the award. For example, most of the scholarships require
a minimum GPA of 3.25 (out of 4.0), and the highest awards require
a minimum GPA of 3.5. Graduate students have to seek financial
support from their departments based on academic merit. Creating
named chess scholarships helped with recruiting and helped ensure
the long-term commitment to chess scholarships.
A significant factor in building the chess program was to connect
within UMBC with numerous supporting organizations. In particular,
through nurturing personal connections and identifying shared
objectives, I forged relationships with the President's Office,
Admissions and Financial Aid, Honors College, Continuing Education,
Community Outreach, Institutional Advancement (for fund raising
and public relations), Student Activities Office, Shriver Center
(for internships), Instructional Technology (for technical support,
including videotaping), and University Computing Services. In
addition, I built relationships with external organizations, including
the USCF, the Maryland Chess Association, the U.S. Chess Center,
the Internet Chess Club (ICC), and the Chess Project for Baltimore
City.
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Spring-Summer 96: Recruiting a Dream Team
Recruiting during spring and summer 96 went wonderfully. Oxana
Tarassova and Gregory Shahade (1996 National High School Co-Champion)
each received special merit awards for chess, and Tal Shaked received
the highest chess-player scholar award. Tal, however, ended up
deferring his matriculation at UMBC for two years after he won
the prestigious Samford Scholarship. During this period he became
a GM and the 1997 World Junior Champion (CL, October 97). Next,
my attention focused on IM Valery Atlas and his identical twin
brother FM Dmitry Atlas--both former members of the Belorussian
Junior National Team in Minsk, both from the same Olympic Reserve
Chess School where Epshteyn was coach.
The twins were a perfect match for UMBC. Each was an outstanding
student who wished to pursue a PhD in electrical engineering,
and they were happy to meet Epshteyn again. An amusing difficulty
arose when an official in the graduate school noted with suspicion
that their college transcripts were identical: each had taken
exactly the same courses and, for each course, had received exactly
the same grade. After certifying that indeed these unlikely transcripts
were genuine, the two were admitted into the PhD program in electrical
engineering. The next difficulty was financial support--all chess
scholarships are restricted to undergraduates.
Some of my most effective negotiations with university officials
took place at receptions. For example, at one reception, President
Hrabowski told me that he wanted UMBC to win the 96 Pan-Am. I
responded that we could do so, but only with the Atlas twins.
Fortunately, the twins were strong enough students to earn support
on the basis of their academic accomplishments. On this basis,
and with the support of Hrabowski, each received a graduate assistantship
covering tuition and stipend.
The bad news was that Smirin decided to return to Israel. During
his time at UMBC he discovered that being a professional chess
player was too much in conflict with being a student. For example,
it was difficult for him to devote sufficient time to chess preparation
and international competition. Another factor was his realization
that life as a professional chess player is much better in Europe
than in America. For these reasons, and for family reasons, he
left UMBC. Nevertheless, in his year at UMBC, Smirin had greatly
contributed to our chess program by raising our standards, teaching
the Master Preparation Chess Course, helping with our summer chess
camp, and attracting media attention. As someone who had once
considered experts very strong, I now began to appreciate differences
between strong and weak grandmasters. Vividly in my mind I remember
Smirin's game against GM Sagalchik from the penultimate match
of the 95 Pan-Am, during which UMBC played Brooklyn College. In
a cowering tone, Sagalchik offered Smirin a draw. Immediately
refusing, Smirin ingeniously regrouped his pieces (including a
creative queen fianchetto), achieved a dominating position, and
won. To appreciate the difference in playing levels between Sagalchik
and Smirin, it is important to keep in mind the humbling reality
that Sagalchik can (and did) crush most college players and that
PCA World Champion Garry Kasparov could likely do the same to
Smirin.
During summer 96, I was delighted when Senior Master Erez Klein
contacted me about the possibility of transferring from Pace University
to UMBC. Erez, who had studied chess under Bobby Fischer's former
teacher Jack Collins, had represented the U.S. at age 13 in the
World Junior Championship. When I met Erez, I was immediately
impressed with his brilliance and recommended him for a special
merit award for chess. Although we no longer had a grandmaster,
we now had five students who played at the senior master strength
or higher.
At the last moment, however, the Atlas twins decided to delay
their matriculation to spring 97. Although they would still be
eligible to play in the 96 Pan-Am, they would not be able to play
in the UMBC Championship nor in our upcoming match against Harvard,
scheduled for October 12 at UMBC. Prospective team members all
agreed to allow the twins a spot on the four-person A Team, even
though they would not play in the UMBC Championship; it would
be unreasonable to expect them to travel from Vaduz, Liechtenstein,
simply to play in the UMBC Championship. That year, the top two
finishers were William Morrison and Greg Shahade. Thus, Morrison
retained his title as UMBC Champion for the 96-97 academic year.
Months later, at the U.S. Open, I saw Dean Howard Prince (BMCC),
who knew Erez and inquired about his standing. I will never forget
Dr. Prince's face-dropping reaction when I told him that, unfortunately,
Senior Master Klein had failed to qualify for the first team.
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96-97: The Road to Victory
Our six-board October 12 match against Harvard was a major event.
Organized as part of UMBC's annual MindFest celebration, this
match was an opportunity to avenge our 93 loss and to demonstrate
that UMBC can compete successfully against the best universities
on an intellectual field. Winning the match, however, would be
no easy task--Harvard had five times placed first at the Pan-Am,
most recently in 1990. Clad in our newly acquired chess team jackets
(see photo), we won the match 5-1.
That match attracted significant media attention, beginning with
news reports on the radio and an October 14 article in the Baltimore
Sun "Harvard outclassed by tough UMBC chess team." Soon
the team was invited to appear on local TV. Reporters became fascinated
with the concept of chess scholarships and with "The Exterminator."
JHU canceled their match with us, which had been scheduled for
late October; and Harvard did not return to Baltimore for the
96 Pan-Am. Excitement was building for the 96 Pan-Am in Baltimore--which
we billed as the "World Series of College Chess."
For the rest of the semester, team members focused on their weekly
coaching sessions with Epshteyn and for additional training, in
mid December, played a timed simultaneous exhibition against GM
Lubomir Kavalek.
As Dr. John Rasp (Organizer, 93 Pan-Am) had warned me, organizing
the Pan-Am is a tremendous amount of work. I spent countless hours
on numerous details, including fund raising, publicity, hotel
arrangements, trophies, program booklet, and logistics. To add
excitement, I made arrangements for Dr. Robert Hyatt's Crafty
computer chess program to play in the Pan-Am Open. Meanwhile I
was flooded with interviews from the media. One day, National
Public Radio (NPR) contacted me for an immediate interview for
All Things Considered. Physically and mentally exhausted, and
suffering from a fever, I declined. The next day, I received a
telephone call from President Hrabowski, who politely suggested
that my decision was unwise. Fortunately, I later recouped the
loss when NPR interviewed me in spring 97 for Morning Edition.
In mid December, via fax from Liechtenstein, Valery and Dmitry
Atlas formally registered for the spring 97 term at UMBC, thus
officially qualifying to play in the 96 Pan-Am. According to the
USCF's College Chess Committee Guidelines, each team member and
alternate must be an undergraduate or graduate student (full-time
or part-time) registered for the fall 96 or spring 97 term in
a degree-seeking program, and making progress toward the degree.
I would like to point out that I am against this liberal rule.
At the December 96 meeting of the College Chess Committee, I proposed
that eligibility in the Pan-Am be restricted to students registered
in the fall 96 term, since future actions cannot be guaranteed.
I was outvoted on the grounds that participation in the Pan-Am
should be encouraged and not unreasonably restricted.
Finally, the 96 Pan-Am had begun. With IM Valery Atlas, SM William
Morrison, FM Dmitry Atlas, and FM Greg Shahade, our A Team was
a powerful force. But as with all sporting competitions, anything
could happen. Fortunately, this time luck was with us: although
each player had a least one bad game, no two players had bad games
in the same round. In an unprecedented event, after five rounds,
the UMBC A and B Teams were tied with 4.5 points, a full point
ahead of the field. Hence, Chief Arbiter Dan Burg was forced to
pair the top two UMBC teams against each other in the sixth and
final round.
In this final match, Board 2-4 eventually reached draws. The outcome
of the Championship hinged on a tensely fought game between Valery
Atlas and Erez Klein. In the end, Valery won. Thus, UMBC A won
first place, and UMBC B tied for second place. Initially ranked
ninth, UMBC B (with Klein, Belegradek, Tarassova, and Longo) accomplished
a minor miracle in tying for second place. Valery Atlas and Oxana
Tarassova won the board prizes for the best performance on Boards
1 and 3, respectively. By winning the 96 Pan-Am, UMBC also received
an invitation to visit Peru.
With the generous support of our sponsors (including Uptronics,
Inc., and Southwest Airlines), the 96 Pan-Am was a great success.
Following the Pan-Am, with the additional sponsorship of Pizza
Hut, we printed schedule cards, as all sports teams should have.
The front of the card had a color photo of the team, and the back
listed our 1997 events, together with a Pizza Hut logo.
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Spring 97: UMBC vs. PCA World Champion Garry Kasparov
Our next goal was to arrange a timed simultaneous exhibition against
World Champion Garry Kasparov, as had been done in 1994 by the
winning BMCC team. Negotiating with his agent in Florida, I secured
a tentative agreement for Kasparov to visit UMBC after his match
with Deep Blue. The catch was to raise the required $12,500 honorarium,
an amount Kasparov considered his "charity rate" (usually
he charges $40,000).
Determined to succeed, I wrote letters to numerous local companies.
Twice, I almost succeeded, but at the last moment, the deals fell
through. Finally, with a slight change of plans, the Abell Foundation
generously agreed to contribute $5,000, with UMBC providing matching
funds. The balance would be made up with gate receipts. Instead
of playing eight members of the UMBC Chess Teams, Kasparov would
play the top four UMBC players and four Baltimore-area students
(grades 1-12) to be selected in a qualifying tournament held the
morning of the event. On May 17, 1997, Kasparov came to UMBC and
was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of over 200 spectators.
Taking the match very seriously, Kasparov demanded that each player
submit to him six recent games for his analysis. He also complained
that playing the UMBC A Team would be more work than he usually
is willing to do for a mere $12,500. After getting lost by driving
twice to wrong campuses of the University of Maryland, Kasparov
finally arrived at UMBC where he was greeted by a standing ovation.
Following a 30-minute talk about his recent loss to Deep Blue,
the match began.
Initially, UMBC gained the upper hand, with better (and probably
winning) positions on the top two boards. Slowly, the tables turned
and Kasparov won 7.5-0.5, with a draw by Dmitry Atlas on Board
3. 1997 Maryland Scholastic Champion Raymond Kaufman held out
the longest, but lost after missing an opportunity to sacrifice
a rook for perpetual check.
The Kasparov spectacle coincided with Chess Jam 97 (Juniors Against
Masters), a new USCF-sponsored event featuring an unusual Grandmaster
team simultaneous tournament involving winners from the Super
Nationals (CL, July 97).
1996-97 was an incredible year for UMBC Chess. We beat Harvard,
won the 96 Pan-Am, and played the World Champion. Nevertheless,
with this success came some unexpected difficulties. First, the
escalating chess activities were taking a toll on my time. I received
countless telephone calls from prospective students and the media.
In addition, numerous local schools started calling me requesting
assistance with their chess clubs. Although I love chess and chess
organization, I am also a full-time researcher and educator and
a new father. I was overextended. Second, we felt great pressure
to maintain our level of activity and performance. What would
we do next?
Despite the incredible progress of UMBC Chess, I view this progress
as only the beginning of what I hope will follow. I provided vision,
spark, and assiduity, but the success of chess at UMBC is the
result of the support and hard work of many talented individuals.
In particular, I am especially grateful to President Hrabowski
for his strong and unwavering support of chess at UMBC.
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Why Chess?
Given the relatively low profile of chess at most American colleges,
some people may wonder why the UMBC administration is eager to
invest in chess. The answers are simple and compelling: Chess
embodies many of the ideals we pursue at UMBC, including activities
of the mind and excellence. Chess helps recruit and retain outstanding
students. For example, Chess Club President Derrick Longo turned
down MIT in favor of UMBC primarily because of UMBC's combined
strength in chess and technology. In comparison with major physical
sports, chess is relatively inexpensive. Chess develops academic
skills. In addition, through chess, UMBC connects with its neighboring
communities, including Baltimore.
UMBC's chess scholarships inspire young students to value activities
of the mind. The significant and realistic possibility of earning
a chess scholarship to UMBC gives students a concrete worthwhile
intellectual goal. More powerful than abstract preaching, chess
scholarships motivate students to work hard at school.
Chess blends especially well with UMBC's emphasis on science and
technology. Chess is exceptionally well suited for play over computer
networks, and the development of better computer chess programs
remains a challenging research problem in computer science. In
addition, a variety of technologies are needed for spectator chess
events.
Very importantly, chess has given UMBC a unique identity. Founded
in 1966, UMBC is a mid-sized public research university that cares
deeply about its undergraduate programs; its goal is to become
the best such university in the country. Although well along its
way toward this goal, relatively few people had heard of UMBC
before its rise in the intercollegiate chess world. As the team
gained momentum, newspaper headlines heralded UMBC's crushing
5-1 victories over MIT and Harvard in fall 95 (CL, March 96) and
fall 96, respectively. Winning the 96 Pan-Am (CL, May 97) attracted
significant publicity, including a feature story on CNN Headline
News and an invitation to visit Peru. A colleague told me, that
while attending a mathematics conference in Tucson, another researcher
approached him and said something to the effect, "I see you
are from UMBC; isn't UMBC that chess school?" Through chess,
UMBC has made a name for itself and has demonstrated that its
talented students can and do compete successfully with the best.
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Future Visions
My visions for chess at UMBC include continuing and strengthening
our current activities, significantly expanding our role in helping
Baltimore-area youth through chess, involving more students at
UMBC through offering a variety of chess courses for credit, and
playing a greater role in promoting chess as a spectator sport.
To accomplish these goals, more financial support is required,
preferably through a significant endowment.
The core activities I wish to continue are inspiring young students
to value activities of the mind, attracting chess-player scholars
to UMBC, and maintaining an active, enriching chess environment
with a strong team. Nurturing talented players to become Grandmasters
would be more satisfying than recruiting them. To secure these
activities, it is necessary to move away from the current strong
but ad hoc support of chess to a secure long-term institutional
commitment to chess. Chess needs and deserves the institutional
infrastructure and financial resources supporting successful physical
sports programs. This infrastructure should include named scholarships
(a reality at UMBC), dedicated office space, a full-time chess
coordinator, a part-time chess coach (a reality at UMBC), dedicated
office space, and a line-item in the University budget.
To make a significant impact on Baltimore-area youth, chess activities
must be carried out at the schools, preferably as part of the
standard curriculum. I would like to establish a Baltimore Chess
Center, which would serve two functions. First and most importantly,
it would coordinate paid instructors and an army of volunteers
to teach chess in the schools. Second, it would provide centralized
support of scholastic chess, including tournaments, leagues, lectures,
courses, matches, information, and special events. The Center
would include a dedicated building conveniently located downtown,
which would be open long hours daily to provide a safe and friendly
environment in which people of all ages could enjoy chess. The
center would include a full-time staff of coaches and coordinators,
and a Grandmaster in Residence. UMBC could play a key role in
the Center through scholarships, student role models, work-study
mentoring programs, a chess coach certification course, and its
on-campus summer chess camp.
The most effective way to increase student involvement on campus
is to offer chess courses for credit. For example, I am developing
a three-credit honors course Problem Solving and Critical Thinking
Through Chess, which will deal with all aspects of chess including
its history, psychology, language, modes of thinking, mathematical
properties, game-theoretic modeling, and computer solution. In
addition, I would like UMBC to offer a course on the Fundamentals
of Chess for "institutional credit" (similar to athletic
credit, which differs from academic credit).
Building on our experience with the Smirin vs. Morrison match,
I continue to explore new low-cost, good-quality technical solutions
to the challenges of spectator chess. For example, dissatisfied
with the limitations of our $300 Saitek autoboard, and discouraged
by the $20,000 rental fee of the high quality alternatives, Dr.
Uri Tasch (Dept. of Mechanical Engineering) and I submitted a
proposal to the USCF to design and build a new, inexpensive, regulation-size
autosensory chessboard suitable for spectator chess. Similarly,
discouraged by the $10,000 price of telestration equipment (to
enable commentators to draw strategy diagrams over the projected
board position), I am currently supervising a master's thesis
on the design and implementation of a digital telestrator, which
we plan to make available for free. I hope to report on this work
later in the year. Given its combined strength in chess, computer
science, and computer engineering, UMBC is particularly well-suited
to develop technology that will enable other clubs to host spectator
chess events inexpensively.
* * *
I hope that our experiences at UMBC will help other colleges and
universities find ways to inspire young minds and to connect with
their neighboring communities through the exciting intellectual
sport of chess.
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Epilogue
After an incredible 96-97 academic year, in fall 97, the UMBC
Chess Club suffered a serious loss of several key players. For
personal reasons, IM Valery and FM Dmitry Atlas returned to Liechtenstein,
and SM Greg Shahade transferred to Drexel. Furthermore, SM Erez
Klein took a year of medical leave. Nevertheless, UMBC managed
to defeat UPenn (ranked second in the USA) 4.5-1.5 at UMBC's ChessFest97.
December 26-29, UMBC entered three teams in the 97 Pan-Am, in
Bowling Green, Kentucky. Based on average team ratings, UMBC's
A Team was initially seated seventh, with a lineup of William
"The Exterminator" Morrison (2414), Oxana Tarassova
(2122), freshman Nathan Fewel (2023), and Derrick Longo (2019).
Rising to the occasion, Morrison, Tarassova, and Longo went undefeated,
and UMBC finished clear third against strong competition. BMCC
captured first with a perfect 6-0 score, followed by UTDallas
in second place. UMBC's B Team won the trophy for top team rated
under 2000, and UMBC's C team won the trophy for top team rated
under 1200. Given our initial seating, we proud of these accomplishments.
In my personal bid to recapture the top Faculty/Coach prize, the
prize hinged on my exciting last- round bout against Dr. Yuan
J. Xu (*2187*) of NYU. Overestimating my position, I eschewed
a simple draw and played for a win, only to go down in flames.
At the 97 Pan-Am I learned three lessons. First, I was deeply
impressed with the importance in team Swiss System events (as
opposed to individual Swiss events) of each team member being
able to play in a steady, non-losing style. Second, I gained an
appreciation for the need to help new players make the transition
from scholastic to collegiate chess. Third, in my own last-round
game, I learned that I should have followed my coach's advice
that--in terms of results as opposed to personal enjoyment=="drawing
is better than losing
We look forward to returning in 98.
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Acknowledgments
I am grateful to several people who assisted Derrick Longo in
his WWW-rendering of this document. In particular, I thank Chess
Club officers Jay Beale and Oxana Tarasovva for scanning in images,
and I thank Charles Nicholas for editorial comments. Thanks also
to Institutional Advancement for their support, and in particular,
to Maura Walsh-Seaman and Jeanne Ivy (Creative Services) for technical
assistance and artistic suggestions. Last but not least, I would
like to thank John Fritz and Lisa Akchin of Institutional Advancement
for their continued support of this project.
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About the Authors
Dr. Alan T. Sherman is Associate Professor of Computer Science
at UMBC and Faculty Advisor of the university's Chess Club. He
was the top faculty player in the Pan-American Open in 1993 and
1994. In 1997 he received a Meritorious Service Award from the
USCF for his contributions to college chess.
An abbreviated version of this article--edited by Dr. Tim Redman
(Faculty Advisor, UTDallas)--will appear in the new College Chess
Column of Chess Life in February 1998.