President's Cup (chess)

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UMBC vs. NYU at 2008 Final Four at UMBC UMBC vs. NYU at 2008 Final Four.jpg
UMBC vs. NYU at 2008 Final Four at UMBC
Presidents Freeman Hrabowski of UMBC and David Daniel of UTD hope to gain possession of the President's Cup at the 2008 Final Four. UTD won in 2008. Presidents of UMBC and UTD hope to gain possession of the President's Cup.jpg
Presidents Freeman Hrabowski of UMBC and David Daniel of UTD hope to gain possession of the President's Cup at the 2008 Final Four. UTD won in 2008.

The President's Cup (informally known as the Final Four of College Chess) determines the U.S. college team chess champion. Hosted in part by the United States Chess Federation (USCF), the President's Cup is an annual invitational team championship, open to the top four U.S. schools from the most recent Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship (Pan-Am). It is run as a fixed-roster team round-robin tournament, scored by individual (not team) points. The President's Cup usually takes place in early Spring.

Contents

History

The President's Cup has taken place each year in various locations since it was founded in 2001 by Dr. Tim Redman with the financial support of University of Texas at Dallas president Dr. Franklyn Jenifer. Since 2011, the President's Cup has been sponsored in part by Booz Allen Hamilton. The event in 2020 was to be held in April but was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Final Four teams that qualified that year were Texas Tech, University of Texas at Dallas, Webster University, and Saint Louis University.

Rules

The governing body for the President's Cup is the College Chess Committee (CCC) of the USCF. The event is rated by the USCF and International Chess Federation (FIDE) and played under the FIDE Laws of Chess. The CCC has established eligibility requirements for college chess, and these same requirements apply to the Pan-Am and the President's Cup. Each team comprises four players and up to two alternates from the same school campus. Unlike the Pan-Am, ties for first place are broken (the title is not shared).

Significance

The winner of the President's Cup is considered the top chess team among U.S. post-secondary schools (colleges, universities, community colleges). By contrast, the Pan-Am determines the top post-secondary school in North American, Central America, South America, or the Caribbean. The winning school takes possession of the perpetual trophy, created in 2008 using funds from Sun Trust Bank, for one year.

Winners and venues

YearLocation1st Place2nd Place3rd Place4th PlaceHostOrganizer/TD
2001Richardson, TX University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) University of California, Berkeley Stanford University UTDRedman
2002Miami, FLUTDUMBCStanford Harvard University Chess Hall of FameLawrence
2003Miami, FLUMBCUTD Miami Dade College University of Chicago Chess Hall of FameLawrence
2004Lindsborg, KSUMBCUTDMiami Dade MIT Karpov School of ChessKorenman
2005Lindsborg, KSUMBCUTDMiami DadeStanfordKarpov School of ChessKorenman
2006Richardson, TXUMBCUTDMiami Dade Duke UTDStallings
2007Richardson, TXUTDUMBCMiami DadeDukeUTDStallings
2008Baltimore, MDUTDUMBCMiami Dade New York University (NYU)UMBCSherman
2009Richardson, TXUMBCUTD University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB, now UTRGV)StanfordUTDStallings
2010Brownsville, TXUMBCUTB (now UTRGV) Texas Tech University (TTU)UTDBrownsvilleHarwood
2011Herndon, VATexas TechUTDUTB (now UTRGV)UMBCBooz Allen HamiltonHerman, Hoffpauir
2012Herndon, VATexas TechUMBC-UTD (tie)UMBC-UTD (tie)NYUBooz Allen HamiltonHerman, Hoffpauir
2013Rockville, MD Webster University (Webster)UTDUMBC University of Illinois Booz Allen HamiltonHerman, Hoffpauir
2014New York, NYWebsterUMBCTTUUniversity of IllinoisNew York Athletic ClubBooz Allen, Herman, Sifer, Hoffpauir
2015New York, NYWebster UniversityUTDTTUUMBCNew York Athletic ClubBooz Allen, Herman, Hoffpauir
2016New York, NYWebster University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV)Texas Tech Columbia University Marshall Chess ClubTwo Sigma, Booz Allen, Herman, Hoffpauir
2017New York, NYWebsterTTU St. Louis University (SLU)UTDMarshall Chess ClubTwo Sigma, Booz Allen, Herman, Garcia
2018New York, NYUTRGVWebsterTTUSLUMarshall Chess ClubTwo Sigma, Booz Allen, Herman, Garcia
2019New York, NYUTRGVWebsterUTDHarvard UniversityMarshall Chess ClubTwo Sigma, Booz Allen, Herman, Garcia
2021OnlineUTRGVSLUWebsterTTU Internet Chess Club Langland
2022Lubbock, TXSLUWebsterUTDTTUTexas Tech UniversityBird
2023Saint Louis, MOWebsterSLUUTRGV University of Missouri (Mizzou)Webster UniversityBird
2024Richardson, TXMizzouWebsterUTRGVUTDUTDSteiner/Reed

Bibliography

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