University of Maryland, Baltimore County Student Organizations - UMBC Chess

UMBC Chess

The UMBC chess team, which has won Pan-American Championships against fields with dozens of teams, including Ivy League institutions and other top competitors, has received substantial recognition for its record of success. Through 2002, the team had proven dominant in winning the Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Championship six out of seven years. However, in the two following years it was upset in the tournament by its chief rival in chess, UT-Dallas. In 2005, UMBC defeated UT-Dallas en route to its third consecutive Final Four of College Chess. However, with this success certain aspects of the program have also drawn scrutiny. It has been reported that UMBC is only one of two schools (along with UT-Dallas) in the United States to offer major scholarship packages for chess proficiency, and was cited as a potential motivator in a WSJ article discussing the potential for firmer guidelines on eligibility for collegiate chess. The university hosted the 2006 Pan American Chess Championships, which were held at the Washington, D.C. Renaissance Hotel in late December. The team's most recent achievement was a third place finish in the 2013 President's Cup behind UT-Dallas and the winners from Webster University in St. Louis.