HARLINGEN — Check mate.
The UTRGV Vaqueros are still celebrating their victory.
The UTRGV chess team won the President’s Cup national championship, known as the Final Four of College Chess competition, on April 1.
It’s the team’s first NCAA chess championship.
“We unseated Webster State to become the NCAA chess champions,” said Dr. Douglas Stoves, UTRGV associate dean for student rights and responsibilities who oversees the chess program.
UTRGV beat Webster State 7.5 to 7.0 in what has been called the strongest Final Four in the history of this tournament.
UTRGV President Guy Bailey said this is an exciting win for the team, for the university and for the Valley community, which has been so supportive of the Vaqueros team.
“We are extremely proud of our chess team and admire the hard work and effort they put into every competition,” Bailey said.
“Winning the President’s Cup is indeed a great honor for our chess team, for UTRGV and for the Rio Grande Valley. We congratulate them on their win.”
Winning the National Chess President’s cup has been the goal since starting the chess program, Stoves said.
“It was awesome,” Stoves said about the win. “They are all super excited about winning the championship.”
The President’s Cup is an annual invitational team tournament open to the top four U.S. schools from the most recent Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship.
Teams in the Final Four this year were St. Louis University, Webster, Texas Tech and UTRGV.
It was UTRGV’s second trip to the final four. Their first trip was in 2016.
The team punched their ticket to the Final Four in November at the Pan American Chess tournament.
Coach Grandmaster Bartek Macieja said he and his team felt strong and confident going into the competition and on the way to the tournament, team member GM Andrey Stukopin said he, too, was confident about their chances of winning.
“We have been chasing this goal since the program began at UTRGV,” a jubilant Macieja said. “The team stayed strong and kept fighting, and I am very proud of them.”