President's Cup (chess)

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.

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.

History

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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

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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

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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

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Year Location 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place 4th Place Host Organizer/TD
2001 Richardson, TX University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) University of California, Berkeley Stanford University UTD Redman
2002 Miami, FL UTD UMBC Stanford Harvard University Chess Hall of Fame Lawrence
2003 Miami, FL UMBC UTD Miami Dade College University of Chicago Chess Hall of Fame Lawrence
2004 Lindsborg, KS UMBC UTD Miami Dade MIT Karpov School of Chess Korenman
2005 Lindsborg, KS UMBC UTD Miami Dade Stanford Karpov School of Chess Korenman
2006 Richardson, TX UMBC UTD Miami Dade Duke UTD Stallings
2007 Richardson, TX UTD UMBC Miami Dade Duke UTD Stallings
2008 Baltimore, MD UTD UMBC Miami Dade New York University (NYU) UMBC Sherman
2009 Richardson, TX UMBC UTD University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB, now UTRGV) Stanford UTD Stallings
2010 Brownsville, TX UMBC UTB (now UTRGV) Texas Tech University (TTU) UTD Brownsville Harwood
2011 Herndon, VA Texas Tech UTD UTB (now UTRGV) UMBC Booz Allen Hamilton Herman, Hoffpauir
2012 Herndon, VA Texas Tech UMBC-UTD (tie) UMBC-UTD (tie) NYU Booz Allen Hamilton Herman, Hoffpauir
2013 Rockville, MD Webster University (Webster) UTD UMBC University of Illinois Booz Allen Hamilton Herman, Hoffpauir
2014 New York, NY Webster UMBC TTU University of Illinois New York Athletic Club Booz Allen, Herman, Sifer, Hoffpauir
2015 New York, NY Webster University UTD TTU UMBC New York Athletic Club Booz Allen, Herman, Hoffpauir
2016 New York, NY Webster University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Texas Tech Columbia University Marshall Chess Club Two Sigma, Booz Allen, Herman, Hoffpauir
2017 New York, NY Webster TTU St. Louis University (SLU) UTD Marshall Chess Club Two Sigma, Booz Allen, Herman, Garcia
2018 New York, NY UTRGV Webster TTU SLU Marshall Chess Club Two Sigma, Booz Allen, Herman, Garcia
2019 New York, NY UTRGV Webster UTD Harvard University Marshall Chess Club Two Sigma, Booz Allen, Herman, Garcia
2021 Online UTRGV SLU Webster TTU Internet Chess Club Langland
2022 Lubbock, TX SLU Webster UTD TTU Texas Tech University Bird
2023 Saint Louis, MO Webster SLU UTRGV University of Missouri (Mizzou) Webster University Bird
2024 Richardson, TX Mizzou Webster UTRGV UTD UTD Steiner/Reed

Bibliography

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  • Annual Reports of the USCF College Chess Committee
  • Articles about the President's Cup published in Chess Life magazine
  • "Rating Reports from the President's Cup". US Chess Federation.
  • Program booklets from the President's Cup for some years.
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