{"id":10385,"date":"2019-06-07T17:31:44","date_gmt":"2019-06-07T17:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=10385"},"modified":"2019-06-07T17:31:44","modified_gmt":"2019-06-07T17:31:44","slug":"utrgv-chess-team-recognized-at-texas-state-capitol-in-austin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=10385","title":{"rendered":"UTRGV Chess Team Recognized at Texas State Capitol in Austin"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Victoria Brito<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

AUSTIN, TEXAS \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0The UTRGV Chess Team \u2013 back-to-back national champions in the Final Four of Collegiate Chess \u2013 took a triumphal mini tour of Austin on May 22 to accept kudos, resolutions and proclamations from Gov. Greg Abbott, the House and the Senate, and the UT Board of Regents.<\/p>\n

The UTRGV Vaqueros successfully defended their national title at the\u00a0President\u2019s Cup<\/a>\u00a0in April in New York City, again defeating five-time champion Webster University, along with Harvard University and UT Dallas.<\/p>\n

They also are state champions, beating UT Dallas and Texas Tech University at the Texas Collegiate Super Finals held Oct. 20-21 in Lubbock.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE GOVERNOR\u2019S OPENING MOVE<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the first meeting of the day, the team met with Abbott in a special reception area within the Office of the Governor.<\/p>\n

Abbott congratulated them on their successes as a team, and accepted a gift of a framed chess board signed by the team and presented to him by the UTRGV chess\u00a0coach, Grandmaster Bartek Macieja.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u00a0beat the best in the United States,\u201d the governor said. \u201cThey are number one, and this is going in my office. Congratulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

UTRGV CHESS TEAM, IN THE HOUSE!<\/strong><\/p>\n

After meeting with the governor, the team accepted an invitation to visit the Texas House of Representatives, where state Rep. Alex Dominguez (D-37) introduced House Resolution 1389, which acknowledges the team\u2019s\u00a0many\u00a0successes.<\/p>\n

As Dominguez enthusiastically addressed the House of the team\u2019s accomplishments, the team stood on the Floor behind him during his speech to fellow legislators and visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UTRGV chess team has just won the President\u2019s Cup, not for the first time. They are the back-to-back champions,\u201d he said. \u201cWho can remember the last time that happened?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominguez recognized all members of the group, including Alex Mista, UTRGV chess program manager and grandmaster, and Dr. Douglas Stoves, associate dean for Student Rights and Responsibilities, who oversees the chess program.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s give these members a big round of applause,\u201d Dominguez said, pointing to those watching from the gallery. \u201cGo, Vaqueros!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

The UTRGV Chess Team \u2013 back-to-back national champions in the Final Four of Collegiate Chess \u2013 took a triumphal mini tour of Austin on May 22 to accept kudos, resolutions and proclamations from Gov. Greg Abbott, the House and the Senate, and the UT Board of Regents. The UTRGV Vaqueros successfully defended their national title at the President\u2019s Cup in April in New York City, again defeating five-time champion Webster University, along with Harvard University and UT Dallas. Photo: David Pike\/UTRGV<\/p><\/div>\n

UT SYSTEM BOARD OF REGENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

The next stop on the Austin victory lap was a visit to The UT System Board of Regents at System headquarters downtown, where System showed a\u00a0special video<\/a>\u00a0put together to congratulate both UTRGV and UT Dallas for their participation in the President\u2019s Cup.<\/p>\n

UTRGV President Guy Bailey, in town for the Regent\u2019s Board Meeting, met up with the chess team there and thanked the System governing body for helping celebrate UTRGV\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very proud of this team,\u201d Bailey said, \u201cand really appreciate your recognition of our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Macieja then introduced each member of the team:<\/p>\n

Andrey Stukopin, grandmaster from Rostov, Russia.<\/p>\n

Hovhannes Gabuzyan, grandmaster from Yerevan, Armenia.<\/p>\n

Vladimir Belous, grandmaster from Moscow, Russia.<\/p>\n

Kamil Dragun, grandmaster from Gorzow Wielkopolski, Poland.<\/p>\n

Guillermo V\u00e1zquez, international master, alternate, from Asunci\u00f3n, Paraguay.<\/p>\n

Dragun was unable to attend the Austin visits as he was in his native Poland, competing in the\u00a0Polish Championships<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A SENATE PROCLAMATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the last stop of their busy day, the chess team visited the Texas Senate, observing from the balcony as Sen.\u00a0Eddie Lucio Jr<\/a>. (D-27) honored them with a proclamation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UTRGV Vaqueros captured a second national championship title,\u201d Lucio said. \u201cThere is a lot of great power out there on the southside of the Valley, and let me tell you, the more big power we have, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Afterwards, state Sen. Juan Hinojosa (D-20) greeted the group and presented them with individual copies of the Senate proclamations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really honored to meet you,\u201d Hinojosa said, shaking hands as he handed over the proclamations. \u201cI couldn\u2019t play chess \u2013 all I know how to play is checkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ABOUT THE UTRGV CHESS TEAM<\/strong><\/p>\n

The UTRGV Chess Team, which is overseen by Coach Macieja, Stoves and Mista, has a rich history of successes going back to its legacy institution days as the UTB-TSC Chess Team. In 2014, the team helped earn Brownsville the title\u00a0Chess City of the Year<\/a>\u00a0by the U.S. Chess Federation. In addition to its back-to-back national Final Four titles, and its state championship title in 2018, the team was named the 2018\u00a0Chess College of the Year<\/a>by the U.S. Chess Federation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Victoria Brito AUSTIN, TEXAS \u2013\u00a0The UTRGV Chess Team \u2013 back-to-back national champions in the Final Four of Collegiate Chess \u2013 took a triumphal mini tour of Austin on May 22 to accept kudos, resolutions and proclamations from Gov. Greg Abbott, the House and the Senate, and the UT Board of Regents. The UTRGV Vaqueros […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-valley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10386,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10385\/revisions\/10386"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}