MARCH 11-16, 2016 UT DALLAS VS.

MARCH 11-16, 2016 UT DALLAS VS.

UT Dallas Invitational

THE UT DALLAS GRANDMASTER INVITATIONAL Studying and preparing are important elements for the members of a chess team. Nevertheless, there is is no substitute for the training provided by playing actual high level tournament games. The This UT Dallas Chess Team did Invitational this last fall this with spring a tournament is another prior opportunity to playing for high-level in the Pan-American tournament intercollegiate games. Team Chess Championship.» Tournament Format: 10-Round Scheveningen System» Time control: Game 90/30 sec increment» Each member of UT Dallas Team plays each member of the GM Team twice» Visit Mon Roi to follow live games» Visit utdallas.edu/chess to watch a live commentary of the tournament SCHEDULE Friday, March 11 Opening Ceremony 4:30 pm Round 1 5:00 pm Saturday, March 12 Round 2 10:00 am Round 3 5:00 pm Sunday, March 13 Round 4 10:00 am Round 5 5:00 pm Monday, March 14 Round 6 10:00 am Round 7 5:00 pm Tuesday, March 15 Round 8 10:00 am Round 9 5:00 pm Wednesday, March 16 Round 10 9:00 am Closing Ceremony 2:00 pm 1

ABOUT UT DALLAS The UT Dallas University comprises of Texas seven at Dallas schools, comprises offers eight more schools, than 135 offers degree more programs, than 135 degree and features programs, a student and features population a student as diverse population as its as areas diverse of study. as its With areas a of study. current With enrollment a current of enrollment more than of 23,000 more than students 23,000 and students a world-class and a world-class faculty faculty that includes that includes one Nobel a Nobel laureate, laureate, members of the of the National Academies of of Sciences and Engineering and active, news-making researchers, UT UT Dallas Dallas aims to aims provide to provide Texas and Texas the and nation the nation with the with benefits the benefits of educational of educational and research and programs research programs of the highest of the quality. highest quality. The University of of Texas at at Dallas takes takes chess chess seriously. The The UT UT Dallas Dallas Chess Chess Team has won national and and international titles titles and and regularly regularly represents represents the the University in in the the Pan-American Intercollegiate Intercollegiate Championship, Championship, the the National National Collegiate Collegiate Chess Chess League League team team championship championship and and the the Final Final Four Four of of Chess. Chess. The team The team competes competes internationally internationally in annual in annual Internet Internet matches matches with the with University the of Belgrade, University and of Belgrade, has traveled and to has Beijing traveled and to to Havana Beijing for and exhibition to Havana matches. for exhibition matches. Chess also is a part of recreation and education at the University. The UT Dallas Chess Program offers the open-access chess club and chess in education initiatives, including online instruction for academic credit and summer camps. Learn Chess also is a part of recreation and education at the University. The UT Dallas Chess Program offers the open-access chess club and chess in more at utdallas.edu/chess. education initiatives, including online instruction for academic credit and summer camps. Learn more at utdallas.edu/chess. 2 UT Dallas Invitational

THE SCHEVENINGEN SYSTEM OF TOURNAMENT PLAY The Scheveningen system provides the optimum invitational event for a team. Each player on one team plays each player on the other team. The team with the highest number of games won is the winner. This system creates title norm opportunities. Our current International Masters (IM) could achieve (GM) norms. Three norms are required to receive the title of. In recent years, the Scheveningen has been popular in hard-fought matches between Russian and Chinese teams. The system was first used in a tournament in Scheveningen, Holland in 1923. The original idea was that a team of 10 Dutch players could face 10 foreign masters, allowing players to experience strong competition. In keeping with this style, a team of five strong GMs has been invited to Dallas. The Scheveningen system is rarely seen in the United States. In this tournament s format, the five UT Dallas team members will face the visiting five GMs twice, for a total of 10 rounds. Every member of the home team will face 10 consecutive rounds of games against strong competition. The UT Dallas Chess Team recruits skilled, master-level players from around the world who wish to pursue a quality education and continue playing chess while in college. March 11-16, 2016 3

UT DALLAS CHESS TEAM Gil Popilski 2662 Major: Computer Science Aleksander Indjic 2642 Major: Psychology 4 UT Dallas Invitational

UT DALLAS CHESS TEAM Denis Kadric 2584 Major: Finance Dani Raznikov 2581 Major: Software Engineering March 11-16, 2016 5

UT DALLAS CHESS TEAM David Berczes 2571 Major: Finance The 2015-2016 Chess team at The University of Texas at Dallas 6 UT Dallas Invitational

Jeffery Xiong 2690 The highest-rated U-16 chess player in the world, Jeffery Xiong is also the second-highest rated player in Texas. He started his training with GM Annakov in 2008. He is a member of the Dallas Chess Club, and in 2010, he represented the U.S. in the World Youth Chess Championships, for which he won a silver medal in the Under-10 group. He was also the North America Continental Champion in 2010, and he won the gold medal in the Under-10 group of the North American Youth Chess Championship. Since 2012, Xiong has trained with former world champion Garry Kasparov as a member of the Young Star program. At 14 years old, the GM won the Chicago Open, becoming the youngest winner in history. He will also be the youngest player in the 2016 Chess Championship. Samuel Sevian 2670 Fifteen-year-old GM Samuel Sevian s first success came when he became the youngest Expert in USCR history at 8 years old. In 2010, Sevian became the youngest National Master in USCF history at 9 years old. By 2012, he had completed all International Master norms in the space of six months, and he eventually became an IM in 2013. Sevian became the World Champion in the U-12 category in Maribor, Slovenia, and in May 2013, he was invited to play in the US Chess Championship as the youngest ever participant. Sevian became a at 13 years old. He shared fifth place in the US Chess Championships in 2015, which earned him a spot in the 2015 Chess World Cup. March 11-16, 2016 7

Akshat Chandra International Master 2592 Sixteen-year-old Akshat Chandra is the National High School Champion for 2015, and he has also won the National Junior High Championship in 2013. He is also the U.S. Junior Champion for 2015. In 2013, Chandra was the North American Youth Champion U-18 at 13 years old. He received his IM title in 2013, and became a in 2015. He is the reigning National High School Blitz Champion, having won the championship in 2015. He is also the highest rated Rapid junior player (U-21) in the U.S. since 2014. In January 2016, Chandra was listed among the top ten blitz players in the world on Chess.com the only Junior on the list and the second American. Ruifeng Li International Master 2591 Fourteen-year-old Ruifeng Li started playing chess at six and became the Arkansas State Champion in 2011 at nine years old. Later that same year, he won a silver medal for the U.S. Chess team from the World Youth Chess Championship, U-10 section. Li earned his FM title in 2014 and his IM title in 2015. 8 UT Dallas Invitational

Kayden Troff 2590 Sixteen-year old Kayden Troff has had exciting and eventful chess experience from playing James Bond in a YouTube chess music video to being given a 1,500 pound chocolate chess set on the TLC Cable channel to being part of Garry Kasparov s Young Stars program. Kayden is the current 2015 US Junior Closed Champion, has won a Gold and Silver Medal in the 2012 and 2010 World Youth Championships and became a a few weeks after his 16th birthday. The Chess Plaza at The University of Texas at Dallas March 11-16, 2016 9

NOTES 10 UT Dallas Invitational

March 13-19, 2015

UT Dallas Invitational