SPICE Cup: Oct. 12-21
This month Webster University and the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess
Excellence (SPICE) will bring six of the best chess players in the world —
including two Webster students — to Webster’s home campus. They’ll be competing
in the 2012 SPICE Cup Invitational, the highest-rated chess tournament of its
kind in U.S. history.
The tourney kicks off with a free and open-to-the-public Welcome Ceremony at
1 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 12, in Room 102 of Webster’s East Academic Building, 545
Garden Ave. in Webster Groves, Mo.
For full details and to learn about the competitors, see the full text of the
University press release below:
Webster University and Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE)
to Host the Prestigious 2012 SPICE CUP Invitational Oct. 12-21
Event is the Highest-Rated International Round Robin Chess
Tournament in U.S. History
ST. LOUIS, Oct. 8, 2012 – Six of the best chess players in the world – two of
them members of the new Webster University chess team – will compete in the 2012
SPICE CUP Invitational tournament, to be held Oct. 12-21 on the Webster
University campus. This historic tournament is a FIDE (International Chess
Federation) category 18 event, making it the highest-rated chess tournament of
its kind in U.S. history.
All six players are multiple-time Olympians. They include:
- Grandmaster LeQuang Liem (Vietnam), the defending SPICE CUP Invitational
champion, Vietnamese champion and No. 1 player in Vietnam.
- Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), former World Junior champion
and French champion and No. 1 player in France.
- Grandmaster Ding Liren (China), three-time and reigning champion of China,
and the No.3 Junior in the world.
- Grandmaster Csaba Balogh (Hungary), member of the Hungarian National chess
team and top-notch chess author.
- Grandmaster Wesley So (Philippines), national champion, No.
1 player in the Philippines and a Webster University freshman.
- Grandmaster Georg Meier (Germany), European team champion
and Webster University sophomore and co-captain of the Webster University chess
team.
The SPICE CUP Invitational tournament kicks off with a free and
open-to-the-public Welcome Ceremony at 1 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 12, in Room 102 of
Webster’s East Academic Building, 545 Garden Ave. in Webster Groves. During
tournament play, the six competitors will face one another twice, once with
black chess pieces and once with white pieces.
* * *
About Susan Polgar and SPICE
Chess Grandmaster Susan Polgar, World and Olympiad Champion, and her Susan
Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) relocated to Webster University
from Texas Tech University on June 1 2012. In addition, all key members of the
reigning national collegiate champion Texas Tech “A” chess team transferred to
Webster and are now enrolled at the University. Webster’s No. 1-ranked chess
team includes eight Grandmasters and two International Masters.
Polgar, who is one of the strongest female chess players in history, is the
winner of four world championships and the only world champion in history – male
or female – to win the Triple-Crown (Rapid, Blitz and Classical Chess world
championships). She is the first woman to break the gender barrier to qualify
for the Men’s World Championship Cycle, earn the Men’s Grandmaster title, and to
receive the Grandmaster of the Year Award.
At Webster, SPICE and Polgar are leaders in promoting chess as a vehicle for
global diversity and academic excellence, for enriching the education of
children and for promoting women’s chess. In 2011, Polgar became the first
female head coach to lead a men’s collegiate Division 1 chess team (Texas Tech
University) to the national title, a feat she repeated in 2012.
About Webster University
With its home campus in St. Louis, Webster University (www.webster.edu) is
the only Tier 1, private, non-profit U.S.-based university providing a network
of international residential campuses. Founded in 1915, Webster University’s
campus network today includes metropolitan, military and corporate locations
around the world, as well as traditional residential campuses in Asia, Europe
and North America. The university is committed to delivering high-quality
learning experiences that transform students for global citizenship and
individual excellence.
