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SLU Chess Team to Defend National Championship This Weekend at Webster University

The Saint Louis University Chess Team, reigning collegiate chess champions, will defend its title this weekend, April 1-2, during the President’s Cup tournament. 

The President’s Cup, known as the Final Four of College Chess, will be held at Webster University. Participants include the chess teams from SLU, Webster, the University of Missouri and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

In 2022, SLU won the tournament with 7.5 points — edging out Webster’s 7. Texas Tech University placed third with 5.5 points and the University of Texas at Dallas rounded out the Final Four with four points. 

Following the championship, five members of the SLU team participated in the 44th World Chess Olympiad, with two students receiving individual honors at the team competition. 

Nikolaos Theodorou, a student in the College for Public Health and Social Justice received a Silver Medal on Board 2 while representing the Greek federation. Gabriela Antova, a junior in the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business, was the fifth-best Board 4 in the Women’s Olympiad. She represented Bulgaria. 

In the fall, Thalia Cervantes Landeiro, a sophomore member of the team, placed third in the 2022 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship. 

Watching the Action 

Each team will have four players and up to two alternates available for the three-round team competition. The team with the most points wins.

The schedule for the tournament is as follows:

An award ceremony will immediately follow the third round on Sunday, April 2.

Games will be streamed online on chess.com. 

Spectators are also welcome at the event, which will be held in Webster’s Sunnen Lounge, located on the top floor of the Webster University Center at 175 Edgar Road, St. Louis. Spectators must check in at the registration desk and a maximum of 20 people will be allowed in at a time.