By Matthew Cavazos

RICHARDSON, TEXAS – APRIL 6, 2025 – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Chess Team rallied on the final day of the President’s Cup to claim their fourth national championship in seven years.

UTRGV finished with seven points, tying with Webster University (WU) and surpassing Saint Louis University (SLU) and University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) who earned 6.5 and 4.0 points, respectively. UTRGV and WU were named co-champions, with WU awarded the traveling trophy for winning the tiebreaker, in accordance with the 2024-25 President’s Cup Rules.

Previously, UTRGV won three consecutive national championships in 2018, 2019 and 2021, with no competition held in 2020 due to COVID-19. UTRGV is now tied with UTD for the third-most President's Cup championships, trailing only WU and University of Maryland-Baltimore County, with seven and six championships, respectively.

Entering the final round, UTRGV was down by 0.5 points to SLU and WU. The team consisting of Grandmasters Gleb Dudin, Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux, and Jose Cardoso Cardoso, along with International Master Jakub Fus, faced their opponents from UTD with determination.

Fus, a psychology major, initiated the scoring with a draw, followed by wins from Cardoso Cardoso and Dudin, putting UTRGV ahead 2.5-0.5 against UT Dallas. Meanwhile, WU defeated SLU 2.5-1.5, placing the championship on the shoulders of Rodrigue-Lemieux, a biomedical sciences major, who earned a draw to secure the Vaqueros’ co-champion status.

Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux, a biomedical sciences major and a grandmaster, competes in the third round of the President’s Cup, securing a crucial draw that helped solidify the Vaqueros' status as co-champions for the university on April 6. (UTRGV Photo by Matthew Cavazos)

After the title was clinched on Sunday, UTRGV Chess Coach Bartek Macieja expressed pride in the team’s preparation and performance, emphasizing that this victory strengthens the UTRGV chess program's national reputation. 

“Entering the championships, we were ranked fourth, so technically the weakest of the best four teams in the nation,” Macieja said. “However, our students were so motivated to win, to succeed, and we put so much effort into the preparations. We are very proud of being the co-champions.”

In the second round, UTRGV faced SLU, ending in a 2-2 split. Cardoso Cardoso, a marketing major, won on the third board, while Rodrigue-Lemieux and Ekin Baris Ozenir, drew on boards two and four.

The Vaqueros opened the tournament on Saturday against WU where the team of Dudin, Rodrigue-Lemieux, Cardoso Cardoso and Fus split their match in a 2-2 draw. Dudin, a psychology major, represented the lone win for UTRGV on the first board while Rodrigue-Lemieux and Cardoso Cardoso contributed draws.

After the awards ceremony, Baris Ozenir, a computer engineering major, expressed joy in putting UTRGV back on the collegiate chess map.

“We put the UTRGV name on the map, even as co-champions, and that’s a great pleasure for us,” Baris Ozenir said.

Rodrigue-Lemieux echoed Baris Ozenir’s sentiment.

“I’m really proud of all my teammates. Gleb and Jose did great, as they always do, but everyone did their job. That’s why we can say that we are champions,” he said.

PAN AM INTERCOLLEGIATE CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

Earlier this year, UTRGV secured its first outright Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Championship, earning the opportunity to compete at the President’s Cup.

On the final day of competition, the UTRGV A Team dominated UT Dallas, achieving a perfect score of six points by winning all six matches. Out of 91 teams competing, UTRGV was the only team to secure a flawless performance. 

ABOUT THE PRESIDENT’S CUP

The President’s Cup was founded in 2001 to determine the best team from the top four finishers at the Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Championships. All four teams will compete in a round-robin event with four players and up to two alternates on the team. Each team match consists of four games and each game win counts as one point, a draw is split 0.5-0.5. The team with the most game points wins the cup. 

Grandmaster Gleb Dudin, a psychology major at UTRGV, focuses intently during the second round of the President’s Cup on April 5. UTRGV finished with seven points, tying with Webster University for the title of co-champions. (UTRGV Photo by Matthew Cavazos)

Explore the history and achievements of UTRGV Chess through the years by visiting https://link.utrgv.edu/chess.