November 2, 2007
Written by Cory Chandler
Texas Tech University formally welcomed chess dynamos Susan Polgar and Paul Truong,
who will oversee the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) and coach
the Knight Raiders chess team, during a Thursday reception at the International Cultural
Center.
The event presented the first such occasion for red-carpet treatment of the international
stars since their May hiring. Polgar and Truong spent the summer establishing the
institute and traveling to an international slate of chess-related and academic events.
"This is our opportunity to present these acclaimed individuals to the campus and
to the Lubbock community," said Jim Brink, senior vice provost for academic affairs,
noting that SPICE will be involved with Lubbock schools through its K-12 outreach
efforts.
The reception also served as a venue to promote the 2007 SPICE Cup International Invitational
Chess Tournament, slated for Nov. 9-16 in Lubbock.
Organized by Polgar and Truong, the tournament will have an average participant rating
of approximately 2,527, making it a category 12 event. Categories of top-level tournaments
are based on the average rating of the participants and are formed within a 25-point
range. Players with a rating of above 2,400 are considered senior masters by the U.S.
Chess Federation.
"This prestigious tournament will be one of the strongest international invitational
round robin tournaments held in the United States in the past decade," Polgar said.
Polgar is director of SPICE and coach of the Knight Raiders chess team. She has won
four women’s world chess championships, five Olympic gold medals, and is the only
world champion in history to win the triple-crown (classical, blitz and rapid women’s
world championships).
Truong, a multiple-time national champion, is the director of marketing for SPICE
and the Knight Raiders assistant coach. He was the captain of the 2004 U.S. Women’s
Olympiad Team, which captured two silver and two gold medals – a first for the U.S.
SPICE includes academic and outreach components and provides an almost unprecedented
forum for academic research on the game.
CONTACT: Jim Brink, senior vice provost for academic affairs, Office of the Provost,
Texas Tech University, (806) 742-2184 or jim.brink@ttu.edu.