Chess teams checkmates rivals

An unexpected victory last month tasted all the more sweet for the Penn Chess Team, which placed a surprising second in the Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship, held late last December in Baltimore. Attracting teams from all over the United States, Canada and even Peru, the championship offered a competitive arena for college chess players to match their skills against rival players. "We placed much higher than expected," College senior Yuri Ashuev said. "And we impressed the host and winner of the tournament, University of Maryland Baltimore County." UMBC has the strongest chess team in the country and is the only university to offer scholarships to potential chess players, according to Ashuev. And the university may even offer Penn -- which was seeded sixth in the tournament -- an unofficial match next fall. Penn, which tied for second with three other teams, defeated schools such as Boston University, the University of Chicago, New York University and Ivy League-rival Yale University. "Penn finally has a competitive team with a chance to win at the national level," Wharton senior Marc Berman said. But Wharton sophomore David Arnett said the team had not been as confident going in to the tournament. "Fortunately everyone got their act together and played as if they were in perfect form," he said. "The entire team lost a combined total of only four out of 24 games." Ashuev said the victory was the largest in recent years for the team, which had not competed as successfully in over 30 years. This year's team is particularly strong as it includes three of the country's top junior players -- Arnett, Berman and Engineering junior Anna Khan. All three have competed on the national level since grade school. Ashuev and second-year Finance graduate student Lubos Pastor also contributed to the team. Arnett said his high international rating gives him the title of International Master. And Khan has been the nation's highest rated under-21 female for the last few years. Chess at Penn, however, is not limited to those with prior experience. Ashuev said anyone is welcome to join the Chess Club, which meets Monday nights at 8 p.m. at Chats. "It's a good way for people to get practice in a much more relaxed setting than a tournament," Arnett said.