Two of the World's Top College Teams Meet on Halloween
October 28, 2008
No, this is not the title of a script for a bad horror movie but a reminder to CLO readers to check out the 16-board match between the University of Belgrade and the University of Texas at Dallas. On first board, GM Alejandro Ramirez will face off against IM Milos Pavlovic. You can download the match program (pdf) with the other 15 pairings, and player details including titles and majors. Also watch the event live Friday October 31, starting at 2 PM EST on www.chessclub.com.

When asked if the UT Dallas players would wear costumes since it is Halloween, Coach Rade Milovanovic said no; they would receive fines for doing so. However, he grinned and said , “The “Igorites” and others may  wear whatever they choose to wear or not.” This was in reference to friends of UT Dallas National Master Igor Schneider, whose friends’ chests had the letters I-G-O-R spelled out on their chests in support of the team. Cheerleaders also graced last year's event.

igorlead.jpg
cheerleaders.jpg

The University of Belgrade (one of the largest universities in the Balkans region with an enrollment of nearly 80,000 students) has again reserved the 700-seat auditorium as its competition venue. UTD’s players will set up their laptop computers, on which they will make their moves, on the stage of the Davidson Auditorium in the School of Management Building, which seats about 350. Members of the campus community and the general public are invited to attend the event free of charge.

The Oct. 31 match will begin at 1 p.m. Central Time (8 p.m. in Belgrade). An opening ceremony precedes this at 12:30 pm. The match is expected to last an hour and a half to two hours. For additional information about the competition, please contact UTD’s Stallings at [email protected] or 972-883-2898. The games may also be viewed live on the Internet Chess Club, www.chessclub.com