(CROSSVILLE, TN)Winners of the 23rd Annual U.S. Amateur Team West, held from February 18-20 at the Marina San Pedro Hotel, were Caltech (Patrick Hummel, Eugene Yanayt, Howard Liu, and Joshua Gutman) with 5½-½. This is Caltech's third victory in four years (they also took first in 2003 and 2004), but their dynasty is in jeopardy, as the core of their team will be graduating this spring.

Second with 5-1 went to a team of visitors form Arizona, The Knight the King Smacked My Bishop (Robby Adamson, Leonardo Martinez, Jonathan Cox, and Sean Higgins). Third on tiebreak at 4½ were Good Knight and Good Rook (Michael Casella, Mike Zaloznyy, Gevorg Vardanyan, and Chris Lee), which also received a special prize for best team name.

Earning Board prizes Allan Pleasants (1), Eugene Yanayt (2), Gevorg Vardanyan (3), Joshua Gutman (4), and Aldrich Ong (Alternate).

Also worthy of note was the return of GM William Lombardy, a veteran of the 1960 World Student Team Championship, playing first board for A Priest and a Bishop. Though clearly a bit rusty, he had many tales to tell of the "good old days."

Forty-six teams competed in the main event, along with a near-record 33 in the one-day Scholastic Team. John Hillery and Elie Hsiao directed. Complete standings are available at http://www.scchess.com.

Details for an online playoff between the four winning teams from the US Amateur South, East, Midwest and West will be announced soon.

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The United States Chess Federation (USCF), founded in 1939, serves as the governing body for chess in the United States and is now headquartered in Crossville, Tennessee. USCF is devoted to extending the role of chess in American society. It promotes the study and knowledge of the game of chess, for its own sake as an art and enjoyment, and as a means for the improvement of society. The USCF is a not-for-profit membership organization nearing 90,000 members. For additional information on the USCF see: http://www.uschess.org.