The Sacred Heart University Chess Team competed in a field of 57 college teams in the 2022 Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Championship. This tournament is the #1 college tournament in North America. This year the event took place in Virginia from January 6th - 9th. Colleges played six rounds of matches over four days. Games averaged three or more hours. Four players from each college played each other to determine the winner of each round. See the round-by-round recap below. SHU was up against the top North American chess programs and academic institutions. The team finished with 2 points out of 6, with 1 win, 2 ties, and 3 losses. SHU placed 46th out of 57 teams. It was a fantastic experience for everyone. Team and individual results can be found here.

Participants from the Northeast included Harvard, Yale, MIT, Univ of Pennsylvania, Connecticut College, and SHU.

SHU freshman, Brent McCreesh, was on board #2 and finished the tournament with an amazing 4 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss. He finished 31st out of 251 players. A great accomplishment!

Congratulations to the students for representing SHU as true pioneers!

Board 1 - Danny Angermeier Board 2 - Brent McCreesh Board 3 - Declan Coleman Board 4 - Jordan Bauer To learn more about Club Chess at SHU, please visit our club sports web site or email clubchess@sacredheart.edu.

Recap by day:

Day 1:

Round 1: 0-4 loss to the University of Texas at Dallas (B). UTD is arguably the best chess program in the country. They have won this tournament 10 times in the last 20 years. Their 2nd team had an average rating of 2552 and included two Grandmasters and two International Masters. It was a great opportunity to play a team with all world class players.

Day 2:

Round 2: 3-1 victory over University of Utah (B)

Round 3: 1-3 loss to Arizona State University (A)

Day 3:

Round 4: 2-2 tie with the University of Pittsburgh

Round 5: 2-2 tie with California Institute of Technology

Day 4:

Round 6: 1-3 loss to the University of Southern California