This institute, in addition to chess excellence, will focus on many other areas such as chess and education, research, technology, psychology, and much more. Now students from around the world can come to Texas Tech to enjoy many additional benefits. This is the first center of its kind in the world and Texas Tech is fully committed to give Susan and SPICE all the necessary support to achieve the highest level of success.
I have to add that NONE of this would have happened without UTD. Dr. Redman was the first to introduce and inspire Susan to be more involved with college chess. Then Jim Stallings continued to carry on that tradition. It is a much easier task to emulate the best. We hope to be able to help other Universities and Colleges with data and research info from SPICE. It is the hope that with a strong College Chess program, we can help keep many more young players in chess and eventually cross over to adult chess. Thank you UTD, Dr. Redman and Jim Stallings.
Congratulations to Dr. Polgar!
Here is a link to the SPICE announcement. Best wishes to Dr. Polgar with this program.
Congratulations, Susan! What a great thing for chess. Wow.
If you can teach Bobby Knight to win with grace, lose with dignity, you can do anything!
Good luck!
congradulations susan goodluck to u n paul this is major news hope u continue ur goal to make uscf the best it can b
What exactly is so ‘new’ in this? You said this would be something new for Chess, never done before.
What about the post-war Soviet Chess Schools?!?
I have worked with Jim Stallings. He is a class act.
Congrats Susan.
–Duncan
What is new? What is not new I would ask.
First, there is a former product of the Soviet chess school(s) on the Tech faculty and according to him this is different since it is an institute solely dedicated to chess at a university. We are not aware of such an arrangement anywhere else.
Second, we are not aware of a proffessional chess player giving a commencement speech before – at least not an American university.
Third, we are not aware of a chess professional receiving an Honorary Doctorate degree during a graduation ceremony before – again at least not an American university. Texas Tech takes the awarding of honorary degrees very seriously. They are rarely awarded and then ONLY during commencement.
Fourth, we are not aware of any other university hiring a world champion to lead a chess program – let alone hire two coaches in one sweep.
At any rate Texas Tech and the West Texas community is thrilled about Susan and Paul joining our staff. Now the real work starts (although it was no easy task getting to this point).
This will be great overall for chess – especially College Chess. Increasing the number of strong college chess programs can only be good both for the chess and the colleges (for one thing college chess players will have more choices). Perhaps predicting the outcome of the Final 4 (or permanent two as I like to call it) will not be so easy.
Check’em Tech