SPICE chess park at TTU
Report by Chessdom.com
SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence), in cooperation with the Texas Tech University, have created a chess park for all chess enthusiasts at TTU. It is located between the Student Union Building and TTU Library which is the best possible spot on campus. Around 29,000 students + many thousands more faculty members and staff pass through this area each day. They can enjoy a game of chess or just kibitz and participate in the community.
In less than 2 years there are over 60 student chess players who have either enrolled, applied, or planning to attend the University. Half a dozen of these students are rated around 2500 and above! Susan Polgar shared with Chessdom, “We receive new inquiries every week. The program receives tremendous support in Lubbock, Texas and from Texas Tech University. Even the material, labor, and landscaping, etc., for the park itself cost around $100 000, and was donated by a local builder in Lubbock.”
The SPICE program officially started full time on September 2007. This year it will be hosting the third annual SPICE Cup, as part of the SPICE Cup Chess Festival, which will be at least category 16. This will break last year’s record as the highest rated International round robin invitational event in U.S. history, which was the category 15 SPICE Cup 2008. There will also be a SPICE Cup B group which will be around category 10-11.
Source: Chessdom.com
Congratulations! This is awesome!
No doubt, this is the way the new USCF will operate.
Go GM Polgar!