UMBC Checkmates MIT

Alan T. Sherman
Faculty Advisor, UMBC Chess Club
November 14, 1995

On Saturday, November 11, The University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) overwhelmingly defeated the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in a six-board intercollegiate chess match. Spectators throughout the world watched the action live, as moves were broadcast over the internet on the Internet Chess Club (ICC).

The four-hour showdown began at high noon at the MIT Student Center in Cambridge, MA. Given that both schools care more about academic achievement than about football or basketball, chess--the ultimate intellectual sport--is a matter of significant pride. Both universities share a special interest in science and technology.

The match coincided with UMBC's ``Mind Fest''--a celebration of the opening of the new library tower at UMBC. Visitors in UMBC's Albin O. Kuhn Library watched a graphical display of selected games in progress, as I entered the moves from a workstation at MIT. Throughout the match, internet spectators kibitzed on the positions by typing messages over the ICC.

MIT confidently fielded a strong team led by National Masters Geoffrey Gelman (2281), Christopher Vonkrogh (2268), and Matt Hastings (2213), supported by chess experts Kimani Stancil (2121) and Eric Allen (2010), and Dennis Ruhl (1630).

Nevertheless, UMBC outgunned MIT on most boards with International Grandmaster Ilya Smirin (2730 est.); Senior Master William Morrison (2535); chess experts Ishan Weerakoon (2142), Derrick Longo (2087), and Bella Belegradek (2068); and Alexander Shinn (1956). In preparation for battle, the UMBC players practice every Saturday morning with UMBC Chess Coach Igor Ephsteyn of Belarus, an expert in the Russian system of chess training.

The first MIT king fell on Board 6, as Shinn crushed Ruhl with a kingside pawn storm. UMBC lost its only game on Board 3 when Hastings trapped Weerakoon's queen, after Weerakoon miscalculated the consequences of greedily capturing a sacrificed pawn. On Board 2, 1995 Maryland Chess Champion William Morrison (aptly known as ``the exterminator'') won a knight with a strong central initiative against passive defense. Meanwhile, on Board 5, Belegradek carefully nurtured a one-pawn advantage into an endgame victory.

On Board 1, Grandmaster Smirin--ranked 28th in the world--slowly and decisively strangled Gelman by restricting the scope of Gelman's pieces and penetrating with rooks along Smirin's open b-file. Midway into the game, using a cooking metaphor, an internet spectator described MIT's position as ``well done.'' See game.

The competition on Board 3 was particularly exciting because Kimani Stancil graduated from UMBC before beginning his Ph.D. studies in theoretical physics at MIT. Knowing that Stancil loves to attack, Longo held Stancil at bay by using the initiative of the white pieces to attack first. Flustered and losing concentration after Longo refused Stancil's draw offer, Stancil blundered in a position that was roughly equal but difficult to defend.

The final score: UMBC-5, MIT-1. In late December, the UMBC Team will travel to New York to compete in the Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Championship.

Support for UMBC's participation in the match was provided by the President's Office at UMBC.