RICHARDSON , Texas (Nov. 11, 2003) - Six players from The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), one of the nation's top college chess powers, will enter an expanded 2003 National K-12/Collegiate Championship to be conducted by the United States Chess Federation (USCF) in Rosemont, Ill., Dec. 12-14.

The tournament, which could draw a record 2,500 participants from across the country, will be held at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare and the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in the northwest Chicago suburb. The tournament attracted more than 2,100 players last year. The event will serve as a prelude to perhaps the premier college chess competition in the Western Hemisphere , the Pan Am Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship, to be held two weeks later in Miami .

In previous years, the USCF event, known as the National Scholastic K-12 Grade Chess Championship - or simply, National Grade - was limited to players in kindergarten through 12 th grade. This year, a collegiate section was added for the first time, and is open to anyone under the age of 26 as of Sept. 1 who is a full-time college student.

While the collegiate event is a competition among individuals, the top three scores of players from the same institution will serve as a team score as well.

"The expansion of the National Grade to include a collegiate section recognizes the growing popularity of the game among college students," said Dr. Tim Redman, a professor of literary studies and director of the UTD chess program.

Redman is a past president of USCF and currently serves as co-chair of the organization's Chess in Education Committee, as well as general secretary of the World Chess Federation's (FIDE) Chess in School Committee.

"The Chicago tournament will be another rigorous test against outstanding competition for the UTD participants - five of whom are masters, and I expect Evan Rosenberg to make master soon - and serve as an important tune-up for the Pan Am later in the month," Redman said.

The UTD players scheduled to take part in the USCF competition include:

• Daniel Fernandez , a freshman from Boca Raton , Fla. , majoring in economics.
• Michal Kujovic , a junior from Bratislava , Slovakia , majoring in mathematics.
• Ali Morshedi , a junior from Houston majoring in electrical engineering.
• Evan Rosenberg , a sophomore from New York City majoring in sociology.
• Dennis Rylander , a junior from Stockholm , Sweden , majoring in business administration.
• Andrei Zaremba , a senior from Dearborn , Mich. , majoring in electrical engineering.

In recent years, UTD has won several national championships in intercollegiate chess. Its team is perennially ranked among the top two in the U.S.

About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls about 13,700 students. The school's freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university's web site at www.utdallas.edu.