RICHARDSON, Texas (July 30, 2003) - A 19-year-old student at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), Magesh Chandran Panchanathan, has won the prestigious Asian Juniors Chess Tournament, which was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and concluded last weekend.

With the win, Panchanathan, a telecommunications engineering major from Madurai, India, received his first of the three grandmaster "norms" required to receive the rank of grandmaster, the top international title in chess, aside from world champion. To get such a norm, a competitor must achieve grandmaster-level scores during a top-level tournament. There currently are only 40 grandmasters in the United States.

Panchanathan, who is in his freshman year and is rated an international master, is the second UTD chess team member in recent months to receive his first grandmaster norm. Nineteen-year-old sophomore Dmitry Schneider, also an international master, won the Pan American Junior tournament in June to earn the distinction.

The Asian Juniors tournament was completed in 11 rounds, and Panchanathan took his win on a tie-breaker, ahead of India's Poobesh Anand and Prathmesh Mokal. All three players finished with eight points.

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 more than 13,000 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 http://www.utdallas.edu.