The President's Cup (informally known as the Final Four of College Chess) determines the U.S. college team chess champion. Hosted in part by the United States Chess Federation (USCF), the President's Cup is an annual invitational team championship, open to the top four U.S. schools from the most recent Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship (Pan-Am). It is run as a fixed-roster team round-robin tournament, scored by individual (not team) points. The President's Cup usually takes place in early Spring.
History The President's Cup has taken place each year in various locations since it was founded in 2001 by Dr. Tim Redman with the financial support of University of Texas at Dallas president Dr. Franklyn Jenifer. Since 2011, the President's Cup has been sponsored in part by Booz Allen Hamilton. The event in 2020 was to be held in April but was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Final Four teams that qualified that year were Texas Tech, University of Texas at Dallas, Webster University, and Saint Louis University.
Rules The governing body for the President's Cup is the College Chess Committee (CCC) of the USCF. The event is rated by the USCF and the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and played under the FIDE Laws of Chess. The CCC has established eligibility requirements for college chess, which apply to both the Pan-American Intercollegiate Championship and the President's Cup.
Each team comprises four players and up to two alternates from the same school campus. The official rules state: "The President's Cup is a Team Round Robin scored by total individual points. In the event of a tie, the teams are declared Co-champions."
In cases where two or more teams finish with the same number of individual game points, they are officially recognized as co-champions. A tiebreak system is used only to determine which co-champion team is awarded the physical President's Cup trophy. This procedure does not affect the official designation of champions, which is based solely on total individual points.
Significance The winner of the President's Cup is considered the top chess team among U.S. post-secondary schools (colleges, universities, community colleges). By contrast, the Pan-Am determines the top post-secondary school in North American, Central America, South America, or the Caribbean. The winning school takes possession of the perpetual trophy, created in 2008 using funds from Sun Trust Bank, for one year.
Winners and venues Year Location 1st place 2nd place 3rd place 4th place Host Organizer / Chief TD 2001 Richardson, TX University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) University of California, Berkeley Stanford University UTD Redman / Salinas 2002 Miami, FL UTD UMBC Stanford Harvard University Chess Hall of Fame Lawrence / Camaratta 2003 Miami, FL UMBC UTD Miami Dade College University of Chicago Chess Hall of Fame Lawrence / Gerzadowicz 2004 Lindsborg, KS UMBC UTD Miami Dade MIT Karpov School of Chess Korenman / Bowman 2005 Lindsborg, KS UMBC UTD Miami Dade Stanford Karpov School of Chess Korenman / Bowman 2006 Richardson, TX UMBC UTD Miami Dade Duke UTD Stallings / Guadalupe 2007 Richardson, TX UTD UMBC Miami Dade Duke UTD Stallings / Snead 2008 Baltimore, MD UTD UMBC Miami Dade New York University (NYU) UMBC Sherman / Atkins 2009 Richardson, TX UMBC UTD University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB, now UTRGV) Stanford UTD Stallings / Haskel 2010 Brownsville, TX UMBC UTB (now UTRGV) Texas Tech University (TTU) UTD Brownsville Harwood / Berry 2011 Herndon, VA Texas Tech UTD UTB (now UTRGV) UMBC Booz Allen Hamilton Herman / Hoffpauir 2012 Herndon, VA Texas Tech UMBC & UTD (tie) UMBC & UTD (tie) NYU Booz Allen Hamilton Herman / Hoffpauir 2013 Rockville, MD Webster University (Webster)UTD UMBC University of Illinois Booz Allen Hamilton Herman / Hoffpauir 2014 New York, NY Webster UMBC TTU University of Illinois New York Athletic Club Booz Allen, Herman, Sifer / Hoffpauir 2015 New York, NY Webster UTD TTU UMBC New York Athletic Club Booz Allen, Herman / Hoffpauir 2016 New York, NY Webster University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Texas Tech Columbia University Marshall Chess Club Two Sigma, Booz Allen, Herman / Hoffpauir 2017 New York, NY Webster TTU St. Louis University (SLU) UTD Marshall Chess Club Two Sigma, Booz Allen, Herman / Garcia 2018 New York, NY UTRGV Webster TTU SLU Marshall Chess Club Two Sigma, Booz Allen, Herman / Garcia 2019 New York, NY UTRGV Webster UTD Harvard University Marshall Chess Club Two Sigma, Booz Allen, Herman / Garcia 2021 Online UTRGV SLU Webster TTU Internet Chess Club US Chess / Langland 2022 Lubbock, TX SLU Webster UTD TTUTexas Tech University Onischuk / Bird 2023 Saint Louis, MO Webster SLU UTRGV University of Missouri (Mizzou) Webster University Liem Quang Le / Bird 2024 Richardson, TX Mizzou Webster UTRGV UTD UTD Steiner / Reed 2025 Richardson, TX Webster (co-champions) UTRGV (co-champions) SLU UTD UTD Sadorra / Reed2026Columbia, MOMizzouSLUUTRGVWebsterMizzou
Number of Wins School Wins YearWebster University (program discontinued in 2026) 7 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2023, 2025University of Maryland, Baltimore County 6 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 4 2018, 2019, 2021, 2025University of Texas at Dallas 4 2001, 2002, 2007, 2008University of Missouri (Mizzou) 2 2024, 2026Texas Tech University 2 2011, 2012Saint Louis University 1 2022
Bibliography Annual Reports of the USCF College Chess Committee Articles about the President's Cup published in Chess Life magazine
Program booklets from the President's Cup for some years.
References
External links College Chess
College Chess Eligibility Requirements at University of Texas at Dallas United States Chess Federation (USCF) International Chess Federation (FIDE)