One of the most dominant dynasties in college chess history won’t be coming back for the fall semester.
In a stunning development, St. Louis-based Webster University announced it was eliminating its storied chess program and cutting ties with the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) that had overseen the program’s unparalleled successes over the past 15 years.
SPICE founder GM Susan Polgar denounced the decision and (rightly) compared the move to the University of Alabama deciding to drop college football or Duke pulling out of NCAA basketball.
Just since 2012, the grandmaster-heavy Webster teams have racked up 10 Pan-American Intercollegiate Championships and captured the “Final Four” of American college chess seven times. Some of the country’s top young stars, including GMs Ray Robson and Awonder Liang, catapulted up the ratings charts while competing for Webster.
University officials in a statement blamed the financial drain of the program — including the cost of coaching, travel and tuition — and the lack of endowment funding for the decision, at a time when they said Webster faces operating losses and declining foreign enrollment. The school said it also faced new visa challenges trying to recruit the many foreign players who played for the team over the years.
“While we are proud of the team for all that they achieved, the university must focus on its primary mission of supporting educational programming,” university spokesman Patrick Giblin told St. Louis-based Spectrum News in a statement.
Polgar said in a statement on social media that she was blindsided by the school’s decision, calling it “the poorest handling of a major athletic program by a university president that I have ever witnessed.”
“If the university was truly struggling to finance the SPICE chess program, why did no one in the current administration … ever inform me of any problems or reach out for help? Furthermore, if Webster could no longer support the program, I should have been given sufficient time to relocate it elsewhere.”
Webster’s most recent chess triumph came just four months ago in Chicago, when the team won its latest — and presumably last — Pan-American Intercollegiate Championship. The win earned the school yet another berth in the college “Final Four” in March, but it was upset by the powerful team from the University of Missouri.
In the Chicago event, Indian GM Harsha Bharathakoti earned a critical point against Missouri GM Luka Budisavljevic to clinch a showdown Round 4 match. In an Open Catalan, Black appears to underestimate the long-term danger to his king when the g-file opens up after 13. Qd3 Bxf4!? gxf4.
White grabs more space on 17. Rg1 Kh8!? (Nd5 18. Bxd5 exd5 19. Qg3 Qf6 20. e4 leaves Harsha with just a small initiative) 18. e4 Nc5 19. Qe3 Na6 20. e5, when Black already has to be careful of dangerous lines like 20…Nd5?! 21. Bxd5 cxd5 22. Nb5 Nb4 23. Nd6! Nc2 24. Qg3 g6 (Nxa1?? 25. Qxg7 mate) 25. f5 exf5 26. Rac1 Nb4 27. Qf4 Kh7 28. 28. Rc3 with a powerful attack.
White presses forward with 21. f5!? exf5 22. d5!?, getting rewarded for his aggression on 22…cxd5?! (playing into White’s hands; stouter was 22…Nb4! 23. Rad1 cxd5 24. Nxd5 Nxd5 25. Bxd5 Qh4!, with counterchances) 23. Nxd5 Rg8? (and now 23…Nb4 was mandatory just to survive, although White is still calling the shots after 24. Qc5 Nc7 [Rg8 25. Nxb4 axb4 26. Qxb4 wins a pawn] 25. Nxc7 Rc8 26. Rac1 Nd3 27. Qc2 Nxc1 28. Rxc1) 24. Rad1, setting up a stylish finish while already threatening 25. Nf6 Qe7 26. Qxh6+ gxh6 27. Rxg8 mate.
Virtually every White attacker gets in on the mating party in the final assault: 25. Ne7 Qa7 (see diagram; 25…Rf8 would meet with the same response) 26. Rxg7!! Kxg7 (the other two captures also end in mate on 26…Nxg7 27. Qxh6 mate, and 26…Rxg7 27. Qxh6+ Rh7 28. Qf8 mate) 27. Nxf5+ Kg6 (Kf8 28. Qxh6+ Rg7 29. Rg1 b6 30. Qh8+ Rg8 31. Rxg8 mate) 28. Rd6+! f6 (also losing are 28…Kxf5 29. Qe4+ Kg5 30. h4 mate and 28…Nxd6 29. Qxh6+ Kxf5 30. Qf6 mate) 29. Rxf6+!, and Black has seen enough and resigns. His king will be hunted down after 29…Nxf6 30. Qxh6+ Kf7 31. Qxf6+ Ke8 32. Qe7 mate.
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At the other end of the age spectrum, another dynasty is ticking along nicely. Team USA captured its fourth consecutive gold medal at the FIDE World Senior 50+ Team Championship, held last month in Durres, Albania, edging the team from Italy on tiebreaks.
For good measure, a second American women’s 50+ squad took home its first-ever gold medal as the highest-scoring women’s team in the event.
GM Gregory Kaidanov was the U.S. team’s top scorer, going an undefeated 6-2, highlighted by a match-deciding win over English GM Mark Hebden in their Round 5 battle.
It’s a tight struggle in this Benko Gambit-like King’s Indian, with Kaidanov as White taking the calculated gamble with 19. Ra3 Rb6 20. Rae3!? to abandon his defense of the a-pawn to seek activity in the center.
The bet pays off when White secures a clear edge after 24. Rxe7 Qc2? (missing the stronger 24…Nxd5! 25. Re8+ Rxe8 26. Rxe8+ Kh7 27. Ne4 Rd7, when White’s best option may be to bail out with the draw after 28. Neg5+!? hxg5 29. Nxg5+ Kh6 30. Nxf7+ Kh7 31. Ng5+ Kh6 32. Nf7+, as Hebden dare not try 32…Kh5?? 33. Qe2+ Kxh4 34. Re4+ Nf4 35. g3+ Kh3 36. Qf1+ Kg4 37. f3+ Kxg3 {Kh5 38. g4+] 38. Qf2+ Kh3 39. Qh2 mate) 25. Re8+ Rxe8 26. Rxe8+ Kh7 27. Qxc2!? (Qf4 may be even stronger) Nxc2 28. Ne5 Bxe5 29. Rxe5, and Kaidanov is a pawn to the good and the Black rook is a poor blockader of the passed pawn.
One last Black misstep provides White a key inroad to victory: 34. Rc7 f5? (Nf4 first makes White’s job harder) 35. Rh7! (winning a key tempo with the threat of 36. Rh8+ and pinning the Black king to the back rank) Re8 36. Nf6 Re1+ 37. Kh2 Nxf2 38. Kg3 Rd1 (trying to save the knight loses to 38…Ne4+ 39. Nxe4 Rxe4 40. Rh8+ Kg7 41. d7) 39. Kxf2 Rxd6 40. Nd7+ Kg8 41. Re7 Rd2+ 42. Kf1, and, down a piece for a pawn, Black resigned.
Harsha-Budisavljevic, Webster A vs. University of Missouri A, 2026 Pan-American Intercollegiate Championships, Chicago, January 2026
1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bg5 Nbd7 11. Nc3 h6 12. Bf4 Bd6 13. Qd3 Bxf4 14. gxf4 a5 15. Kh1 Bxf3 16. Bxf3 c6 17. Rg1 Kh8 18. e4 Nc5 19. Qe3 Na6 20. e5 Ne8 21. f5 exf5 22. d5 cxd5 23. Nxd5 Rg8 24. Rad1 Qb8 25. Ne7 Qa7 26. Rxg7 Kxg7 27. Nxf5+ Kg6 28. Rd6+ f6 29. Rxf6+ Black resigns.
Kaidanov-Hebden, U.S. vs. England, FIDE Senior 50+ Team Championship, Durres, Albania, April 2026
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. h4 c5 7. d5 b5 8. cxb5 a6 9. a4 axb5 10. Bxb5 Ba6 11. Bxa6 Nxa6 12. Nf3 Nb4 13. O-O Qc8 14. Bg5 h6 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Qd2 Bg7 17. Nb5 Qd7 18. Rfe1 Rfb8 19. Ra3 Rb6 20. Rae3 Rxa4 21. Nc3 Ra8 22. e5 Qf5 23. exd6 Rxd6 24. Rxe7 Qc2 25. Re8+ Rxe8 26. Rxe8+ Kh7 27. Qxc2 Nxc2 28. Ne5 Bxe5 29. Rxe5 Nb4 30. Ne4 Rd8 31. d6 Nd3 32. Re7 Kg7 33. b3 Kf8 34. Rc7 f5 35. Rh7 Re8 36. Nf6 Re1+ 37. Kh2 Nxf2 38. Kg3 Rd1 39. Kxf2 Rxd6 40. Nd7+ Kg8 41. Re7 Rd2+ 42. Kf1 Black resigns.
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