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NORWALK, Conn. Some of the country's top college students came to Norwalk this weekend to do battle over chess boards, and an underdog came out on top.
The first-ever Ivy League Chess Championship at the Chess Club of Fairfield County attracted players from Dartmouth, Columbia, Yale and Princeton. Although Yale was the favorite, Columbia came out on top of the two-day competition, having won all four of its matches.
Dartmouth, considered a dark horse with no master- or expert-rated players, came in second.
Club members found Sunday's final round exciting as Columbia's top player, Victor Shen, took on Yale's Grand Master Robert Hess. Although it was considered a mismatch, as the clock ticked down Shen wrested a small advantage from the seasoned grandmaster and converted it to a win.
Melvin Patrick, club director, felt the drama of the final round was a fitting end to the competition. He said in a statement: "It took months of planning and coordination to find the right timing for the tournament, and to have it all build to such a thrilling finish that's what competitive chess is all about."
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