SLU Chess Wins Third Consecutive Collegiate Chess League Title
03/28/2024
For the third straight season, Saint Louis University’s chess team won the Collegiate Chess League (CCL) title.
SLU beat Webster University in the title match on Sunday, March 24, to claim the 2024 spring title. The win continued the Billikens’ run of success in CCL action after SLU swept the 2023 season by winning both the spring and fall titles.
Photo by Sarah Conroy.
The CCL is the premier online chess competition for college students. The spring season began in January. SLU cruised through the tournament and advanced to the semifinals.
In the semifinals, the Billikens faced off with the University of Missouri. SLU pulled off a narrow 9-7 win to make the finals. In the final round, SLU dominated. The team, comprised of Nikolas Theodorou, Benjamin Bok, Robby Kevlishvili, and Dambasuren Batsuren, easily dispatched Webster 12.0-4.0 in the finals.
“This was a very tough season, we defeated Mizzou in the semifinals, and then in the finals, we played absolutely brilliantly and defeated the very strong Webster team,” said Head coach Varuzhan Akobian. “We won our match against Webster with one round to spare.”
Akobian said the victory was special because it was the last CCL action for two key members of the squad.
"We were very happy for our convincing victory — especially since Grandmasters Benjamin Bok and Nikolas Theodorous are graduating this May,” he said. “They have been absolutely tremendous and instrumental in helping SLU win many titles during their six years here at SLU."
Latest Newslink
- With $5 Million HRSA Geriatrics Grant, SLU Prepares Workforce to Care for Older AdultsA new grant will extend 30 years of geriatrics-related funding to Saint Louis University clinicians and researchers.
- SLU History Professor Receives Fulbright Specialist Award to Create Digital Tool Focusing on Gaelic IrelandThomas Finan, Ph.D., associate professor of history at Saint Louis University, has received a Fulbright Specialist Award. He will work with colleagues at the University of Galway to create a joint database of archaeological and historical research focusing on Gaelic Ireland.
- Don't Let that Cookie Crumble: SSE Teams Build, Test Gingerbread HousesTeams of students, faculty and staff in Saint Louis University's School of Science and Engineering recently put their engineering skills to work for a December Innovation Challenge. The teams built gingerbread houses designed to stand up during a weight-loading competition.
- Dr. Edward J. Feser Named 34th President of Saint Louis UniversityFeser, a Roman Catholic, Jesuit-educated leader in higher education, will assume the SLU presidency on July 1, 2025. Feser currently serves as the provost and executive vice president of Oregon State University (OSU), a land-grant institution with more than 38,000 students, a $1.8 billion budget and $480 million annually in externally funded research.
- SLU's Newest Alums Cheered at Commencement CeremonySaturday morning, hundreds of students walked across the stage at Chaifetz Arena and joined the Billiken alumni family. Saint Louis University celebrated its Midyear Commencement on Saturday, Dec. 14, In front of a packed crowd of family members, friends, and loved ones. Those in attendance and watching at home saw the newest graduates of SLU celebrated.
- Amy E. Wright Receives Honorable Mention for MLA's Katherine Singer Kovacs PrizeSaint Louis University's Amy E. Wright, Ph.D., received an honorable mention from the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) for the Katherine Singer Kovacs Prize for an outstanding book published in English or Spanish in the field of Latin American and Spanish literature and cultures. Wright, a professor of Hispanic Studies at SLU, received the honor for her book Serial Mexico: Storytelling across Media, from Nationhood to Now, published in 2023 by Vanderbilt University Press.
