Contact: Nicole Ruediger, Communications Manager email: nruedige@umbc.edu phone: 410-455-5791 The UMBC chess team heads into the 2012 President’s Cup later this week. The competition known informally as the Final Four, will be held March 30 to April 1 in Herndon, Va., at the Westin Dulles Hotel. Teams qualified for the match back in December, during the 2011 Pan-Am Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship. UMBC came in second with 5 points, behind the University of Texas at Dallas (six points) and ahead of Texas Tech and New York University (with 4.5 points each). All four teams advanced to the Final Four. Since 2001, when the Final Four began, UMBC has captured the title six out of eleven times, but came in fourth last year when one of their key players was battling illness. "The teams this year are closely matched,” says Alan Sherman, UMBC chess director. UMBC’s team will be led by Leonid Kritz, an International Grandmaster from Germany. Giorgi Margvelashvili, an International Grandmaster from the Republic of Georgia, will play on the second board. Sasha Kaplan, an International Master from Israel, will play on the third board. Sabina Foisor, an International Woman Grandmaster from Romania, will play on the fourth board. “It will definitely be a difficult competition,” says Sabina Foisor, “as four of the best universities in the country will compete against each other in the fight for the President’s cup.” Foisor, who is no stranger to competition, is a member of the U.S. Women’s Olympic Team and was a finalist in the U.S. Women’s Chess Championship in 2011. The players, all on chess scholarships at UMBC, not only have exceptional chess skills, but also sport strong academic records. UMBC requires students to maintain a 3.0 GPA to maintain chess scholarships. For more information on the UMBC team, contact Alan T. Sherman, director, UMBC Chess Program at 410-963-4779 or sherman@umbc.edu. The UMBC Final 4 Team – Average Rating USCF 2519 Board 1: GM Leonid "Chief" Kritz (USCF 2659, FIDE 2611) • Germany • World Champion under 16 years, Spain 1999. • Best performance 2748, Holland 2007. • Participant in 2004 FIDE World Championship in Libya • Senior majoring in financial economics Board 2: GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (USCF 2577, FIDE 2547) • Republic of Georgia • Enjoys Soccer • 8th Place, World Junior Championship, 2009 • 1st Place, European Championship Under 14, 2004 • Sophomore majoring in financial economics Board 3: IM Sasha Kaplan (USCF 2440, FIDE 2405) • Israel • Enjoys music, soccer and tennis • Israel Junior champion under 20, 2007 • Israeli Army champion, 2008 • Second place, Herzeliya International Round Robin • Junior majoring in mathematics Board 4: WGM Sabina “Sunshine” Foisor (USCF 2402, FIDE 2361) • Member USA Olympic team • Finalist of the USA Women Chess Championships • Enjoys music, football, tennis and linguistic. • Senior majoring in modern languages and linguistics Alternate 1: LM Adithya Balasubramanian, (USCF 2357, FIDE 2233) Alternate 2: Benjamin Krause, (USCF 2258, FIDE 2209) Dr. Alan T. Sherman, Director GM Sam Palatnik, Associate Director Igor Epshteyn, Coach About the University of Maryland, Baltimore County UMBC combines the emphasis on teaching found at the best liberal arts colleges with the innovation of a research university. The university’s 13,000 students come from more than 150 countries and take full advantage of the educational, business, cultural and recreational resources of Baltimore and Washington, D.C. The Carnegie Foundation ranks UMBC in the category of universities with high research activity. UMBC is a member of the University System of Maryland and is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. To learn more, visit www.umbc.edu/innovate. About Booz Allen Hamilton Booz Allen Hamilton is proud to again sponsor the 2012 President’s Cup. The firm invites eligible final four team players, who include some of the world’s top strategic thinkers, to apply for summer internships at the firm. Booz Allen Hamilton is a leading provider of management and technology consulting services to the US government in defense, intelligence, and civil markets, and to major corporations, institutions, and not-for-profit organizations. To learn more, visit www.boozallen.com. (NYSE: BAH)