MIAMI
DADE COLLEGE CHESS TEAM CAPTAIN ATTAINS REQUIREMENTS FOR HIGHEST CHESS RANK - GRANDMASTER
MIAMI, Oct. 5, 2007 – Equipped with a stoic demeanor and nerves of steel, Miami Dade College chess team captain Renier Gonzalez has made a living surprising the opposition.
But now the Cuban-born chess whiz, known for his shortly cropped hair and burly physique, is finally getting the recognition he deserves. Gonzalez, 34, achieved the final requirements for Grandmaster (GM) status, the highest rank a chess player can attain worldwide, during a tournament in Spain last month.
In November, the U.S. Chess Federation will make a formal request on Renier’s behalf to the World Chess Federation to grant him Grandmaster status. When it does, Renier will be one of only two GM’s residing in Florida and among 35 in the United States.
“We are very proud of [Renier],” said MDC chess team advisor, Dr. Rene Garcia. “He’s the first MDC student to achieve GM status. He’s earned it because no one has worked harder.”
The journey toward Grandmaster has been a long and rigorous one for Gonzalez, who started playing chess when he was 10. He has traveled extensively to find top-notch competition. His competitive spirit has taken him to destinations such as Spain, Cuba, Venezuela and Colombia as well as many cities throughout the U.S.
The requirements for becoming a GM are stringent and complicated. A player must achieve three “norms” – a process that requires the player to have a performance rating of at least a 2,600 in three tournaments – with at least three of the matches in each tournament being against other GM’s. In addition, the aspiring GM must achieve an Elo rating of 2,500 at least once in their career. Elo is the method used to calculate the skill level of combatants in two-player games.
“It’s a great experience,” Gonzalez said. “It’s like getting a doctorate in your field. It’s something I’m really proud of.”
Chess has always been a key component of Gonzalez’s life. He was part of Cuba’s famed National Team. In 1996, he was the highest rated chess player on the island. In December of 1999, he defected during a tournament in Colombia. He moved to the United States in 2001.
Gonzalez was the Florida State Champion in chess from 2002-2004 and helped catapult the MDC chess team into one of the elite programs in the country. The team has qualified for the Final Four chess tournament the past four years and their story has been chronicled by CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, ESPN and other prominent media outlets.
Gonzalez is co-owner of Professional Chess Services Inc., a company that organizes chess tournaments, teaches chess to people of all ages – with an emphasis on grade-school children – and sells chess equipment. He is slated to receive an Associate of Arts degree in Computer Science from MDC after the 2008 spring term. He hopes to stay at MDC as chess coach.
With his new found status in the chess arena as a soon-to-be Grandmaster, Gonzalez faces a new challenge: “Now more people will be gunning for him,” said Garcia.
For more information about Gonzalez go to: www.reniergonzalez.com
For more information, call: Rene Garcia (305) 237-3012.
Media contacts: Manolo Barco, 305-237-3081, mbarco@mdc.edu; Beverly C. Rodrigues, MDC director of media relations, 305-237-3949, brodrigu@mdc.edu or Juan Mendieta, MDC director of communications, 305-237-7611. Other MDC news releases are available on the web at <www.mdc.edu>.
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