Ray Robson Wins Dallas Invitational
The UT Dallas Grandmaster Invitational ran from 10-16 March, and was underwritten by Turner Construction Company.
Five players from University of Texas at Dallas (3 GMs and 2 IMs) clashed with five visiting Grandmasters (the 'Turner' team) in a 10-player Scheveningen format event.
The Turner team won the team match by a score of 29½-20½ and 17-year old star Ray Robson took first place overall with an individual score of 7/10 points.
The individual scores:
| Name | Nat | Pts | Team | Elo | TPR | |
| 1 | GM Robson, Ray | USA | 7.0 | Turner | 2606 | 2669 |
| 2= | GM Kacheishvili, Giorgi | GEO | 6.0 | Turner | 2612 | 2592 |
| 2= | GM Lenderman, Aleksandr | USA | 6.0 | Turner | 2581 | 2592 |
| 4= | GM Leon Hoyos, Manuel | MEX | 5.5 | Turner | 2569 | 2556 |
| 4= | GM Iotov, Valentin | BUL | 5.5 | UT Dallas | 2560 | 2621 |
| 6= | GM Panchanathan, Magesh | IND | 5.0 | Turner | 2557 | 2520 |
| 6= | IM Holt, Conrad | USA | 5.0 | UT Dallas | 2499 | 2585 |
| 8 | GM Sadorra, Julio Catalino | PHI | 4.0 | UT Dallas | 2525 | 2513 |
| 9= | GM Chirila, Ioan-Cristian | ROU | 3.0 | UT Dallas | 2539 | 2436 |
| 9= | IM Pavlovic, Milos M | SRB | 3.0 | UT Dallas | 2478 | 2436 |
IM Conrad Holt is now a GM-elect after completing his final GM norm in the tournament. Congratulations to the Thunderholt! (see blog by GM Sam Shankland here).
Ray Robson at the start of his first game with Ioan-Cristian Chirila
UT Dallas (left to right): Pavlovic, Sadorra, Iotov, Holt, Chirila
The Turner team (left to right): Lenderman, Robson, Kacheishvili, Panchanthan, Hoyos
Pictures from the UT Dallas website.
