UTRGV Student Gleb Dudin Defeats World Chess Champion
· Telemundo McAllen (KTLM)
Senior student at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) and Grandmaster Gleb Dudin achieved a historic international victory by defeating the current world chess champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, during the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad held from September 15 to 27 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Dudin, who competed for the first time in this prestigious tournament representing Hungary, described the experience as a dream come true. After an intense 59-move game in the final round, the psychology student helped the Hungarian team secure a 2-2 tie against India. 'I was in a great position from the opening. I felt I had the advantage for most of the game,' Dudin said. His outstanding performance also earned him an individual gold medal, finishing with 8 points in 10 games and a performance rating of 2738. The success in chess was not a coincidence but the result of years of discipline. Bartek Macieja, head coach and director of the UTRGV chess team, highlighted the effort behind the achievement: 'Gleb has a very goal-oriented approach to achieving those great results and works very hard. So it's not like Gleb just woke up and defeated the world champion. Those were years of hard work to make it possible.' In the photo, Grandmaster Gleb Dudin (left) is seen with UTRGV head coach and chess team director Bartek Macieja (right). Courtesy: UTRGV. Dudin started playing at the age of 8 with his grandfather and joined UTRGV in 2023 after receiving a sports scholarship. Now back on campus, the team captain is focusing his goals on upcoming competitions, preparing with his teammates for the Texas Collegiate Super Finals 2026, which will take place from October 17 to 18 at the Student Union on the Brownsville campus.
AI summary · Source: Telemundo McAllen (KTLM) →
