Gut Check.

UTD Places Second at National College Chess Championships.

Just a quick follow-up to Mikel Galicia's feature from last week on the University of Texas at Dallas chess team, which this past weekend flew off to Washington, D.C. to compete in the national college chess championships: The Comets placed second in the “other Final Four,” or as it's more formally known, the President's Cup.

The tournament's top seed, Missouri's Webster University — a team new to the competition this year after the entire Texas Tech University team followed their coach to form the school's program — took home the title, beating UTD in the finals.

“We played our best, but fell short,” UTD chess program director Jim Stallings says in a statement about the loss. “All in all, it was a very successful season for our players. I'm very proud of the team and all the work it took to play at such a high level.”

That's a fair response. UTD's program, after all, remains a powerhouse, having reached the President's Cup every year since its inception in 2001.

“That's the way of college chess,” Stallings' statement continues. “It's anybody’s game. But, we'll be here next year. We're not going anywhere.”

Swag? Swag.