UMBC's Chess Team Fails To Qualify For The Final Four

CATONSVILLE, Md. (AP) -- The University of Maryland Baltimore County's chess team isn't going to the Final Four for the first time in 16 years.

The Washington Post reports UMBC finished 10th on Wednesday at the Pan-Am Intercollegiate Team Chess Championships, the tournament that produces the top four U.S. college teams.

The teams moving on are Webster University in St. Louis, Texas Tech, Columbia University and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

UMBC chess program director Alan T. Sherman built the program from scratch in the early 1990s, offering scholarships to players from around the world. Soon, other schools began doing the same -- including Webster, who Sherman says outspent UMBC 4 to 1 on chess this year.

UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski issued a statement saying the school "takes great pride in the team's academic and chess achievements."

(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)