Yeshiva University’s Chess Team Competes at 2025 Pan-American Collegiate Championship

Yeshiva University’s chess team competed in the 2025 Pan-American Collegiate Championship in North Carolina last month. This was the first time the university participated at an intercollegiate U.S. Chess Federation competition. 

The tournament had the colleges play in two sections which were according to each team's overall rating. YU sent one team to compete in the under 1800 rated section.

Yeshiva University's chess team was composed of four members. The captain was David Yagudayev (YC ‘25), the Wilf president of the chess club. The other members included National Master Bryan Weisz (YC ‘26), Daniel Hirsch (YC ‘25) and Rafael Saperstien (YC ‘25). 

“It was an absolutely surreal experience playing at the most prestigious intercollegiate chess stage and representing Yeshiva University at this college team tournament,” Yagudayev told The Commentator. “It took a lot of effort to organize this trip but in the end it was all worth it because of the lessons we learned and the memories we made.”

The tournament, which took place from Jan. 2 to Jan. 5, consisted of six total rounds. The team did not play during Shabbat and instead took two byes during those rounds. A bye is when a team or player does not play a round, and instead will receive a certain amount of points for that round. Each bye YU took was worth a half of a point. Since the YU team only resumed playing after Shabbat was over, they had 20 minutes left on their timers for the fifth round, while their opponents had an hour and half.

“Even though we sacrificed winning a match, it felt like we had won.” Hirsch told The Commentator. “We had a great Shabbat together and impressed the entire tournament with our religious commitment. A Shabbat I will never forget!”

Weisz was placed on board one, Yagudayev on board two, Hirsch on board three and Saperstein on board four. In the first round, YU competed against The Ohio State University and was defeated. However, in the second round, the team beat the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill D team. YU did not attend the third and fourth rounds since they took place on Shabbat. YU lost against the C team of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in the fifth round, but they beat the U.S. Air Force Academy’s A team in the final round.

YU tied for 18th place out of the 47 colleges teams in their section and scored 3.0 out of 6.0. Individually, Weisz scored the highest with 4.0 points out of 6.

“One of the most enjoyable parts of the tournament was anticipating which school we would face next.” Weisz (YC ‘26) told The Commentator. “Our most exciting matchup was definitely the final round against the U.S. Air Force Academy.”

The YU chess team was unable to qualify for the top small college award which is awarded to the top scoring team from a college with under 5,000 students. Due to Yeshiva University’s increased enrollment in recent years the university is no longer considered a small college in the context of this award. 

Grandmaster Semyon Lomosov (YC ‘24), former vice president of the YU chess club was also present at the tournament representing his graduate school, Stanford University. The YU team met up with Lomosov, but they did not play against each other in the actual competition.

The chess community at YU continues to grow. The chess club has over 100 members on campus groups and over 200 members on the chess group chat. Many students compete in intercollegiate tournaments. Last September, YU hosted an intercollegiate tournament with 10 colleges. In February, YU will compete at the 2025 World Amateur Team Tournament hosted by the New Jersey State Chess Federation.

Photo Caption: YU Chess team (left to right) Bryan Weisz (YC ‘26), Captain David Yagudayev (YC ‘25), Daniel Hirsch (YC ‘25) and Rafael Saperstien (YC ‘25) 

Photo Credit: David Yagudayev