DOWNTOWN MIAMI, Fla. -- DOWNTOWN MIAMI, Fla. -- The Miami Dade College chess team beat Harvard University's team last weekend, advancing the squad to the final round of the Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Tournament.

Captain and International Master Renier Gonzalez said that this is the fifth consecutive year that the MDC team has made it to the final four.

"Our youngest player, probably our most inexperienced player had the whole thing in his hands," Rene Garcia, the team's coach, said. "He was able to pull it through after making a great move. He made the other player think for 36 minutes."

The team considers the event the World Series of college chess and will be competing in Dallas with chess clubs from the University of Texas, University of Maryland and Duke University on March 24.

The competition began with 24 teams in a four-day session in Washington, D.C.

MDC's chess team includes Gonzalez, Charles Galofre, Liulia Cardona and Javier Gonzalez.