www.britbase.info
© 1997-2024
John Saunders

 

BRITBASE - British Chess Game Archive

Tournament: 119th Varsity Match • Venue: RAC Club, Pall Mall, London • Date: 3 March 2001
Download PGNList of Varsity Matches • Back to 2000 • Forward to 2002 • updated: Monday February 19, 2024 7:09 PM

John Saunders reports: The 119th Varsity Chess Match between Oxford University and Cambridge University was held at the RAC Club, Pall Mall, London on 3 March 2001. The match sponsors were Tony Buzan, the Buzan Group and Henry Mutkin. Match arbiters were IM Bob Wade - the 50th anniversary of his first time as officiator - and David Sedgwick.

2000«     2001 Varsity Chess Match     »2002
Bd Oxford University Rating Nat 2001 Cambridge University Rating Nat
1b Kieran Smallbone (New) 2147 ENG 0-1 Karl Mah (Pembroke) 2404m ENG
2w Joel Eklund (University) 2130 SWE 1-0 Jack Rudd (Girton) 2178 ENG
3b Melanie Buckley (St Hilda's) 2114 ENG 0-1 James Vigus (Clare) 2281f ENG
4w Shashi Jayakumar (Balliol) (2104) SIN ½-½ Eddie Dearing (Peterhouse) 2274 SCO
5b Tim Chesters (Balliol) (2096) ENG 0-1 David Moskovic (Queens') 2252 ENG
6w Oliver Rosten (Somerville) 2050e ENG ½-½ Joe Conlon (Christ's) 2170 ENG
7b Heather Lang (St Anne's) 2058 SCO 0-1 Nathan Alfred (King's) 2208 ENG
8w James Clifford (New) (1888) ENG ½-½ Iva Anguelov (St Catharine's) 2062 ENG
  Av. Rating 2073.2     2½-5½ Av. Rating 2228.6    

Ratings in brackets are derived from national (BCF) grades.

This match marked two milestones: the 90th anniversary of the host venue's RAC Chess Circle and the 50th anniversary since IM Bob Wade shared arbiter's duties at the match.

Oxford were outrated on every board, but put up a spirited fight. Grandmaster onlookers felt that a score of 4-4 had been a probability until the final phase of play. The last games to finish were boards 3 and 7 where Oxford's two women competitors succumbed after a hard fight, to leave Cambridge victors by the slightly flattering margin of 5½-2½. Cambridge now leads the overall series by four wins.


File Updated

Date Notes
March 2001 First uploaded.

© 2001 John Saunders, all photos and text - not to be used without permission