BRITBASE - British Chess Game Archive
Tournament: 118th Varsity Match • Venue: RAC Club, Pall Mall, London • Date: 4 March 2000
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Monday February 19, 2024 7:08 PM
John Saunders reports: The 118th Varsity Chess Match between Oxford University and Cambridge University was held at the RAC Club, Pall Mall, London on 4 March 2000. The match sponsors were Tony Buzan and Henry Mutkin.
| 1999« 2000 Varsity Chess Match »2001 | |||||||
| Bd | Oxford University | Rating | Nat | 2000 | Cambridge University | Rating | Nat |
| 1b | Ruth Sheldon (Keble) | 2280wg | ENG | ½-½ | Harriet Hunt (St John's) | 2448m | ENG |
| 2w | Aleksandar Trifunovic (St Anne's) | 2260 | ENG | 0-1 | Karl Mah (Pembroke) | 2412m | ENG |
| 3b | Ben Savage (Lady Margaret Hall) | 2160 | ENG | ½-½ | Brian Kelly (Trinity) | 2421m | IRL |
| 4w | Zhidas Daskalovski (St Anthony's) | 2200e | MKD | ½-½ | James Vigus (Clare) | 2273f | ENG |
| 5b | Joel Eklund (University) | 2200e | SWE | 1-0 | David Moskovic (Queens') | 2247 | ENG |
| 6w | Tim Chesters (Balliol) | (2090) | ENG | ½-½ | Joe Conlon (Christ's) | (2215) | ENG |
| 7b | Shashi Jayakumar (Balliol) | (2065) | SIN | 0-1 | Nathan Alfred (King's) | 2200 | ENG |
| 8w | Kieran Smallbone (New) | 2115 | ENG | ½-½ | Rohan Churm (King's) | 2168 | ENG |
| Av. Rating 2171.2 approx. | 3½-4½ | Av. Rating 2298.0 approx | |||||
One very notable milestone: two women contested the top board for the first time. The team lists as originally submitted showed each of them on board two - it has been speculated that they both did so in order to avoid meeting the other - but, when it was found that they were facing each other anyway, they were both switched to the higher board, as was appropriate as the highest rated players of their teams.
For the first time in the match's history a live audio webcast commentary was provided, by GM Julian Hodgson for Mind Sports Worldwide, in an adjoining room. There were no further live commentaries on the match until 2017.
File Updated
| Date | Notes |
|---|---|
| March 2000 | First uploaded. |
© 2000 John Saunders, all photos and text - not to be used without permission