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Tournament: 38th Varsity Match • Venue: St George's Chess Club, 2 Savile Row, London • Date: Monday 21 March 1910
Download PGN • List of Varsity Matches • Back to 1909 • Forward to 1911 • last edited:
Wednesday May 21, 2025 7:05 PM
The 38th Varsity Chess Match between Oxford University and Cambridge University was held at St George's Chess Club, 2 Savile Row, London, on Monday 21 March 1910.
| 1909« 1910 Varsity Chess Match »1911 | |||
| Bd | Oxford University1 | vs | Cambridge University |
| 1w | Reuben Lob (Worcester) | ½-½ | John Matthias Bee (St Catharine's) |
| 2b | Alexander Percival Waterfield (Christ Church) | 1-0 | Frederick Russell Hoare (Trinity) |
| 3w | Herbert Neville Bewley (Wadham) | 0-1 | Henry Evans Foster (Trinity) |
| 4b | Edward Henry McGrath (Christ Church) | 0-1 | Gilbert Henry Stevens (Caius) |
| 5w | Robert Wilbur Burgess (Lincoln) | ½-½ | Shah Muhammad Sulaiman (Christ's) |
| 6b | Alan Grant Macfarlane (Worcester) | ½-½ | Frederick Edmund Glanville Southwell (St Catharine's) |
| 7w | Benjamin Allen Bull (Jesus) | 0-1 | Frederick James Saunders (Christ's) |
| 2½-4½ | |||
Main sources: Oxford-Cambridge Chess Matches (1873-1987), (compiled by Jeremy Gaige, Philadelphia 1987); Sergeant, Philip W, A Century of Chess (London 1934, referred to in the text as PWS); The Field, 26 March 1910; BCM, April 1910, p142; Ancestry.com; FindMyPast.com; Who Was Who 1897-2007; Wikipedia. All seven games available in the download.
Notes:
1 The original team selection as reported in the Daily News of 16 March was to have been R Lob (Worcester), A P Waterfield (Christ Church), J G Rennie (New – "Reussie" is given), H N Bewley (Wadham), W S Mackie (Christ Church), E H McGrath (Christ Church), R Biske (Wadham).
The Field, 26 March 1910
"The thirty-eighth annual match between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge was played at the St. George's Chess Club, 2 Savile-row, Piccadllly, on Monday [21 March]. Although fixed for twelve o'clock noon, half an hour was consumed before the players took their seats. Oxford won the toss and took first move on the odd numbered boards which gave them four first moves to their opponents' three.
"The St. George’s Chess Club, famous In English chess history, keep up the tradition of the University match—the only link which connects them still with their glorious past. The hon. secretary, Mr C. F. U. West, shortened his stay in the Riviera for the purpose of this match.
"An interval for luncheon was allowed from 1.30 to three o’clock, and a shorter interval for the customary "five o'clock," so that when cease play was called at 1.30 three games were still unfinished, while the fourth was just given up as drawn on board No. 6 in an easy winning position for the Cantabs. No umpire having been appointed, since in later years tbe games were generally finished before time was called, Messrs Hoffer and Gunsberg adjudicated upon these games.
"General Lawrence MacGwire presided at the luncheon, and welcomed the teams in felicitous terms, Mr A. P. Waterfield (president, Oxford) replying on behalf of the Universities.
"It is a curious fact that all the games with the exception of Board No. 1 were irregular openings or defences—a sign of determination to fight. The early stage of the match was of more favourable augury for Oxford; but the aspect changed as play progressed, especially after the mishap on Board No. 3, when Bewley lost a game which was tacitly given as a certain victory tor Oxford, and this was by no means an isolated case, as will be seen below from a brief synopsis of the games.
"Oxford had two new men, Macfarlane and Bull, and, curiously enough, both had won games; but the former only drew, whilst Bull lost. Cambridge had three fresh men, Stevens, Suleiman, and Southwell, consequently the result of the match was an open question, although Oxford were the favourites, and it was expected that they would keep up their record of later years (since 1903 they have won four matches and drawn one), and this would have been the case if Lob, Bewley, and Bull had won their games when they had victory in hand. The Cantabs had only one mishap, whereby they lost half a point at Board No. 6.
Year-Book of Chess 1911, p175: "Cambridge won very easily, though Oxford were favourites at the start, and but for weak play should at any rate have fared better than they did."
BCM, April 1910, p142
"'Varsities Chess Week in London.—We append a brief summary of the results of the matches contested by the combined teams of the Universities in London last month. It is a matter for regret that the match against the House of Commons, and the contest against the American Universities were not played. The first is postponed, but the Cable Match is likely to be abandoned." [The University cable match was played on 23 April 1910 - US Universities 4½-1½ GB Universities]
1910 University Matches
| Date | Oxf/Cam | Score | Opponents | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday 14 March 1910 | Combined Universities | 2-6 | Athenaeum | 352 Strand, London |
| Tuesday 15 March 1910 | Combined Universities | 11-9 | Metropolitan | Mecca Cafe, 54 Gresham St, London |
| Wednesday 16 March 1910 | Combined Universities | 6½-13½ | City of London | London |
| Thursday 17 March 1910 | Combined Universities | 13-7 | Insurance CC | Old Jewry, London |
| Friday 18 March 1910 | Combined Universities | 8-12 | Sydenham | City of London CC |
| Saturday 19 March 1910 | Combined Universities | 6½-5½ | London University | Westminster Hospital, London |
| Monday 21 March 1910 | Cambridge University | 4½-2½ | Oxford University | St George's CC, 2 Savile Row |
| Wednesday 23 March 1910* | Combined Universities | 4½-3½ | St George's CC | 2 Savile Row, London |
| Thursday 24 March 1910* | Combined Universities | 6-4 | Ladies CC | 30A Sackville St, London |
* not absolutely certain of the dates of these matches - they may have been 22 March (St George's) & 23 March (Ladies CC). They were only reported in the Manchester Guardian, 25 March 1910.
File updated
| Date | Notes |
|---|---|
| 17 April 2022 | Original upload. Biographical details and match reports to be added later. |
| 21 May 2025 | Added reports and details of university week matches. |