English Chess Forum

The 138th Varsity Match between Oxford and Cambridge Universities is being played at the moment at the RAC, London.

Live games at chess24: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 2020/1/1/1

Some more details and photos of the players at BritBase: http://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/pgn/202 ... iewer.html

Match Officials are Matthew Carr, David Sedgwick and Shohreh Bayat.

only just noticed this. Cambridge cruising, having almost lost no one from last year, unlike Oxford.

Cambridge 5.5 Oxford 2.5

A total of 5 English players in the match - a record low?

Andy Stoker wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 09, 2020 11:06 am

A total of 5 English players in the match - a record low?

I don't think the fact that our top universities attract talent from around the world should be seen as a bad thing. However, it is certainly possible to look at this match in a number of different ways. One could also say that 75% of the winning side hail from the British Isles.

Fair point, Matthew. As a (visiting) University lecturer, I certainly recognise the advantages of attracting foreign students and academics - and wait with much concern for the impact of Brexit to unwind.
I was not saying it was good or bad - we could also note:
8 players (50%) in the match from the British Isles
6 from the United Kingdom
11 different countries represented

It strikes me a being roughly normal for a Varsity match these days. Plus Daniel Gallagher withdrew due to illness, and I don't know whether he was replaced by a non-UK student.

The UCL team some years ago did not seem to hail substantially from UK. I wonder whether those familiar with BUCA might confirm whether this is a general trend among the (internationally) better known Universities?

Andy Stoker wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 09, 2020 4:29 pm

Fair point, Matthew. As a (visiting) University lecturer, I certainly recognise the advantages of attracting foreign students and academics - and wait with much concern for the impact of Brexit to unwind.
I was not saying it was good or bad - we could also note:
8 players (50%) in the match from the British Isles
6 from the United Kingdom
11 different countries represented

How does this work?

Andy Stoker wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 09, 2020 11:06 am

A total of 5 English players in the match - a record low?

The fewest English-registered players taking part in one of this series of matches was four in both 2011 and 2017. (Note - I have only checked back to the 1980s but I don't think there is any point in going back any further.) Players from overseas have taken part from the 1890s, with Rhodes scholars in particular featuring in many Oxford teams from the early 1900s. It is of course fundamental to the nature of a university to bring together scholars from far and wide, and this annual chess match has always reflected the fact. As self-appointed curator of Varsity chess records, I shall have to see if I can work out how many nationalities have been represented over the years when I get a moment. I'm sure it will be a large number. An example of an early overseas player: Sir Govind Dinanath Madgavkar (1871-1947), then at Balliol, played on top board for Oxford in 1892. He was from Bombay and after Oxford returned to India, going on to a distinguished career as a supreme court judge. (In this, his one and only Varsity match, he had the misfortune to be paired against the first seriously strong player to take part in this fixture, HE Atkins, and duly lost.)

Jonathan Rogers wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 09, 2020 5:12 pm

It strikes me a being roughly normal for a Varsity match these days. Plus Daniel Gallagher withdrew due to illness, and I don't know whether he was replaced by a non-UK student.

The Cambridge reserve player who stepped into the breach, Declan Shafi, is Scottish. Full results and photo-report are available here. And Leonard Barden's newly-published FT column on the Varsity match may be read here.

Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 09, 2020 5:49 pm

Andy Stoker wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 09, 2020 4:29 pm

Fair point, Matthew. As a (visiting) University lecturer, I certainly recognise the advantages of attracting foreign students and academics - and wait with much concern for the impact of Brexit to unwind.
I was not saying it was good or bad - we could also note:
8 players (50%) in the match from the British Isles
6 from the United Kingdom
11 different countries represented

How does this work?

Presumably two players from Ireland.

Ah yes, of course.