MSO Worldwide are pleased and proud to present live coverage of the Varisty Chess match from
the Royal Automobile Club in London. The annual contest between Oxford and Cambridge University
Chess Clubs is the oldest fixture on the chess calendar and this year's contest looks particularly
strong.
Oxford
Cambridge
Aleksandar Trifunovic
Board 1
Karl Mah
Ruth Sheldon
Board 2
Harriet Hunt
Benjamin Savage
Board 3
Brian Kelly (C)
Zhidas Daskalovski
Board 4
James Vigus
Joel Eklund
Board 5
David Moskovic
Timothy Chesters
Board 6
Joe Conlon
Shashi Jayakumar
Board 7
Nathan Alfred
Kieran Smallbone
Board 8
Rohan Chrum
Thomas Chamberlain (C)
Reserve
David Garner
Board by board
Board One
Oxford: Ruth Sheldon, 19, is studying English at Keble College.
She attended Parrs Wood High School.
Her BCF grading is 200 and her FIDE rating 2280.
Cambridge: Harriet Hunt, whose home town is Oxford (ouch!), is studying
plant sciences at St. John's College. Some of the highlights of her
career are a gold medal in the World Girls' Championship of 1997,
victory in the Oxford IM event at the end of 1998 and another gold
medal for being the best Board One in the European Women's Team
Championship in Batumi last December. She is currently the nineteenth
highest ranked lady in the world, British Ladies' Champion, a Woman
Grandmaster and an all-gender International Master with a BCF
grading of 229 and a FIDE rating of 2448. This is her third Varsity
Match.
Board One is particularly interesting due to being a game between
two of the three highest-rated ladies in Britain today; Ruth Sheldon
is third highest rated behind Susan Lalic and Harriet Hunt only.
Board Two
Oxford: Aleksandar Trifunovic, 20, is studying Mathematics at St. Anne's College.
He attended Acton High (1991-5) and Richmond College (1995-7).
His BCF grading is 200 and his FIDE rating 2260.
Cambridge: Karl Mah, from London, is studying History at Pembroke College.
The highlights of his chess career include victory in the European
under-14 championship of 1994 and a joint win in the World under-16
championship; these results, and others, have earned him a FIDE rating
of 2412 and the title of International Master. This is his second
Varsity Match.
Board Three
Oxford: Benjamin Savage, 23, is studying Mathematics at Lady Margaret Hall
and is the President of the Oxford University Chess Club.
He attended St. Albans.
His BCF grading is 186 and his FIDE rating 2160.
Cambridge: Brian Kelly, from Belfast, Northern Ireland, is the President of
the Cambridge University Chess Club. He won a Gold Medal as Ireland's
Board Six in the Moscow Olympiad of 1994 and followed that up by winning
the championship of Ireland the next year. 1998 was a particularly good
year for Brian; he played in his first Varsity Match, won the Cambridge
University championship and earned the title of International Master to
complement his FIDE rating of 2421 and his BCF grading of 229.
Cambridge's Brian Kelly has a particularly interesting record against
one of the commentators; you'll enjoy this game between him (playing White)
and Fritz 5. Brian's excuse is that it was after the Chess Club annual
dinner.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Ndb7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4
7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 Bb4 9.Qc2 b5 10.a4 Bb7 11.Kd2 Bxe4 12.Ke3 (taking an active part in it's own defence) Bxc2 13.Bxc7 Qxc7 14.d5 Nxd5+ 15.Kd4 Qb6# 0 - 1
Board Four
Oxford: Zhidas Daskalovski, 25, is studying for a Ph.D. in Political Science at St. Anthony's College.
He previously attended the Central European University.
His playing strength has been approximated at FIDE rating 2180 (BCF grading 195).
Cambridge: James Vigus, 21, from Beckenham, is reading English at Clare College,
having previously attended St. Dunstan's College, Catford.
The highlights of his chess career include a record 4 sucessive British
Junior Championship Titles, the under-21 championship of London four years ago,
two years' worth of experience as captain of the England under-18 team in the
Glorney Cup (the second year seeing victory!), a share of the Cambridge
University championship earlier in the year and a FIDE Master title to
accompany his rating of 2273 and his BCF grading of 221.
James has represented the BCF at cricket as an opening batsman. Conflicting
reports of his performance are "solid" and "incredibly boring... with
no shots."
Board Five
Oxford: Joel Eklund, 19, is studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics
at University College.
He hails from Sweden and attended Centralskolan, Svedala (1993-6) and Malmo
Borgarskola (1996-9).
His FIDE rating is approximately 2120.
Cambridge: David Moskovic, 20, from Bristol, is studying for an MSci in Physics
at Queens' College.
When James Vigus hasn't been winning the under-21 championship of London,
David has - with wins in 1995, 1998 and 1999. Also like James, David is
the joint champion of Cambridge University this year; he may be most
familiar to Mind Sports Olympiad attendees for winning a silver medal in
one of the 10-minute events last year ahead of several GMs. His first Varsity
Match was in 1998 and his BCF grading is 210.
David is also responsible for the inauguration of the annual limerick competition
at the celebration dinner after the 1998 match. Most of the limericks which
have been entered into it cannot be repeated here.
Board Six
Oxford: Timothy Chesters, 23, is studying Modern Languages at Balliol College.
He previously attended Hymers College, and his playing strength has been
approximated at FIDE rating 2150 (BCF grading 190).
Cambridge: Joe Conlon, from Reading, is studying natural sciences at
Christ's College. He has been British Champion of his age-group twice
(under 9s and under 11s) and also bas a FIDE rating of around 2150, with
a certified BCF of 202.
Board Seven
Oxford: Shashi Jayakumar, 26, is studying for a D.Phil in Medieval History at
Balliol College, having been an undergraduate at St. Hugh's College.
Shashi has a long association with the Varsity match, having been President
of the Oxford University Chess Club in 1996 and captain of the Varsity match
team one year later. Nowadays, his BCF grading is 183.
Cambridge: Nathan Alfred also has much in common with captain James Vigus. Nathan
too hails from Beckenham, Kent and has also had a spell as Under-21 champion
of London, winning it (and the under-18 championship also) in 1998. Nathan
has a variety of interests: chess, rent-striking (he is heavily involved in
student politics) and composing Latin elegiac poetry (as a classicist). What
a combination! In 1995, he was under-15 British Champion and in 1996, won the
under-16 title. 1999 saw him as co-champion of Cambridge University and also
a member of the varsity match team; having played chess since two and
tournament chess since eight, he measures up at 193 BCF and 2200 FIDE.
Board Eight
Oxford: Kieran Smallbone, 20, studies Mathematics at New College and is also
President of the Oxford University Chess Club this year. Between 1992 and 1998
he learned at Salesian College and has earned a BCF grading of 181 to go with
his FIDE rating of 2115.
Cambridge: Rohan Churm, from Swindon, is studying economics at
King's College. He doesn't just represent Cambridge at chess; he's also
the vice-captain of their second team for football and keen to avenge their
2-1 football defeat "due to a penalty that shouldn't have been given".
As a former joint winner of both of the British Under-18 and the Cambridge
University championships, FIDE rates Rohan at 2168 and the BCF have
assigned him a 189 grade.
The Reserves
Oxford: Thomas Chamberlain, 21, a student of Mathematics at Lady Margaret
Hall, is both captain and reserve of the team this year. His BCF grading
is 168.
Cambridge: David Garner, of Hinckley, is enjoying
studying mathematics at Peterhouse. He learned to play at the age of 6, and
rapidly developed. By the age of 11 he was established among the top
juniors, captaining the national side, winning the EPSCA National Quickplay
Championship and gaining a chess scholarship to Oakham. 1997 was also a good
year as he was the under-18 champion of Warwickshire and in the national team
which played in Italy. His BCF grading is 185 and his FIDE rating 2123.
David is also the resident Cambridge expert in Russian swear words; a
13-year-old Latvian prodigy taught him some choice ones in his most
recent tournament in the Czech Republic. Bloort!!
So, at first glance, Cambridge would seem to have the better chances with
higher-rated players on most of the boards. Perhaps the Oxford team can
defy their ratings? The Oxford second team and the Oxford freshers' team
both beat their Cantabrigian counterparts, so it's up to the first team to
make it a treble. The Cambridge team won last year to move two matches ahead
in the overall standings - only time will tell whether Cambridge can stretch
their lead further or whether Oxford can do this year's triple.
