The annual Varsity Match between Oxford and Cambridge ended in a surprisingly narrow victory for the dark blues. Their team was led by the former women’s world champion Hou Yifan from China, and the rating difference on virtually every board was massively in favour of Oxford. Cambridge put up a stout fight and it was only a series of misjudgments by Cambridge board six, Peter Finn, in the tense last game to finish, which converted a drawn match (or even a win for Cambridge) into a loss. This was one of those times when defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory.
Oxford 4½ Cambridge 3½
1 Hou Yifan (St Hilda’s)–Matthew Wadsworth (Queens) ½-½; 2 Isaac Sanders (Christ Church)–Ryan Rhys Griffiths (Wolfson) 1-0; 3 Lisa Schut (Jesus)–Conor Murphy (Christs) ½-½; Joris Gerlagh (University, capt)–Gwilym Price (Clare) 0-1; 5 Benjamin Foo (Magdalen)–Gustavo Cazares (Selwyn) 0-1; 6 Daniel Abbas (Magdalen)–Peter Finn (Girton) 1-0; 7 Gordon Scott (Merton)–James Cole (Downing, capt.) ½-½; 8 Filip Mihov (Balliol)–Naomi Wei (Trinity) 1-0
The following game won the best game prize.
Griffiths-Sanders: Varsity Match, RAC, 2019; English Opening
1 c4 c5 2 g3 f5 An unusual idea, based on a game from the 1958 World Championship match between Botvinnik and Smyslov. 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 d4 cxd4 5 Nxd4 g6 6 Bg2 Bg7 7 0-0 0-0 8 Nc3 Nc6 9 Nc2 d6 10 Rb1 Rb8 11 b3 Bd7 12 Bb2 a6 13 Nd5 b5 14 cxb5 axb5 15 Nxf6+ Bxf6 16 Bxf6 Rxf6 17 Nd4 This leads to too much simplification. 17 Qd2 followed by Ne3 kept an advantage. 17 … Qb6 18 Bd5+ Kg7 19 Nxc6 Bxc6 20 Bxc6 Qxc6 21 Qd4 Qb6 22 Qxb6 Rxb6 (see diagram 1) The game appears to be heading for sterile equality but Black has a slight plus in that he may one day be able to activate the central pawns.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in