Oxford win

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.)