Oxford University Chess Club - Varsity Match

Varsity Match

The annual Varsity Match against Cambridge University was originally suggested by Howard Staunton in 1853. It has been held annually since 1873 and is the oldest fixture on the chess calendar. Edwin Anthony, then President of the Club, and Wilhelm Steinitz were responsible for establishing the match.

With a twenty-year perspective on the matches, Henry Bird wrote that the greatest of the matches were the first two, held in 1873 and 1874 at the City of London Chess Club, City Restaurant (Perrott's), 34 Milk-street, Cheapside. The first match was said to have had 600 to 800 spectators and the second no fewer than 700, thought to be record attendance at any chess tournament up to that time. Each team consisted of seven players, and sand glasses were used to time some of the games at the limit of 20 moves per hour. Oxford won the first year, and Cambridge the second.

The 1874 match was attended by nearly every London chess luminary of the time, including Howard Staunton, Wilhelm Steinitz (officiated as an umpire), Johann Löwenthal, Bernhard Horwitz, Johannes Zuckertort, Henry Bird, Joseph Henry Blackburne, Cecil Valentine De Vere, George Alcock MacDonnell, Samuel Boden, Patrick Thomas Duffy, Adolf Zytogorski, John Wisker, and others. In addition to the university match the event included two exhibitions. Zuckertort played six blindfold games (+2−1=3) and Blackburne played a seven-board simultaneous exhibition with fresh opponents starting on the boards as the games finished for a total of 20 games (+17−3=0).

Oxford won the 2011 match, the 129th official contest, 4.5-3.5 to bring the overall score to Cambridge 66 Oxford 63.