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Event: (unofficial) Varsity Match • Venue: Oxford • Date: [day ? month ?] 1944 • last edited:
Monday March 18, 2024 11:29 AM
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This unofficial Varsity Chess Match between Oxford University and Cambridge University was held in Oxford on [day?] [month?] 1944. No game scores from this match are available, but there are three games from the Oxford University v Bletchley match played on 2 December 1944.
| 1939 (Official) 1942 (Unofficial)« 1944 (Unofficial) Varsity Chess Match »1945 (Unofficial) 1946 (Official) | |||
| Bd | Oxford University | 1944 | Cambridge University |
| 1 | Valentine Grieve (St John's) | ½-½ | Klaus Friedrich Roth (Jesus) |
| 2 | Anthony Maitland Spence (Trinity) | ½-½ | Leonard Charles Walters (St Catharine's) |
| 3 | John Ouvry Lindfield Roberts (Wadham) | 0-1 | Edwin Darnley Clements (St Catharine's) |
| 4 | Sohrab Ardeshir (Hertford) | 1-0 | Michael Barker Glauert (Trinity) |
| 5 | Christopher Taylor (Merton) | 0-1 | Leonid Mitlin (Emmanuel) |
| 6 | William Timothy Whiffen (St John's) | 1-0 | Christopher Anderson Webb (Jesus) |
| 7 | Adrian David Hugh Bivar (Corpus Christi) | ½-½ | David Russell Bland (Trinity) |
| 3½-3½ |
Sources: Oxford-Cambridge Chess Matches (1873-1987), compiled by Jeremy Gaige, Philadelphia 1987; BCM, April 1944, p87.
Notes
Venue: Oxford. Colours, openings not known.
[BCM, Apr 1944, p87] "The Inter-Varsity Chess match was played at Oxford this year, on seven boards, as usual. It was a very close match, and the result was a draw, the score being 3½-3½. The detailed scores were [as above - Grieve is shown as Oxford captain, Bivar the Oxford sec., Walters the Cambridge captain and Glauert the Cambridge sec.]. It is pleasant to be able to report the revival of this old-established fixture, which had lapsed for several years*. Mr. T. H. Tylor, of Balliol College, acted as referee and adjudicator for the match." [* only one year, in fact. There was no match in 1943 but unofficial matches were held in 1940, 1941 and 1942.]
Oxford University vs Bletchley, 2 December 1944
Later in the year Oxford University played a match against Bletchley Chess Club, which was actually a deliberate misnomer as the team was composed solely of Bletchley Park code-breakers.
It was reported in BCM (February 1945, p36) and CHESS Magazine. BCM: "the match was played on twelve boards, and took place on Saturday, December 2nd, at Oxford, in the Massey Room, Balliol College. The match began promptly at 2.30pm and ended at 6pm. Both side produced strong teams for the match, the University being strengthened by six senior members. The Bletchley team included C. H. O'D. Alexander, H. Golombek and Dr. J. M. Aitken, and the University side, T. H. Tylor, Dr. J. W. Cornforth and Dr. H. G. Schenk. The match produced many hard-fought games."
| Bd | Oxford University | 1944 | Bletchley |
| 1w | Theodore Henry Tylor (Balliol) | ½-½ | Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander |
| 2b | John Warcup Cornforth (St Catherine's) | 1-0 | Harry Golombek |
| 3w | Dr Hans Georg Schenk (Exeter) | 0-1 | Dr James Macrae Aitken |
| 4b | Sir Robert Robinson (Magdalen) | 0-1 | Irving John Good |
| 5w | Michael James Steuart Dewar (Balliol) | 0-1 | Nicholas Anthony Perkins |
| 6b | Dr Isaac Berenblum | 0-1 | Sgt Walter W Jacobs (US Army) |
| 7w | Valentine Grieve (St John's) | 1-0 | John Robert Gilbert |
| 8b | Robin Charles Oliver Matthews (Corpus Christi) | 0-1 | Malcolm Alfred Chamberlain |
| 9w | Sohrab Ardeshir (Hertford) | 1-0 | Peter John Hilton |
| 10b | John Ouvry Lindfield Roberts (Wadham) | 0-1 | William Robert Cox |
| 11w | Adrian David Hugh Bivar (Corpus Christi) | ½-½ | David Rees |
| 12b | Edward Chorley Crosfield (Balliol) | 0-1 | Lt. Arthur J Levenson (US Army) |
| 4-8 |
Photo of the participants in the Oxford University v Bletchley match, 2 December 1944
There are three extant games from the Oxford University vs Bletchley match:
Oxford University Team:
Theodore Henry Tylor - see Varsity match pen picture file
Sir John Warcup Cornforth - see Varsity match pen picture file
Hans Georg Artur Victor Schenk - see Varsity match pen picture file
Sir Robert Robinson - see Varsity match pen picture file
Michael James Steuart Dewar - see Varsity match pen picture file
Dr Isaac Berenblum - see Varsity match pen picture file
Valentine Grieve - see Varsity match pen picture file
Robert (Robin) Charles Oliver Matthews - see Varsity match pen picture file
Sohrab Ardeshir - see Varsity match pen picture file
John Ovry Lindfield Roberts - see Varsity match pen picture file
Adrian David Hugh Bivar - see Varsity match pen picture file
Edward Chorley Crosfield - see Varsity match pen picture file
Bletchley Team:
Conor Hugh O'Donel Alexander - see Varsity match pen picture file
Harry Golombek (1 March 1911 – 7 January 1995) - chessplayer, journalist, author, arbiter and FIDE official. Honorary grandmaster (1985). Wikipedia.
James Macrae Aitken - see Varsity match pen picture file
Irving John (Jack, "IJ") Good - see Varsity match pen picture file
Nicholas Anthony Perkins - see Varsity match pen picture file
Walter W Jacobs (26 September 1914 - 11 February 1982). Born Newark, New Jersey, USA. Educ. BS, mathematics, City College of New York, 1934; MA, mathematical statistics, George Washington University, 1940, PhD. mathematical statistics, George Washington University, 1951. "Jacobs' wartime activities saw him spend a short period at Bletchley Park in England, although the major recorded activity of that period was his playing chess on board six in a challenge of the Oxford University chess club by the Bletchley Park regulars, including Jack Good and Hugh Alexander. Following the war, Jacobs took on a series of administrative positions at the US Department of Commerce, the US Air Force, and the National Security Agency. After retiring from the NSA. Jacobs undertook an academic career at American University. Computer Pioneer.
John Robert Gilbert - see Varsity match pen picture file
Malcolm Alfred Chamberlain - see Varsity match pen picture file
Peter John Hilton - see Varsity match pen picture file
William Robert Cox - see Varsity match pen picture file
David Rees - see Varsity match pen picture file
Lt. Arthur J Levenson (15 February 1914 – 12 August 2007). Cryptographer, US Army officer and NSA official who worked on the Japanese J19 and the German Enigma codes. Born Brooklyn, New York, USA. Educ. B.S. in mathematics, City College, New York. Graduate work in mathematics at New York and Columbia universities. Post-war career with the National Security Agency; inducted into the NSA Hall of Honor in 2009. Wikipedia.
File Updated
| Date | Notes |
| 2018 | Uploaded for the first time |
| 17 November 2020 | Added some details found for Leonard Charles Walters. |
| 20 November 2020 | Added details, photo and some comments received from Leonard Barden, relating to the Oxford University vs Bletchley match, 2 December 1944. Games of the top three boards available in the game viewer. |
| 21 March 2021 | Moved most of the pen pictures to the Varsity match pen picture file. |