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Tournament: 114th Varsity Match • Venue: RAC Club, Pall Mall, London • Date: 2 March 1996
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Tuesday December 12, 2023 0:34 AM
The 114th Varsity Chess Match between Oxford University and Cambridge University was held at the RAC Club, Pall Mall, London on 2 March 1996. The match sponsors were Watson, Farley & Williams (sponsors since 1990). N.B. only game scores available are from boards 1 and 5 - if anyone is able to supply other games, I would be very grateful.
| 1995« 1996 Varsity Chess Match »1997 | |||||
| Bd | Oxford University | Rating | 1996 | Cambridge University | Rating |
| 1w | Dharshan Kumaran (Green) | 2495m | ½-½ | Jonathan Parker (Emmanuel) | 2480m |
| 2b | Maxim Devereaux (Brasenose) | (188) | ½-½ | Matthew Turner (Sidney Sussex) | 2405m |
| 3w | Joel Ouaknine (St Cross) | (191) | ½-½ | Mark Ferguson (Queens') | 2360 |
| 4b | Andreas Westphalen (St Peter's) | (185) | ½-½ | Demis Hassabis (Queens') | 2240 |
| 5w | Jeffrey Titmas (Lady Margaret Hall) | (176) | 0-1 | Aron Cohen (Queens') | 2255 |
| 6b | Alex Lewis (Brasenose) | 2150 | 0-1 | David Cristinacce (St Catharine's) | 2115 |
| 7w | Christopher Blake (Magdalen) | (184) | 0-1 | Daniel Rosenberg (King's) | 2200 |
| 8b | Susan Little (Lady Margaret Hall) | (139) | 1-0 | Emilia M Holland (Pembroke) | (156) |
| 3-5 | |||||
The winning Cambridge team was captained by Richard Little, brother of Oxford team member Susan Little who won her game against Emilia Holland and, with it, the best game prize for Oxford.
The Guardian, 16 March 1996: "More than one third of the UK’s 29 grandmasters are graduates from the annual Oxford v Cambridge match, often a barometer for British chess prospects. In the Seventies, Cambridge racked up 11 successive wins; in the Eighties, Oxford replied with eight in a row. The series began in 1873, watched by the world's then top players Steinitz and Zukertort, and has continued ever since, with wartime breaks. Remarkably, the scores before this month’s renewal were exactly level, at 48 wins each with 17 draws. However, it looks as if Cambridge are set to run up another sequence. They won 6-2 in 1995 and 5-3 in the latest encounter, played as usual in the hospitable ambience of the RAC in Pall Mall and sponsored by the City solicitors Watson, Farley & Williams. Four of the UK’s best juniors were playing, Dharshan Kumaran with two GM norms on top board for Oxford, IMs Jonathan Parker and Matthew Turner and IM-elect Mark Ferguson for Cambridge. Oxford were heavily outgraded on every board except No 1 and did well to limit the margin of defeat."
© 2017 John Saunders, all photos and text - not to be used without permission