History of the Varsity Chess Match

Howard Staunton

The idea of a regular chess match between Oxford and Cambridge Universities was first suggested in 1853 by Howard Staunton.

In 1871 the Oxford University Chess Club challenged Cambridge to a match but at that time, the Cambridge Club was only for dons, who refused the challenge from the undergraduates. Not until 28 March 1873 did the first official over-the-board Varsity Match take place at the City of London Chess Club. Since then it has been the oldest continuous fixture in the chess calendar, interrupted only by the war years. The winning team is awarded, to hold for a year, a handsome gold cup presented in 1953 by Miss Margaret Pugh.

A women’s board was introduced in 1978 to determine the result in the event of a drawn match. However, since 1982 the matches have comprised eight boards with at least one female player in each team, the board ranking being determined solely by playing strength.

To emphasise the undergraduate nature of the competition, all players must be resident bona fide students of the universities with at least three members of each team studying for a first degree.

In the 20th century it is remarkable how many British Champions had played in the Varsity Match. In addition to those named below, Henry Atkins, William Winter, Alan Phillips and Hugh Alexander played for Cambridge and Leonard Barden and Peter Lee played for Oxford. A feature of recent years has been the increasingly international nature of the teams.

Looking at the history of the match, Cambridge retained the lead in the series until 1956 when Oxford won 4–3, Henry Mutkin winning on board three for Oxford. Then Oxford went ahead until 1970 when Cambridge, inspired by the presence of Raymond Keene and Bill Hartston, began a remarkable run of 11 straight victories. In their wake came a procession of first-class Cambridge players including Welsh champions Howard Williams and John Cooper, GMs Michael Stean and Jonathan Mestel and IMs Paul Littlewood and Shaun Taulbut. Although Oxford had its stars (GMs Jon Speelman, John Nunn and Peter Markland together with IMs Andrew Whiteley and George Botterill), Cambridge had greater strength in the lower boards.

However in 1981 the tide turned and Oxford, with GMs William Watson, Jonathan Levitt, Colin McNab, David Norwood, Peter Wells, James Howell and Dharshan Kumaran and IMs David Goodman, David Cummings, Ken Regan, Geoff Lawton and Stuart Rachels, achieved a run of eight consecutive victories and eventually regaining the lead.

In 1995 Cambridge squared the series again and subsequently moved ahead, despite Oxford fielding GM Luke McShane on board one in 2004 and 2005.

In the 2019 match the Chinese GM and four-times Women’s World Chess Champion Hou Yifan played for Oxford on board one. She is a chess prodigy and the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of Grand Master and the youngest ever to win the Women’s World Chess Championship.

In 2022 Harry Grieve pipped Matthew Wadsworth, both of whom played in the 140th Cambridge Varsity Team, to become British Champion.

In 1973 the event was held for the first time at the clubhouse of the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall, London for the Centenary match. By invitation of the Royal Automobile Club Chess Circle Committee, the match has been played at this ideal venue every year since 1978.

Margaret Pugh

Margaret Pugh was the eldest daughter in the large family of Charles Pugh, a Birmingham businessman. Born in 1871, Margaret was at King Edward VI High School for Girls from its foundation in 1883 until 1889. Margaret fostered a great interest in chess and debating, offering cups and trophies for the most able in her school.

In her private life Margaret was well known for her thoughts on women’s suffrage, politics, the stock market and local government. She was one of the first two women to sit on the City Council and she was the second woman in Birmingham to drive a car (her sister being the first).

The trophy was donated in 1953 on the 80th Anniversary of the Oxford and Cambridge University Varsity match. Margaret donated fifty challenge cups to foster chess among junior and university students of both sexes and yet she remains virtually unknown in the chess world.