Last-minute tie at the Varsity Chess Match
Photographer credit: John Saunders.
The 2026 Varsity Chess Match between Oxford University and Cambridge University is the premier chess social event of the year.
This traditional 144th contest , the longest running chess fixture in the world, was held at the Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall, London, on 7 March 2026 , with The Royal Automobile Club also sponsoring the occasion. The chief arbiter was Matthew Carr, assisted by Jo Wildman. Oxford won the toss and chose Black on the odd boards. The time control was 40 moves in two hours, followed by one hour for the rest of the game, with no incremental time supplement.
Oxford entered the match without their long-standing top board, Tom O’Gorman, whose five successive victories had been a feature of recent years. Cambridge, meanwhile, had acquired International Master, Rajat Makkar, who had recently scored 6/9 in the 2025 British Championship.
After the customary ceremony, in which the captain of the team that lost the previous year issues the formal challenge, the toss was made. Connor Clarke chose Black on the odd boards. Since Cambridge had a strong rating advantage on board one, Oxford may have judged that an extra White elsewhere would be more useful. On paper Oxford were higher rated on every board except the first.
The games following are given in the order in which they finished, thus enabling the reader to understand how the pressures of previous results built upon those, who games were still in play. Two games stand out and were respectively awarded the best game prize and the brilliancy prize.
A short précis for each game is given, along with the link to the game on chess.com. I am indebted to information from our ever reliable photographer and archivist John Saunders for my descriptions of play.
Board One: Rajat Makkar (CA) vs. Thrish Karthik (OX)
The two 19-year-olds played a so-called Barry Attack. Black included an early …a6, which did little to change the position. From move nine the Oxford player began spending large amounts of time. By move 13 he had only 16 minutes left to reach move 40, and by move 17 only six. As his time dwindled, the quality of his play declined. Karthik’s position soon became hopeless and Makkar, the Cambridge no.1, won decisively.
Board Two: Daniel Gallagher (OX) vs. Alex Leslie (CA)
Daniel Gallagher, studying for a D.Phil. in philosophy, chose a Trompowsky with Qb1 rather than the usual Qb3. He opened the centre and offered a pawn sacrifice. Alex Leslie declined to grab the pawn and equalised comfortably. The game soon ended in a draw.
Board Three: Remy Rushbrooke (CA) vs. Aron Saunders (OX) Brilliancy Prize
Oxford’s largest rating advantage was on board three, where Aron Saunders outrated Remy Rushbrooke by 127 points. Experience suggests that rating gaps of more than 200 points matter, but smaller ones often disappear once the game begins.
Here the lower-rated player won. Rushbrooke opened with a Réti that became a reversed Pirc. The Oxford player equalised easily and may even have been pressing when he played the doubtful 26…Qb4?! followed by the blunder 27…Rg8??. Rushbrooke replied with a striking rook and bishop combination that forced mate unless Black gave up his queen. For this finish he later received the brilliancy prize. I adjudicated, along with fellow Grandmasters Jon Speelman and Daniel Fernandez.
Board Four: Henry Adams (OX) vs. Ranesh Ratnesan (CA)
Henry Adams had White against Ranesh Ratnesan in a Slav Defence. White gained control of the d-file and later placed a rook on f6. A winning chance appeared with 35 Rxf6! Kxf6 36 b4!, when Black’s queen would have no safe square and 37 Qd8! would leave White a piece ahead. Instead the opportunity passed and the game ended in perpetual check.
Board Seven: Nicolas Terra (CA) vs. Canzhou He (OX)
Canzhou (“Charley”) He answered Nicolas Pacetti Terra’s 1.d4 with a Grünfeld. White played an early h4, but the game remained quiet. Exchanges followed and the position soon became dry. The players agreed a draw.
At this stage Cambridge led 3½–1½ with three games still running and needed only one more point to win the match. The positions, however, suggested the outcome might yet change.
Board Eight: Connor Clarke (OX) vs. Arjun Gupta (CA)
Connor Clarke, playing White, chose the Two Knights Defence with an early Ng5 and the old line 8 Qf3. Instead of the historical 8…Rb8, the Colman variation, Black played 8…Qd5, leaving him with little compensation for the pawn.
White kept the extra pawn into the middlegame but exchanged pieces too quickly, reducing his winning chances. The game reached a rook ending where White was still a pawn ahead but had doubled pawns. The position was drawn.
The match score now stood at 4–2 to Cambridge, guaranteeing them at least a drawn match.
Board Six: Savin Dias (OX) vs. James Windram (CA)
Savin Dias, the youngest player in the match at eighteen, opened with a Rossolimo Sicilian against James Windram. White voluntarily gave up bishop for knight but his knights worked well together and controlled many important squares. Black twice declined chances to challenge White’s rook on the open d-file. White consolidated his position and won, not just the game but the award for the best played game.
The score became 4–3 to Cambridge.
Board Five: Julia Volovich (CA) vs. Andrea Fuente (OX) Best Game Prize
The final game was between Andrea Henderson de la Fuente for Oxford and Julia Volovic for Cambridge. Henderson de la Fuente defended the Old Indian. White’s 12 b4 was inaccurate, and after 17…Rc8!? and the mistaken 18 Nc5?, Black unleashed tactics that left White a pawn down.
Black played patiently, increasing her advantage despite missing a chance to win a second pawn before the time control. With the match depending on the result, she kept her composure and converted her advantage into a win.
Andrea Henderson de la Fuente won for Oxford, thus tying the match 4–4.
Ray’s 206th book, “ Chess in the Year of the King ”, written in collaboration with Adam Black, and his 207th, “ Napoleon and Goethe: The Touchstone of Genius ” (which discusses their relationship with chess) can be ordered from both Amazon and Blackwell’s. His 208th, the world record for chess books, written jointly with the late chess playing artist, Barry Martin, Chess through the Looking Glass , is now also available from Amazon.
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