Oxford began as small favourites for the 144th Varsity Match, held at the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall, London, earlier in March. But it was Cambridge who pulled ahead first, thanks to wins from Rajat Makkar on top board, as well as captain Remy Rushbrooke, who was awarded the Brilliancy Prize for the finish below.
An attack is always harder to handle when there is more than one plausible continuation. Rushbrooke’s last move, 27 g4-g5 creates a dangerous threat of 28 gxf6 gxf6 29 Qh4! Qe7 30 Bxe5! Bxe5 31 Rxa2, winning material. By contrast, 28 g6 is less dangerous, in view of 28…Bxc4! (since the b3 pawn is pinned) 29 Qh4 Bg8! 30 gxf7 Bxb3 and the king is secure on h8. Saunders’s response takes care of the former idea, but inadvertently amplifies the latter.
Remy Rushbrooke (Cam)-Aron Saunders (Oxf)
Varsity Match, March 2026
27… Rg8? Now if 28 gxf6 gxf6 29 Qh4 Bd8! is adequate, since 30 Bxe5 fxe5! attacks the queen on h4. However, the rook move has a hidden drawback. 28 g6! Bxc4 29 Qh4 h6 Forced, since the rook on g8 obstructs the retreat Bc4-g8, but this pawn move is a fatal weakness. 30 Bc1! Bxe2 31 Bxh6 Bxf3+ 32 Rxf3 Qe1+ Desperation, since 32…Ra1+ 33 Bc1 would already be mate! 33 Qxe1 gxh6 34 Rh3 Kg7 35 Rxh6 Rga8 36 Rh7+ Kg8 37 Qh4 R8a7 38 Rh8+ Kg7 39 Qh7 checkmate
Oxford trailed by 4-2 but narrowed the gap with this below, a deserving winner of Best Game. The strategy was defined in the opening when White traded his light squared bishop in order to split Black’s queenside pawns. Knights are rarely optimal on the rim, but the ones on the a-file create unusual headaches for the rooks.
Savin Dias (Oxf)-James Windram (Cam)
Varsity Match, March 2026
27 Red1! Securing the d-file, and preventing Nb6-d7. Kg7 28 Kf2 h5 29 Ke3 Kf8 30 Kd3 Ke8 Black is cramped, so trading one pair of rooks with 30…Rd8+ was advisable. 31 Kc3 Nd7 32 a3 Ne5 33 f4 Nd7 34 b4 cxb4+ 35 axb4 Now the passed c-pawn is the key asset, but Dias is rightly patient in pursuing it. Bg4 36 Re1 Be6 37 h3 Bf5 38 Red1 Nf6 39 Rd4 Ne4+ 40 Kb3 Nd6 41 b5 Be6 42 Kb4 Nf5 43 R4d3 Nd6 44 c5 Ne4 45 Rd4 f5 46 c6 Nd6 47 Nb7 Ne4 48 c7 Kf7 49 Nd8+ Kf6 50 Nxe6 Kxe6 51 Rd7 Nf6 52 Rd8 Ne8 53 Re1+ Kf6 54 Rd7 e6 55 Kc5 g5 56 fxg5+ Kxg5 57 Rxe6 Nf6 58 Rg7+ Kh6 59 Rf7 Black resigns
Finally, Oxford’s Andrea Henderson de La Fuente tied the match by converting an extra pawn in a rook endgame, leading to a 4-4 tie. Cambridge lead by 61 match wins to 59, with 24 draws, in a series dating back to 1873.
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