Chess tournaments Chess strategy Computer chess Chess players FIDE Chess variants Chess rules and history

Harvard-Yale chess match

The Harvard-Yale chess match is held annually around the time of the Harvard-Yale football game in November on the campus of the university hosting the football game that year. It is a relatively informal match and the schools don't typically submit the games to the United States Chess Federation for rating. Nevertheless, it is one of the highlights of the year for each school's chess club. The match typically consists of five games, pitting five current Harvard students against five current Yale students (undergraduate or graduate), with each board numbered 1 through 5 (with 1 having the strongest players and 5 having the weakest). The team with the most game points is declared the winner of the match, with a win worth 1 point, a draw worth half a point, and a loss worth 0 points. In the case of a tie, either the match is declared a tie, or a tie-breaking procedure is applied. Tie-breaking procedures applied in the past included using the result of the strongest non-drawing board as the result of the match, or using results achieved on boards numbered higher than 5 by players from each school who were not selected to be in the top five. Match details vary each year depending on the preferences of current members of each school’s chess club.

Those who play in the match are typically strong tournament players. The ratings range from around 1800 to 2400 USCF. Players occasionally are FIDE International Masters or Grand Masters.

As of 2015, the champion is Harvard, after defeating Yale 4-1.

Results

Year Site Match format Tie-break Winner Score Harvard avg. USCF rating Yale avg. USCF rating
2015 Yale 5 boards, G/45 None Harvard 4-1 Unknown Unknown
2014 Harvard 5 boards, G/45 6th board Harvard 3-2 2162 2031
2013 Yale 5 boards, G/60 Unknown Yale 3-2 2069 2200
2012 Harvard 5 boards, G/60 Additional boards Tie 2½-2½ Unknown 2211
2011 Yale 5 boards, G/60 Additional boards Yale 3-2 2119 2258
2010 Harvard 5 boards, G/60 tie-break proc. Harvard 3-2 Harvard avg. USCF rating Yale avg. USCF rating
2009 Yale 5 boards, G/60 tie-break proc. Harvard 3-2 Harvard avg. USCF rating Yale avg. USCF rating
2008 Harvard 5 boards, G/45 None Harvard 4-1 2186 2079
2007 Yale match format tie-break proc. Tie score Harvard avg. USCF rating Yale avg. USCF rating
2006 Harvard Unknown Unknown Harvard 3-2 Unknown Unknown
2005 Yale 5 boards, G/60 Non-draw result on strongest board Yale 3-2 2083 2092
2004 Harvard 4 boards, G/60 None Tie 2-2 2118 2225
2003 site match format tie-break proc. winner score Harvard avg. USCF rating Yale avg. USCF rating
2002 site match format tie-break proc. winner score Harvard avg. USCF rating Yale avg. USCF rating
2001 site match format tie-break proc. Yale score Harvard avg. USCF rating Yale avg. USCF rating
2000 site match format tie-break proc. Harvard score 2066 Yale avg. USCF rating
1999 site match format tie-break proc. Yale score Harvard avg. USCF rating Yale avg. USCF rating
1998 site match format tie-break proc. winner score Harvard avg. USCF rating Yale avg. USCF rating
1997 site match format tie-break proc. winner score Harvard avg. USCF rating Yale avg. USCF rating
1996 site match format tie-break proc. winner score Harvard avg. USCF rating Yale avg. USCF rating
1995 site match format tie-break proc. winner score Harvard avg. USCF rating Yale avg. USCF rating

Notable players who have competed in the match

FIDE Grandmasters

FIDE International Masters

FIDE Masters

Other

Games

2009, Board 1, Coleman (H) vs. Vioreanu (Y)
2010, Board 1, Coleman (H) vs. Vioreanu (Y)

COMMENTS