Harvard-Yale 1999

Harvard-Yale 1999 Yale Dominates Harvard to End Seven Year Losing Streak

On Saturday, November 20, 1999, the annual Harvard-Yale match took place, and in the end, Yale defeated Harvard in convincing fashion to win this match for the first time since 1991. The four person Harvard team consisted of FM Jacob Chudnovsky '01, LM Woody McClelland '00, Charles Riordan '01, and Tun-Kai "TK" Yang '00. The four person Yale team consisted of FM Michael Mulayar, Charles Wolrich, Ilya Meyzin, and Barry Braeken. For the second year in a row, there was an internet presence in the match as Jacob played his games against Yale's FM Michael Mulyar over the internet. Woody, Charles and TK played their opponents over the board at the Hall of Graduate Studies at Yale University.

Unlike 1997, there was no faculty component to this match, but like 1997, the result of the match was very much one-sided. Only Charles Riordan managed to win a game for Harvard, while Jacob and TK each drew once, resulting in 6-2 Yale rout of Harvard.

Having won the match, Yale gets to take the Wolff Cup from Harvard for this year. The Wolff Cup is named for two-time United States Chess Champion Patrick Wolff, who is the only grandmaster to play on both sides of the Harvard-Yale match (two years at Yale undergraduate; two years at Harvard undergraduate). The Wolff Cup is a beautiful, silver Paul Revere Bowl on which the winners' names since 1986 are engraved. The Cup was endowed in 1996 by Professor Andrew Metrick, Professor Chris Avery, Danny Edelman, and Chris Chabris, all match alumni.

While the history of the Match apparently dates back to 1906, 1999 marks the 14th consecutive Match since Harvard Chess Club member Chris Avery and Yale Chess Club president Andrew Metrick arranged the 1986 Match. Victory bounced back and forth in the first six years, with Harvard winning in 1986, 1988, and 1990, and Yale winning in 1987, 1989, and 1991. Harvard then dominated the Match, winning every year from 1992 to 1998, until Yale snapped that streak this year.

Congratulations to the Yale Team for an impressive performance, and to Harvard for a valient effort

Summary provided by Woody McClelland '00

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