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. The tradition dates as far back as 1900. It is a relatively informal match and the schools do not 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 four or five games, pitting the top current Harvard and Yale students (undergraduate or graduate). 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 by non-A-teams in the Open section. 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 usually range from around 800 to 2600 USCF. Players occasionally are FIDE International Masters or grandmasters.
As of 2025, Yale is the champion, holding an overall record of 11-4-9 against Harvard.
Results Year Site Match format Tie-break Winner Score Average USCF ratingsHarvard Yale 2025 Yale 6 boards, G15+10 Additional boards Yale 4-220832375 2024 Harvard 4 boards, G25/D5 Additional boards Yale 1F-0F24152496 2023 Yale 4 boards, G25/D5 Additional boards Yale 1F-0F24152351 2022 Harvard 4 boards, G25/D5 Additional boards Yale 2½–1½24072396 2021 Yale 4 boards, 2x None Yale 6–222572384 2020 Harvard Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic 2019 Yale 3 boards, 2x G/30 None Yale 5½–½ 2018 Harvard 5 boards, G/30 None Harvard 4–1 2017 Yale 5 boards, G/30 None Tie 2½–2½ 2016 Harvard 5 boards, G/30 None Harvard 5–0 2328 2015 Yale 5 boards, G/45 None Harvard 4–1 2014 Harvard 5 boards, G/45 6th board Harvard 3–2 2162 2031 2013 Yale 5 boards, G/60 Yale 3–2 2069 2200 2012 Harvard 5 boards, G/60 Additional boards Tie 2½–2½ 2211 2011 Yale 5 boards, G/60 Additional boards Yale 3–2 2119 2258 2010 Harvard 5 boards, G/60 Harvard 3–2 2009 Yale 5 boards, G/60 Harvard 3–2 2008 Harvard 5 boards, G/45 None Harvard 4–1 2186 2079 2007 Yale Tie 2006 Harvard Harvard 3–2 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 2002 2001 Yale 2000 Harvard 2066 1999 Yale
Lineups
2011
Harvard: Jake Miller, Bram Louis, Josh Bakker, Naor Brown, Tony Blum
Yale: Robert Hess, Bogdan Vioreanu, Patrick O’Keefe, Adam Weser, Gordon Moseley
2008
Yale: Bogdan Vioreanu, Kurt Schneider, Pasha Kamyshev, Gordon Moseley, Rahil Esmail
2005
Yale: David Wang, Matthew Traldi, Pavel Kamyshev, Scott Caplan, David Lyons Harvard: Arin Madenci, Dan Thomas, Danny Goodman, Albert Yeh, Annie Weiss
2004
Harvard: Geoffrey Gelman, Daniel H. Thomas, Arin Madenci, Annie Weiss
Yale: Akira Watanabe, Matthew Traldi, Haoyuan Wang, Scott Caplan
2001
Harvard: Daniel H. Thomas, Marc R. Esserman, Victor M. Lee, Yue Wu, Lu Yin, Jason Rihel, Noam Elkies
2000
Harvard: Yakov Chudnovsky, Jonathan A. Wolff, Charles R. Riordan, Lu Yin
Notable players who have competed in the match
FIDE Grandmasters Nicolas Checa (Yale, 2021, 2022) Darwin Yang (Harvard: 2016) Robert Hess (Yale: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014) Patrick Wolff (Yale, Harvard, GM title earned in 1990) Joel Benjamin (Yale, GM title earned in 1986)
FIDE International Masters Richard Wang (Harvard: 2016) Matthew Larson (Yale: 2015, IM title earned in 2018) Bogdan Vioreanu (Yale: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) Marc Esserman (Harvard: 2001, IM title earned in 2009) Teddy Coleman (Harvard: 2008, 2009, 2010, IM title earned in 2012)
Other Kurt Hugo Schneider (Yale: 2006, 2008, 2009)
Notable Games 2009, Board 1, Coleman (H) vs. Vioreanu (Y) 2010, Board 1, Coleman (H) vs. Vioreanu (Y) 2025, Board 3, Derek Jin (H) vs. Raahil Mullick (Y)
References