Chess champion

The internet is abuzz with news of Magnus Carlsen, the chess grandmaster who recently took on three opponents simultaneously, whilst blindfolded, and won. But did you know that Pembroke has its very own chess champion?

Pembroke student Dominik Deradjat (2013) captained the victorious Cambridge University Chess Club teams at this year’s inter-university competition.

Held in February, the 2015 BUCA Team Championship was record-breaking, both in terms of the number of participants and the number of teams that entered.

Cambridge entered the tournament in the top two divisions, the Championship and the Plate. Dominik was joined by Daniel Fernandez (Queens), Richard Weaving (Churchill), Rafe Martyn (Corpus Christi), Jean-Luc Weller (Churchill), Philipp Schmitt (Hughes Hall), Robert Starley (Emmanuel), Ramsay Pyper (Trinity) and Anna York-Andersen (St John’s).

The team travelled up to Birmingham to compete. On the first day of the tournament, Cambridge managed to win all three matches in both divisions, beating last year’s winner Imperial College in the last match of the day.

On the second day, Cambridge managed to remain undefeated despite a draw in round 4 against Imperial 2 in the Plate.

With a convincing performance, Cambridge University Chess won the Championship and the Plate. They also qualified to represent Great Britain in the 2015 European Universities Chess Championship, which will be held in in Armenia in October.

This win marks Cambridge University’s first victory in the British University Championship since 2001.

Cambridge University Chess team: (Left to right) Richard Weaving, Philipp Schmitt, Dominik Deradjat (captain), Anna York-Andersen, Robert Starley, Rafe Martyn, Daniel Fernandez, Jean-Luc Weller