Starter for ten

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James Pratt
Posts: 530
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 11:10 pm

Starter for ten

Post by James Pratt » Mon Aug 26, 2019 11:45 pm

Your starter for ten:

Which former British Chess Champion once appeared on University Challenge?
If you think the answer is George Botterill then you might be wrong. The clip showing the youthful Stephen Fry has a fellow team mate labelled Botterill, but I am reliably informed it could not have been GSB (b. 1949). So, here's a link to answer my question. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXLxvKgVgSg

James

Alexander Hardwick
Posts: 128
Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 4:45 pm

Re: Starter for ten

Post by Alexander Hardwick » Tue Aug 27, 2019 11:47 am

Fans of University Challenge might appreciate the chess-playing representation on this year's series:

FM Ryan Rhys Griffiths captaining Wolfson, Cambridge against St John's, Oxford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43nMAIbaNGo

And, somewhat less exaltedly, yours truly captaining Magdalen, Oxford against York University: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVpd4fSbxuE

Geoff Chandler
Posts: 3494
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:36 pm
Location: Under Cover

Re: Starter for ten

Post by Geoff Chandler » Tue Aug 27, 2019 3:18 pm

I was told years ago that George Botterill was on University Challenge and at one time would have lost betting on it.
The captain of Queen's Cambridge was Steven Botterill who according to Stephen Fry 'The Fry Chronicles' pub 2011
(page 137) )was/is a professor at Berkeley, California.

Cambridge got to the final losing 2-1 v Merton ,Oxford.

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