"It was unfortunate because we couldn't bring our strongest players," said McClelland, who is president of the Harvard Chess Club. "But we made a valiant effort."

Yale will keep the victor's trophy--the Wolff Cup--for the coming year. The cup is named for Grandmaster Patrick Wolff '96, who became the only competitor to have played for both teams after transferring from Yale to Harvard.

According to McClelland, this match is the second-most important intercollegiate match of the year, next to the Pan-American Intercollegiate Championships held in December, which he described as the "NCAA championships" of chess.

"The Yale match also serves as practice for the Pan-American championships," McClelland said. "It reminds us how different the atmosphere of team play is from individual competition."

For the second consecutive year, Chudnovsky played Mulyar over the Internet because Mulyar had already returned home to Colorado for vacation. Last year, the match ended in a draw.

"I don't like playing when you can't see the other person. It destroys any psychology that possibly comes into play in chess," Chudnovsky said.

Because it is easier to visualize on a board than a computer screen, Chudnovsky sets up an actual chess board while playing over the Internet.