The University of Birmingham beat Aston University 11½ - 4½ in a two-match friendly on Thursday 4th February and Wednesday 10th February 2010.

The first match saw Aston travel to Birmingham. The top 4 boards were keenly contested. Notable games included the game on board 2, where Don Kumarapathirage sacrificed a piece for a promising attack, but it soon faltered. Alex Holowczak and Alan Islas drew in a tight time-scramble, where Alan had superior winning chances. Fiachura Knox won his game after superb positional play broke down his more experienced opponent.

Despite a sudden snow storm in Birmingham just an hour before the match, Birmingham travelled to Aston for a return match a week later. Aston's lower boards performed better and the match was poised at 4-3 to Birmingham with the final game still being played. Trying to win to save the match Alex Holowczak lost, and Birmingham won the match 5-3, and also won the series by 7 points.

Results

First leg (Birmingham)

Birmingham 6½ - 1½ Aston

Second leg (Aston)

Aston 3 - 5 Birmingham