Imperial College London

Above: Imperial A after winning 2023 British Student Quiz Championships From left to right: Enoch Yuen, Justin Lee, Michael Mays, Adam Jones

Imperial College London is a research university in London, United Kingdom with an active quiz society. Imperial is the regular host of the annual British Student Quiz Championships (BSQC) organised by UK Quizbowl, and participated in ACF Nationals for the first time in 2022. Alongside Magdalene College, Oxford, and the University of Manchester, Imperial holds the joint record for the most series wins of the University Challenge quiz show, with 4 wins as of 2022. Imperial won their first quizbowl title in the 28-team 2021 Southeast-Midwest Housewrite tournament with Imperial A players Michael Kohn, Enoch Yuen, Felix Roberts and Richard Brooks. In 2023, a new team composed of Enoch Yuen, Michael Mays, Adam Jones and Justin Lee triumphed in the British mirrors of ARCADIA, ACF Regionals and C++ without a defeat. The same team then won the British Student Quiz Championships in 2023, providing Imperial with its first ever BSQC title.

History

Early period (1998-2003)

Imperial first participated in Quizbowl after being invited to the 1997 NAQT ICT, in which they placed thirteenth. The quiz society at Imperial was established in 1998 to host QuizIC, the first major inter-university Quizbowl tournament in the United Kingdom, and the precursor to BSQC. In 2001, Imperial won University Challenge for the second time, and were runners-up the following year. Imperial was a regular participant in UK tournaments until the demise of BSQC following the 2003 tournament, after which the society went dormant.

Re-establishment (2010-present)

Imperial returned to Quizbowl in the 2010 Europe SCT, where they placed seventh. Following the return of BSQC in 2011, Imperial achieved their then-highest placing in 2012, coming fourth. The quiz society was re-established in 2013, and participated in most editions of BSQC for the rest of the decade.

Imperial has become much more active in Quizbowl since 2018, with membership of the quiz society tripling in the space of two years, likely aided by Imperial's strong showings on University Challenge. Imperial became a serious contender in Quizbowl tournaments, developing a reputation for upset victories against more established teams. This included winning the 2021 Southeast-Midwest Housewrite and placing fifth in BSQC 2021, registering a surprise victory over Cambridge A in the latter. Having been absent in the 2021 competition, Imperial placed fourth in the 2022 ACF Regionals, thus qualifying for ACF Nationals for the first time. A team of Justin Lee, Michael Mays, Felix Roberts and Fatima Sheriff placed 38th out of 51 in 2022 ACF Nationals, with 9 wins and 9 losses.

The 2022-23 academic year saw record success for Imperial. Imperial's novices placed first in the in-person edition of the British Novice tournament in December 2022, and then the Imperial A team kept a clean sheet for three successive tournaments: ARCADIA, ACF Regionals and C++. Imperial A then went on to win the 2023 BSQC, becoming the first university other than Oxford and Cambridge to place first since Manchester in 2002.

Notable Players

• Michael Kohn
• Michael Mays
• Enoch Yuen
• Justin Lee
• Adam Jones
• Felix Roberts
• Fatima Sheriff
• Conor McMeel
• Richard Brooks
• Oscar O'Flanagan
• Carlos Doebeli
• Gilbert Jackson
• Imran Abdul Rahman
• Jonah McDonald
• Rahim Dina
• Max Zeng
• Adam Turner

Tournaments hosted

• BSQC 1998, 2011-13, 2018-20, 2022-23
• ACF Regionals 2021, 2023
• British Novice 2017-19, 2022
• THING 2022
• ARCADIA 2021
• IKEA 2020
• Stevenson Memorial Tournament 2018
• NAQT Collegiate Novice 2017
• VCU Novice 2016
• Michigan Fall Tournament 2013
• Deep Bench 2012