Mark Bytheway (22 July 1963 – 9 July 2010) was an England International Quiz player best known for becoming Quizzing World Champion in 2008 and winning the Top Brain competition of Brain of Britain.
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Quizzing | ||
| Representing England | ||
| IQA British Championships | ||
 | 2005 Altrincham | Singles |
| 2006 Shrewsbury | Singles |
 | 2008 Staveley | Singles |
| 2008 Staveley | Pairs |
 | 2009 Derby | Singles |
| IQA World Championships | ||
| 2007 Irthlingborough | Singles |
| 2008 Staveley | Singles |
| 2009 Ludlow | Singles |
| IQA European Championships | ||
| 2006 Paris | Singles |
| 2006 Paris | Pairs |
| 2006 Paris | Club |
| 2007 Blackpool | Team |
| 2008 Oslo | Pairs |
| 2008 Oslo | Team |
| 2009 Dordrecht | Team |
| 2009 Dordrecht | Pairs |
Brain of Britain
In 2007 he won Brain of Britain and in 2008 won the 3-year competition Brain of Brains beating TV's Egghead Chris Hughes and rival Pat Gibson and 9-year competition Top Brain titles, succeeding Kevin Ashman as holder.
National and International Titles
In 2008 he won the prestigious title of Quizzing World Champion. He has been capped six times for the National team (with five wins) and has a current European/World ranking of number 3,[1] behind Kevin Ashman (his pairs partner) and Pat Gibson. In 2009 he was third in the World Quizzing Championships and won the British title for the first time. He was unable to attend the 2010 World Quizzing Championships due to serious illness.
Bytheway was one of the original British Quizzing Grandmasters (as created under the Order of Merit maintained by Quizzing.co.uk) and has the third largest haul of international medals, with 16, (5 gold, 6 silver and 5 Bronze) after Ashman (27) and Gibson (24).
Domestic Competition
In domestic competitions he played with the Milhous Warriors, the first British team to win the Club competition at the European Quizzing Championships, which comprises Ashman, captain and England international Tim Westcott, Welsh international Sean O'Neill, Eric Kilby, Keith Andrew and Brian Wilkins.
He several times appeared as an aspiring contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? but never qualified for the hot seat.
Bytheway died on 9 July 2010 after having esophageal cancer. As he was the reigning British Quiz Champion at the time of his death, the British Quizzing Championship trophy has been named in his honour, and will now be called the Mark Bytheway Trophy – a.k.a. the 'M*BY'.[2]
2008 Interview
A 2008 interview, after winning the World title, is available on the Norwegian Quiz Association website.[3]
References
- International Quizzing Association, Rankings Archived 2017-01-20 at the Wayback Machine,
- Pendreigh, Brian (28 July 2010). "Guardian newspaper obituary, 29 July 2010". The Guardian. London.
- "Norwegian Quiz Association Interview". Archived from the original on 2011-07-25.